Author Archives: Dianne Hofner Saphiere

The People You Touch

DSC_0808 Faces and Places of Colonia San Antonio

Every year we are privileged to be able to help the Medina family and all the others who help out with Desayuno de los Pollos. This year, thanks to help from so many of YOU, we have already been able to purchase 2500 whole chickens and pack up 1500 packs of despensas, or 10 days worth of food. This should feed about 13,000 families this year. We also take gently used clothes, toys and candy to share. In the slideshow below are photos of just a few of the people you touch. And, of course, they are people who very much touch us back in turn, making our holidays bright. (Click the arrows in the slideshow below to view photos more quickly. Please let me know what you think of these portraits! Thanks!)

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Yesterday I went out, as usual, with Yolanda and Jorge, to meet with community leaders of Colonia San Antonio. We handed out about 900 (!) tickets for food to members of the community. Why is this important? Because Colonia San Antonio, as so many other colonias on the outskirts of town (we give out food along 7-9 routes every year; San Antonio is just one of them), is an invasión. This means that the land on which the houses are built is privately owned, and the people living there are squatters. Normal procedure in these circumstances is that poor people move in, “squat” on the land, build homes out of pallets, recycled tarp, or even cardboard or metal. Eventually they band together and string electrical wire for themselves, and lay pipes for water. They have now done this in Colonia San Antonio.

Five or so years ago, when we first started going there to hand out chickens, they had neither water nor electricity. Now they do. I don’t see any transformers or breakers or anything, pretty much just a very long extension cord running from house to house. But, they do have electricity. Once the community grows large and successful enough, the city, or municipio, decides to access the colonia. The city pays the landowner for the land, and the people living in the invasión are required to start paying taxes.

The good news is, the squatters get to own their land and their homes. Some of the people who occupy the land in these invasiones, however, do not live there full time. Some come out to visit the homes they have only on the weekend, like a (very basic) country house. Others farm the land, but live in town. They basically squat as a way of making (a bit of) money, eventually, when the city decides to give the squatters a deed to the land they occupy.

Yolanda, Jorge and I go out here to meet with community leaders, so that they can take us around, home to home. They can tell us who lives here full time, and who only happens to be here once in a while. The community leaders tell us which families are most in need (maybe they need two chickens or packs of food, or extra clothing), and which are doing better than others. In this way, we can be as equitable as possible in what we hand out. This week, we were there from about 10 am till 2:00 pm.

It is one of my favorite days of the year. I am able to meet with incredible community leaders, people who themselves have fallen on hard times, don’t have much in the way of money, but who have the caring and the fortitude, the vision and the sense of justice, to better their communities. I also have the privilege to meet the people I’ve met with over the past five or so years that we’ve been going to Colonia San Antonio. I get to visit with people we know, and get a glimpse into how people there live.

This year, I made a point of taking photos of two things: the faces and the places of Colonia San Antonio. The first slide show, above, is of some of the faces of this invasión. You can see the joy, the dignity, and the difficulty these people experience every day. I have so very much to learn from so many of these people. I am so grateful to be able to meet with them and, hopefully, share with them a bit of joy and ease their burden just a bit.

The second slide show, below, is of the places: the homes, stores, and plazas of this colonia. It amazes me how simply people here live, how hard they work for what they have, yet how clean they keep their homes, the care and love they bestow on their children. How, despite the dust EVERYWHERE, most everyone has clean clothes and skin and hair. Nearly every home is decorated for the holidays, and many of them have beautiful demonstrations of religiosity as well, especially for the Virgen de Guadalupe. (Click on the arrows in the slideshow below to view all photos more quickly.)

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You are most welcome to join us on Christmas Eve morning, Wednesday this week, to caravan out to the 7-9 routes we’ll go on and hand out chickens, food, clothes, toys and candy. We’ll meet at Quince Letras downtown, 6:30 am if you have a pickup truck, 7:00 am if you are coming to help out. We should be finished by noon. Merry Christmas and see you Wednesday morning!
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Part of the #MyGlobalLife Link-Up.

Where and When to Hand Out Chickens

Quince Letras, corner of Tampico and Francisco Villas streets We load from either side of this "Coca Cola" store on the corner

Quince Letras, corner of Tampico and Francisco Villas streets
We load from either side of this “Coca Cola” store on the corner

THANK YOU all for joining us on the 24th of December, the morning of Christmas Eve day, to hand out chickens, food, clothing, toys and candy! It’s a terrific event and very, very memorable. It has been a family tradition of ours for many years now; even our son very much looks forward to it.

Don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish; we’ll pair you up with a group that has someone bilingual. Please bring your pickup truck or large vehicle if you have one. Also, wear your Santa hats and Desayuno de los Pollos t-shirts if you have them!

Are you wondering what time to show up on the morning of December 24th in order to help load the trucks and deliver the goodies out to the invasiones? Those who have worked in the past and know the drill, please plan to show up about 6:30 am. Those of you who are first-timers, coming by about 7:00 am will put you there just in time to help us load. We make lines of people to pass the foodstuffs/despensas into the truck, and able-bodied guys load the boxes of frozen chickens.

If you have used clothing, toys or candy that you want to be sure gets handed out, please take it over to the Medina family this week so we can get it sorted. Any donations you have will also be appreciated in advance, so we can buy more chickens! Just take whatever you have to the wrought iron shop where Jorge works. It’s open every work day.

DATE: December 24th

TIME: 6:30 am if you are driving a truck, 7:00 am if you are helping us load and deliver. We usually finish by 11:30 or noon, but some years it’s taken longer (depends how many routes you participate in).

LOCATION: 15 (QUINCE) LETRAS, corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico, just down the hill from the Church of Cristo Rey (Christ the King)

  1. Turn East at the Fisherman’s Monument.
  2. Go to the first light and turn right.
  3. Proceed one block and turn left (Francisco Villa street, just before the Pemex station).
  4. Go two blocks.
  5. If you are NOT driving a truck or transporting supplies, please park in the next block. This will give us room for loading. Once you’ve parked, walk another block down, past the iron works business called “Quince Letras.” On the corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico you will see a small store with a bright red “Coca Cola” hand painted on the outside, across from a tortillería. A door next to the Cocheras Automaticas business will be open. That’s Yolanda’s mother’s house, and it’s from there that we’ll be loading.
  6. If you ARE driving a truck or transporting supplies, please drive up to Tampico street (the “Coca Cola” store on your right on the corner), turn right, and park. We will be loading right there.

IMG_0669If you can’t find it, just ask someone for “Quince Letras” or “Desayuno de los Pollos/Medina family.” Everyone in the area will know. It is just down the hill from the Cristo Rey Church (photo at left).

Merry Christmas to all! And see you there!

Santa’s Here Early!

1.P1220988I know many of you wonder why we live on the malecón. Isn’t it noisy? Yes, it is! And we love it! We get a parade at least once, sometimes several times a week. It is wonderful. Certain seasons of the year, we get several parades every day.

This evening, just as we were winding down from work, who should show up but Santa himself? I guess he got cold at the North Pole! It was a few Pepsi trucks, and Santa and his elves were handing out soda to those along the malecón. Now I hate that sugary sodas are causing diabetes and obesity in this country, but it sure was making everyone happy to see the jolly old man, and it sure was a nice transition from the work day to the evening for Greg and me. Bless you, Santa!

By the way, have you been wondering where the city will be holding the Feria de Navidad/Christmas Fair that they’ve held the last few years in the Bosque/city park? It will be December 19th through January 6th, 6:00-11:00 pm, at Salon Bacanora on Rafael Buelna. Entry, all rides (10 child rides, 9 family rides, and 3 “extreme” rides) and artistic presentations are completely free of charge. Refreshments will be available. Take the kids and grandkids! It’s always been a lot of fun.

Definitely Feeling like the Holidays!

P1220962Thank you all for so generously helping out Desayuno de los Pollos. Today I went out with Roger, Sue and Dave on a toy shopping spree. We each pitched in several hundred dollars of our own money, but we used some of what so many of you have kindly donated for toys also.

I’m guessing what we purchased today is going to bring smiles to the faces of 500-600 children, babies and teenagers this Christmas. We bought art supplies, games, toy cards, puzzle books, baseball bats, balls… While I felt bad to contribute to ruining our planet by buying cheap stuff from China, it was sooooo much fun to pick out the gifts, trying to balance girl, boy and gender-less items (difficult task, I might add)… I trust it lightens a parent’s worries a bit, as well.

Many thanks to Importaciones Sanfri, who gave us a 20% discount on our purchase, because they knew the toys were going to needy kids. Today’s outing definitely put me in the spirit of the season! Thank you all!

If you would like to contribute to buy toys, chickens, or anything else, please click on the “Donate” button on the upper right of this blog, or email me at dianne@vidamaz.com. We look forward to seeing you all on the 24th around 7 am!

 

Lost in Translation: The Bum Dollar

1.IMG_0664Does the above sign in the Golden Zone crack you up as it does me? Every time I see it, I have no choice but to chuckle. Why in the world would anyone want to trade in their pesos for bum dollars?! I’m so glad for this fairly new business, as it brings joy to my day every time I drive by.

In my world, exchanging money for bum dollars would mean getting fake dollar bills. Granted, the phrase “bum dollar” isn’t one I’ve heard, but it does logically follow a pattern (see the definitions below, from McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs). The people at BumDólar even advertise “the cheapest dollars on the planet!” 😉 

Cheap Dollars

I haven’t used the BumDólar exchange service; they may be completely wonderful. I post the photos tongue-in-cheek. Sometimes things are just lost in translation. What sounds good in one language can be hysterical, or offensive, in another.

For years I’ve said that my ideal job is to be one of the people who laugh themselves silly while choosing brand names like BumDólar, Calpis soda, Barf detergent. or Shitto sauce.

Calpis soft drink (Japan)
Barf soaps (Iran)
Shitto (and Shito) black pepper sauce (Ghana)
Pocari Sweat soda (Japan)
Glico Cream Collon (Japan)
Megapussi chips (Finland)
Camel Balls treats
Barfy burgers (Argentina)
Seigneurie d’Arse wine (France)
Kockt-up cola
Starburst Sucks candies (Australia)

Dictionary Definitions and Sample Sentences

bum: false; phony.
“That’s a bum dollar.”
“He gave me bum advice.”

bum rap: blame or punishment that is not fair.
“Teachers are getting a bum rap from people who say they don’t work hard enough.”
“She was sent up to the penitentiary on a bum rap.”

bum steer: misleading instructions or guidance; information that is not correct< or not helpful; a misleading suggestion.
“Her suggestion to eat at that little Italian restaurant was a bum steer.
“I got a bum steer from the salesman, and I paid far more than I needed to for a used car.”

bum’s rush: hurrying someone out of a place.
“The young customer in the jewelry store was getting the bum’s rush until he pulled out an enormous roll of bills.”
“Bill got the bum’s rush at the restaurant because he didn’t have a tie on.”

bum someone out: to disappoint someone.
“This menial job really bums me out.”
“The bad movie bummed out the entire audience.”

bum something off someone: to beg or borrow something from someone.
“Can I bum a cigarette off you?”
“You can’t bum anything off me that I don’t have.”

bum around (with someone): to spend or waste a lot of time with a particular person.
“He used to bum around with Ted a lot.”
“They bummed around together all summer.

bum out: to have a bad experience.
“Are you going to bum out again tonight?”
“Man, is he bummed out!”

bummed (out): discouraged; depressed.
“I feel so bummed; I think I need a nice hot bath.”
“When you’re feeling bummed out, think how much you’ve accomplished.”

bums on seats: if a public performance or a sports event puts bums on seats, many people pay to go and see it.
“This production needs a big name to put bums on seats.”

the bum’s rush: the action of getting rid of someone who is not wanted.
“The photographer was given the bum’s rush by two policemen guarding the office.”
“Why do I feel I’m getting the bum’s rush? Where are you off to?”

Tell me, what are some of your favorite “lost in translation” phrases here in Mazatlán?