Mexico Road Trip: Contemporary Caveman and Cognition
Oh him, we all know him, he said, we call him the Wild Man of the Mountain. Some in my pueblito go up into the sierra or mountain and cut cilantro and pick wild mushrooms to sell in the market. Every now and then they will see him there – sometimes where they least expect it.
And sometimes, he continued, he will show up at fiestas or dances – sometimes in his underwear or wearing nothing at all, he laughed. People give him food if they have it and sometimes they even let him dance at their fiestas…he’s a good dancer. But I’ve seen him when he gets nasty and he will try to pick a fight or throw rocks…so it’s best to keep one’s distance. They say he was a hardworking young man when his young wife left him for another man and that made him crazy. I see him every now and then walking down the dirt roads or sometimes on the highway…
There it is. That word of mouth that links families, communities and towns. And the cause and effect syndrome…I’ve heard several opinions on why the young man went loco…and that’s all they are -- opinions. No one disputes he is loco or mentally ill; but there are a numerous explanations as to how it happened.
We humans have such a strong tendency to create simplistic reasons for what happens to us…it must be in our blood and genes. Caveman saw the spirits and gods and we see a variety on the theme even today…maybe it’s all in cognition and until we understand that simplistic explanations often aren’t answers, we will act more like the caveman. Until we learn the ideas and concepts behind cognition, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past and live in it…or remain in that gray twilight of mediocrity.
I lay awake last night thinking how my Mexico is changing and probably changing at a faster rate than California culture. Of course I expected some change but am frankly surprised it is happening so fast. Dr. G and others have spoken to me about this change but it’s always different if someone tells you something versus you seeing and feeling it yourself. And now I’ve been here longer and can feel it….
The most noticeable change is the language. Language always evolves but Mexican Spanish is evolving very quickly. English words like gay, bunch and truck become gay, bonche and troca. So many words are becoming hybridized or substituted that the older Mexicans are feeling awkward with their more ‘proper’ Spanish. The difference in how a 15 year old and a 50 year old speak is striking; of course one can note the difference with English in California as well, but even there it does not seem to me to be as extreme.
Media is one factor and the U.S. culture expressed through the media is a juggernaut. It is hard to resist as folks like the French can attest. The youngsters have no problem with it and embrace it fully…those that resist find themselves increasingly out of the vernacular mainstream.
And it’s not just the English. Mexicans are a vibrant, passionate people and invent many words and phrases on their own. Words like chido that I first heard many years ago as slang, have now become common usage and are now in Spanish dictionaries. A world like padre can mean father but also ‘cool’.
And so it goes. I hear few complaints though there are regional offices set up to preserve the Spanish language. The idea is that somehow Castilian and older Spanish is better, something I have never accepted. Who are we to say what is better and what isn’t? Doesn’t usage determine correctness as well? Language, usage and vernacular are all relative and it comes down to one’s perspective…maybe even one’s attempt to create the simplistic cause and effect.
There are no massive protests that English is taking over. There are no movements to ban English…in fact there are signs everywhere that interest in English is increasing. Why are we Americans so afraid of Spanish?
And it’s not just language. Clothes and fashion are quickly changing too. When I first came to Mexico almost no one wore shorts. Shorts were something one might sleep in or wear around the house but not in public. In Tihuatlan the other day every young man I saw was wearing shorts and tennis shoes with a T-shirt. The youngsters no longer wear sombreros and even most middle-aged men wear baseball style caps. The young women have adapted the tight clothes with exposed stomachs, much to the delight of the young men, ha! But pregnant women still don’t show their bellies as their counterparts do in the U.S. At least yet.
The native dress is fading fast and we’ve only seen the typical Indian style dress in a few remote areas in the Huasteca. The embroidered blouses and dresses are no longer popular and are used mainly at folklore dances as relics of the past…the white cotton shirts and pants of the men have given way to jeans and western style shirts. And cowboy boots…
The children used to take their morales or woven bags to school but no longer. Now they use backpacks to carry their books.
I’m feeling my age now as I’m well into my fourth decade in Mexico. All generations lament the passing of their customs and culture as societies evolve. So what else is new?
A lot of this can be traced to the cause and effect of illegal and legal immigration to the U.S. Is that simplistic? Ha…When those that work in the States return back home, they bring with them the clothes and music and culture. It has to be a major cause of the effect, no? And all this culture swapping further strengthens the ties between the two countries…at least that is how I see it.
Who knows where it will evolve…it could go in some strange ways. The Chicano Spanish spoken in California could in fact become a more pure Spanish than Mexican Spanish…that would be a real good one, no? Wouldn’t it be ironic if the isolated monolingual Spanish speaking communities in the U.S. have less language change than generic Mexican Spanish?
As I sit here in my last few days in Veracruz there are more questions than answers. Great language and sociological changes are happening to my Mexico and I am privileged to be able to see many of them. I too am nostalgic for the old days but am fascinated by the new.
Language, concepts/ideas and cognition are the keys, not just for development but for better understanding and relations between our two countries. We must not be intimidated by those that want to tyrannize or sink us into the gray twilight of mediocrity.
Jack D. Deal
