Maria is a HarvestShare member who regularly brings her children to workdays at Anathoth. She met with Jakayla Wilkins, Jordan Herrmann, Abby Huggins, and Julia Sendor (who served as translator) at her home in Cedar Grove. (The interview transcript includes the translation during the interview and, in the parentheses, some corrections made to the translation afterwards.) Maria's children made occasional appearances during the interview too! Afterwards, we toured her flower-filled garden.
Maria: En Michoacan. (In Michoacan.)
Julia: ¿En cual pais? (In what country?)
Maria: El pueblo se llama Purepero, en Michoacan. (The town is called Purepero, en Michoacan.)
Julia: En Michoacan, en Mexico?
Maria: Si. Purepero, en Michoacan, Mexico.
Julia: A community called Purepero in Michoacan, Mexico.
Maria: Pues, tengo muchos recuerdos de alla de mi pueblo. Tambien me gustaba trabajar mucho en el campo.
Julia: I have a lot of memories of my town, I really liked to work outside in the countryside.
Julia: ¿Otras memorias, otros recuerdos? (Other memories?)
Maria: Pues me divertia mucho alli en el pueblo donde vivian mis papas, se llama Tlazazalca.
Julia: I always had a lot of fun in the town that my parents lived in called…
Maria: Tlazazalca.
Julia: Tlazazalca?
Maria: (laughs)
Maria: Alli nos la pasabamos bien con mis hermanas amigas y primas que tenia desde que estaba en la escuela.
Julia: I had a good time with my (brothers and) sisters and cousins and friends that I had from school.
Maria: En las fiestas que…es de…hacen en la escuela tambien alli nos la pasabamos muy bien.
Julia: And all the different kinds of parties and celebrations that we had in town (in school). We enjoyed ourselves.
Jakayla: Did you and your family cook together? ¿Cocian juntos usted y su familia?
Maria: No, only I cook.
Julia: She’s the only one that cooks. ¿Y cuando era nina, como en su familia en Mexico? (And when you were a girl, like with your family in Mexico?)
Maria: Con mi Mama. Yo aprendi de mi mama porque ella estaba cocinando y yo me arrimaba a ver que estaba cocinando.
Julia: I learned, so, in Mexico, she says, I learned from my mother. She was cooking and I learned from her. (I would come up close to see what she was cooking.)
Maria: Si, desde los 13 años aprendi a cocinar.
Julia: Since I was 13 years old I learned to cook.
Maria: Pues, frijoles con queso, enchiladas, mole de pollo, caldo de res con muchas verduras, caldo de camaron, sopes — hay muchas comidas
Julia: Beans with cheese, and mole with chicken, soup with beef (with many vegetables, shrimp soup, cornmeal cakes — there are many dishes) (clarifies the list in Spanish with Maria)
Julia: Oh wow, enchiladas, barbecue,
Maria: Las carnitas que son tradicionales de Michoacan.
Julia: Carnitas that (are) a traditional food from Michoacan.
Maria: Es carne de puerco que hacen frita en manteca, bastante manteca, y ya la saquen ya de la manteca cuando esta. Nos acostumbramos mucho para las fiestas que acompañamos con arroz, ensalada de nopales, y frijoles, y tortillas. Y chiles y jalapeños en vinagre.
Julia: Wow. So it's, pork fried with lots of butter and taken out when it’s ready. (It’s our custom to eat it a lot for special occasions.) Eaten with a lot of rice and nopales which are cactus (and beans). And tortillas and chiles (chili peppers and jalapeños) with vinegar.
Jordan: ¿Hacia tortillas en su casa? (Did you make tortillas in your house?)
Maria: Si y aqui tambien me gusta hacer.
Julia: And here also I like to make them.
Maria: Porque no me gustan las de la tienda.
Julia: 'Cause I don’t like the ones from the store (laughter).
Maria: Hago de maseca. Hasta mi mama me trajo una maquina alla la tengo donde hago las tortillas de maseca.
Julia: I make them from Maseca, which is the tortilla powder, like a flour. And my mother brought tortilla making machine so I make them here.
Maria: Como la nina, que aprendiera a cocinar a lo que yo se.
Julia: And that my daughter (would) learn how to cook from what I know.
Jordan: ¿Le gusta concinar? Does she (Maria's daughter) like to cook?
Maria: Si.
Maria: Cuando yo estoy alli es de tambien se arrima a ver si…como a ver que estoy haciendo…
Julia: When I’m here, she comes by, and looks to see what I’m doing, the cooking, when I’m here cooking at the stove.
Jakayla: Do they (Maria's children) like to help with the garden?
Julia: ¿A ellos les gusta ayudar con el trabajo del jardin?
Maria: Aqui casi, casi no.
Julia: Here no, not really.
Maria: Mas bien se la pasan jugando alla afuera.
Julia: They more like to go around playing outside.
Maria: Pero las veces que ir al jardin, si les gusta ir.
Julia: But the times that they’ve gone to Anathoth, yes, they like to go work there.
Maria: Alla si les gusta ayudar.
Julia: There they like to help.
Julia: What do you hope for your children? ¿Que esperanzas tiene para sus hijos?
Maria: Pues yo quisiera que fueran unas buenas personas.
Julia: That they’ll be good people.
Maria: Que les gustara estudiar una carrera, que ellos se superaran mas que yo y mi esposo.
Julia: I hope that they would study a career (course of study) and achieve more than me and my spouse.
Maria: Si. Si porque yo les digo a ellos que le, como que le echen ganas a la escuela, sacar unas calificaciones para que no anden como nosotros trabajando en el campo alli en el sol y en el frio.
Julia: I tell them that they need to (work really hard) in school, to earn qualifications (good grades) so they don’t have to work like me and my husband, in the sun and in the cold.
Maria: Eso es lo que pienso pues, de ellos, de su futuro.
Julia: That’s what I think about them and their future.
Maria: Pero quien sabe ellos que vayan a pensar cuando esten grandes.
Julia: But who knows what they’ll think when they’re bigger (older).
Maria: Si, si les vaya a gustar la escuela mas adelante or no.
Julia: If they’ll want to keep going in school, further on or not.
Julia: ¿Le gustaria que todavia tuvieran algo, como del campo, como verduras frescas o el conocimiento do como cocinar o flores, en sus vidas? Do you hope they still have something from the countryside, like fresh vegetables, or the knowledge of how to cook, or flowers, in their lives?
Maria: Si, tambien me gustaria que supieran todo eso del campo.
Julia: Si, at the same time I would like for them to know all of this about the countryside.
Julia: Are there things that you miss about your life in Mexico? (Asks in Spanish)
Maria: Pues si, todo.
Julia: Well yes. Everything.
Maria: Porque es diferente, la vida aqui y alla.
Julia: 'Cause its different, the life here and there.
Maria: Porque alla, es de, no andamos mirando el reloj que no se hace tarde como aqui.
Julia: There we don’t go around watching our watches to see if we’re going to be late like here.
Maria: Si, aqui es mas rapida la vida, se va mas rapida.
Julia: (Yes), here it's faster, life; it goes by faster.
Maria: Pero aqui, si, tambien vivo a gusto. Me gusta aqui donde vivimos.
Julia: But here also, we live with some happiness. I like where we live here.
