Maya

After reading and watching the videos this week, I had to take in a lot of information but a few things stood out to me very vividly. The first thing is how the Maya people don't fully express themselves such as with what they wear and how they act for the reason of they are afraid of people judging them and calling them Indian. This is a form of racism and hits me hard. I am not a racist person at all. Obviously when you see someone without meeting them, all you can do is judge them by what they look like or how they are acting. To go as far as calling them a name, limiting their privileges, or not even giving them a chance because they are different from you. Racism is definitely something that has faded over the years and people have grown to not be as judgmental towards others. Something that goes along with this is being proud of who you are and where you are from. I find it sad that they feel like they need to hold back on expressing themselves. Like Rigoberta Menchu said, she didn't want to give too much detail. She wanted people to be able to read her book, put themselves in her shoes and relate, not judge. She ended up winning the Nobel Peace Prize for her book which I find absolutely amazing. No matter who you are, there are always going to be people that are different from you and that are going to judge you or put you down for not being like them, but I feel that the Mayas have nothing to be ashamed of. They come from a beautiful place, they left amazing art and stories behind and are a huge part of history. I think them, just like everyone else needs to take pride in themselves no matter what anyone else has to say!

When I was 9 years old I went on a family vacation with my parents to Cancun, Mexico. We stayed in a resort so I wasn't able to get the full effect of the culture but what I did experience, I loved. When I think of Mexico, I think of warm temperatures on the beach, amazing ethnic food and hard workers. I think of the warm weather because if I could have it my way, I would be a complete beach bum so the ocean experience for me was unbelievable. The temperature outside was perfect and the ocean felt like bath water, I was in heaven. Last year I married a man that is half Salvadorian and I have gotten to taste a lot of ethnic foods that his family has made. They are tastes that I am not used to but definitely ones that I'd like to get used to. When I was on my vacation in Mexico, the resort consisted of unlimited food anytime you wanted so I got to try a huge variety from tacos, to enchiladas, to burritos, to things that I have never even heard of but were amazing! The last thing that I mentioned that I think of is hard workers. I think of this because when I was there, every worker that I saw, from a resort waiter, to a landscaper, to a taxi cab driver all took their jobs very seriously and did their best work. Even when I see hispanics here working, they are all very serious about what they do. To me this means that they are hard workers and don't take things for granted. I would say that they appreciate things and life a lot more than someone else who does the bare minimum that they have to at their job just to get their pay check. I had an amazing experience in Mexico and would love to go back one day to learn more, maybe even to where my husband's family is from in El Salvador to learn more about his background.