Mexico Road Trip: Ingenuity, Poverty and Day of the Kings
I’m sitting at the market in Papantla thinking about all sorts of things and one of them is the Latino diabetic problem. Even though Mexico is rich in fruits and vegetables many Mexicans eat very little of them. And diabetes is a real health problem here as it is with Latinos in the U.S. Maybe it’s because the tacos and tamales and tortas and other foods are so delicious, eating fruits and vegetables is a let down…ha. Just like broccoli and Brussel sprouts are for me back in the U.S…ha!
Instead of bottled water, Mexicans carry soft drinks. Like we Americans, many Mexicans are now overweight except for a few like Timo that work at hard physical labor and eat fish and some vegetables and almost no sugar or canned goods. That has to be a key…
Most restaurant menus are a la carte and many do not have such items as salads or fruit cups. A salad with a meal is often no more than a few slices of onion and a slice of tomato. Usually there is no salad dressing and maybe there is a slice of lemon…a Mexican salad is more of a garnish than a salad.
Avocado is popular but not on the menu when not in season. Guacamole is popular but usually expensive as it has to be prepared.
I’ve been surprised at the number of folks that are diabetic but not surprised at their being diabetic with such a diet…and the same holds true for the high incidence of diabetes with Latinos in the U.S. I wonder how many cases of diabetes can be prevented by eating more fish, vegetables and fruits and less carnitas, chips and sodas. I wonder why both countries aren’t doing more to prevent diabetes as it is expensive to treat and diabetic complications are not only life threatening but very expensive as well…go figure where the priorities are…It’s not that the fish, fruits and vegetables are not available, they just aren’t purchased and eaten. What are the politicians and leaders on both sides of the border thinking?
Today is January 6 or Day of the Kings – Dia de los Reyes. This is the traditional day for giving children gifts; the kids put out their shoes at night on January 5 and in the morning find their gifts in their shoes. To a great extent a Jingle Bells Christmas has been imported now and has taken over…but I do see many kids with happy faces as they play with their new toys. Angelica brings me a toy and gives me a hug…here is your gift, kiddie, she laughs.
She knows that I collect toys. I don’t like the plastic stuff preferring the toys that do something or have a certain thing about them that is attractive. Often these are the cheaper toys as well. She gives me a grasshopper made out of palm leaves – it looks very real and as though it were a metal die cast. The antennae are painted yellow and the eyes are some sort of dark bauble…but it’s cool and I like it and marvel at the ingenuity behind it.
One of the first toys I bought in Mexico was a magnetized top. A small metal snake came with it…when one spinned the top and placed the metal snake at the base, the snake would go back and forth as if it were moving. I still remember that toy! And there were noisemakers, puzzles and all sorts of moving toys that were ingenuous.
I wonder how this ingenuity can be tapped to push a people out of poverty and give them meaningful jobs. I wonder how this ingenuity can be used to make politics work for folks on both sides of the border. I wonder why this ingenuity can’t be used to help stem the diabetes epidemic that plagues Latinos…
I look at my toy grasshopper and think it only has to be a matter of opening up that potential and letting folks create their own opportunities. Once again the simplistic answer comes back to language, ideas/concepts and cognition.
Hmmm…maybe I could invent a toy that could do that? What would such a toy look like and how the heck would it work?
Jack D. Deal
