Reflections on Mexico etc etc

So I figured that I would just write a few key things about my experience in Mexico. These thoughts are all over the place, so bare with me.
First I don't like Nopales. I tried really hard to like them, but I just don't. And also, thats okay. I learned how to tell people that I don't like them or don't want to eat them and it turned out just fine.
Also, my host family was the best. I feel like they were the missing link between the college students visiting from the United States and the rural Mexicans that we were with. Every time we had a question about what something meant or why people do what they do, or if we heard something that we didn't think was really true- gossip or just an unlikely explanation for a cultural practice- we could always get clarification from our host family. They were willing to explain things so that we could understand which wasn't always easy to get from other people. And as well they were fun to be around. We danced, we partied, we watched many many movies, and ate a lot of food. Being with them was an easy way to keep myself in the culture without feeling overwhelmed.
Health in rural Mexico sucks. Here are a few reasons why.
-Nutrition- they eat carbs and sometimes protein. They lack a variety of fruits and vegetables with vitamins and minerals. This isn't really their fault. There is a scarcity of this food and they are poorly educated about proper nutrition. I came to this conclusion after several meals with Silvia's dad, Daniel. He once tried to convince me that eating skunk soup was good for my asthma. I told him that I didn't have asthma. On several other occasions, he gave me misguided dietary advice.
-Exercise- they don't. Silvia likes to exercise. She has lost quite a bit of weight since last year by doing a dance routine that she would make up. We would do it with her. Of course that attracted many of the muchachos from the ranchos. I didn't really like being the night's entertainment but I wanted to support Silvia in her efforts to exercise. She is the only one who exercises and is criticized by many people including her husband for doing it.
HOWEVER- they seem to be very strong. The men and women do a lot of heavy labor and so seem to have a lot of core strength. However, this is accompanied by a lot of girth- the women especially seem to carry a lot of extra weight around their midsection. Many of the men remain fairly trim. This is likely because the men get more aerobic type exercise working in the fields while the women can never seem to get their after-pregnancy weight off because they mostly stay at home.
Physical Education- no one gets it. The teachers themselves are minimally trained on how to teach physical education and proper nutrition. So how would they be expected to teach it. PE class is really just extended recess. Honestly, it is not surprising that Physical Education would not be emphasized in a society where education, in general, is unimportant. Still, the kids seem to be in fairly good health. Of course this was the purpose of my study. I can't draw any conclusion right now because I haven't been able to analyze the data or compare with other data. But from my observations, the kids don't seem to be any less healthy or more healthy than other children their age. They seemed to do the exercises fairly well so maybe they are a little stronger, but still there were some that were less capable.

So those are my thoughts as far as my time in Mexico is concerned. It was certainly an interesting experience. Sometimes it was super exciting and I loved it and sometimes I didn't. But overall it was a good experience- something that I will never forget.