Amy Nagle's Inquiry Presentation

I listened to Amy's presentation about her projectand wanted to comment on it a little bit. She talks about some of the different physical activities that are related to core stability in Ghana- she mentions specifically the way women carry things, including their children. We have all seen the pictures of African women carrying large loads on their heads, as well, I am always amazed at how they will carry their children on their backs all day. This seems like anobvious difference between the African cultur and the American culture. I question if i will be able to find these same types of postural activities in Mexico. It makes me think that the kinds of activities that will affect core stability will be more subtle and therefore harder to recognize. It also brings to mind that perhaps there will not be a difference in core stability between Mexican and American children. If this is the case, there isn't really anything that I can do and the results willnot show as different. But if there is a difference, I need to be making very close observations and figuring out what the differences are caused by. I will really try to involve myself as much as possible in the activities of the people in order to not only observe the differences with my eyes, but to also feel the affects of the acitivities on my own muscles. I wonder though if I will be able to participate in all of the activities. I will probably be able to easily participate in the activities of the younger women or even the older women. It might be more difficult to participate in the activities of the children and especially of the men. I will do my best to be able to do what the children dobecause they represent the population that I am studying. I don't want top be seen as strange though and I don't want to overstep my bounds with the kids either. I'm not sure how much I'll try to participate in the activities of the men. I feel like that would seem even stranger to the people. Iwill try to make good observations though (even then I wonder if they will think that I am strange for watching them in the fields.) I'll try to do it in a way that is inconspicuous. If I just sit and watch- that would seem weird. I'll have to make observations while I am walking from place to place and listen carefully without seeming too strange. Hopefully, I will be able to be doing something while I observe so that they do not realize that I am observing them.

Language again

Matt you should still give me credit for doing this post. It was insightful and from a specific conference lecture that Ashley recommended that we listen to. So here it is again.

I listened to "Where's my Babel Fish" yesterday and have been thinking a bit about language in general. First off I think it's great that we were given a list of slang and profane words and phrases to help us understand a little bit better what is going on. In addition, I have been thinking a lot about language from doing the translation work for my consent and assent forms. There are so many words that are just not common in Spanish. For instance some of the exercises and equipment that I will be using just are not common words in Spanish- at least not for a common person. I think I could say the same thing for English sometimes. If I start talking about lateral flexion of the I.S. joint, most people are not going to understand what I'm talking about. This is also something that I have seen when I work in the physical therapy clinic. The PT will explain certain structures of the body or procedures using words that I just learned in my anatomy class last semester. So, I am sure that the patient does not quite understand what he is talking about. This is just not too helpful for that person. This is something that I will need to be careful of when I am in the field. Common words for me may be uncommon to the people I will be living with. Even Spanish words that I have learned in class may actually be rarely used in rural Mexico and there will be other words that the people use for what I want to say. I imagine I will have frequent headaches while I am there trying to understand what is going on. So while this difficulty and problem is inevitable, I hope that it will not hinder me too much in my field study experience. In fact, I am excited to figure out how the people living in the rural areas outside of Irapuato speak and communicate differently than I have imagined here. It will be neat to learn some of the appropriate words and phrases that are unique only to Mexico and even only to Irapuato and the Ranchos.
In addition, it is not only language that differs between cultures, but as Liann described, there are concepts and ideas that vary greatly. Some ideas in American English just do not exist in India. I anticipate that there will be some similar difficulties that I find in Mexico. I am especially interested to find out the differences in their understanding of health and physical activity and then see how these differences in ideas bring about differences in behavior. At the end of Liann's discussion she mentions that she wishes she had emphasized the qualitative data more because it helps interpret the significance of the quantitative data so much more. This is something that I have been thinking about. I hope that three months in Irapuato is sufficient time to shed some light on the cultural reasons for physical differences between Mexico and other areas of the world.

asking questions to get good answers

I have been thinking a little about the conversations that I am going to have in Mexico and how I would like to find out more about their ideas of health and the role it plays in their lives. I am not planning on doing any formal interviewing for my project but I thought that it would be helpful to go over one of the readings about asking questions to gain some insight into how to get answers to some of the questions I have. While reading through it I have tried to come up with some useful questions that I could ask while engaged in friendly conversation. Some of these questions are not formed in a descriptive way, but by asking them I can then ask the ones that are more descriptive. Here they are:

·        Why do you cook the food that way?

·        When you cook, what is the most important part of it?

·        What would you say that your husband would say is most important?

·        What would you do differently if your child were sick/ too skinny/ too fat?

·        What types of activities do you do that you feel make you stronger?

·        Do you ever do anything just to make you stronger?

·        When is it that you start to feel tired while working? Do you ever?

·        What is an interesting question about health?

·        If a group of mothers was talking after cooking dinner/ doing chores what kinds of questions would they ask each other?

·        Could you describe a typical day in the fields/ doing chores/ at school?

·        Could you describe your day yesterday from the time that you finished school to the time that you went to bed?

·        Tell me about the last time you had to run? The last time your muscles were sore? Why?

·        The next time you ______________ (do laundry, go to the town, cook that) can I come along?

·        What is your activity/play like now and how is it different from when you were younger?

·        How would you refer to someone who runs a lot? Is very athletic?

·        How would you refer to someone who is very healthy?

·        If you were talking to your friend _________ would you say it that way?

·        If you were talking to a child how would you refer to it?

·        What are some other ways in which I could use that word?  

·        What do you do during free time? What would you do if you had free time? What do you do during _________’s free time?

Some of these questions are better than others. I think that it gets the ball rolling though. I think that as I am there I will be able to clarify the questions a little more to the specific situations. I also think that some of the way these questions are worded doesn’t work for just friendly conversation. And even reading through the reading, I felt that some of the example questions he gave were rude. For instance, asking a waitress to give an example of someone giving her a hard time, can be a terribly rude thing to ask if she is emotional about a specific incidence. Or asking someone to play a game of bridge and explain to him what they are doing along the way, can be really obnoxious. I think that is why it is so important to first build rapport with the interviewee. Also, I see how these questions can work, I just also see that if he’s not careful he could end up bothering someone and not get any information out of them. As for my questions, I think that I will have to work on them a bit but writing them down does help me focus a bit more on the types of questions that will get me more meaningful answers.

Religion in the Ranchos- La Misa and other such stuff

I have had a few opportunities this semester to attend religious "events" in Spanish- meaning that it was in Spanish with native Spanish speakers. I also finished reading Pedro Paramo- which was a weird book, perhaps a little too existential for my purposes- but I drew a lot of insight about religion from it.  So I thought that I would start with a little report on La Misa and then try to tie in a few other things that will/might apply to my experience in the field.
There were several differences that I noticed in La Misa than what we usually find in Mormon worship services- or even American worship services. One was the food that was there. I regret now that I didn't stop to eat something- but knowing the kind of person I am- shy at first and then I branch out a little- I know that would have been hard for me. If I did it again I would definitely stay for food. Maybe I'll get a chance to go again before leaving. So from that aspect of the Misa and from what I've heard about Mexican culture and even seen- food is a big part of the culture and is even present in religious situations. Of course Mormons do this too- just in other ways. I wish I had more insight about this- that just tells me I should have gotten a churro or something and I probably would have more insight.
As well, in La Misa people were dressed in more casual clothes. I also saw a lot of different types of people. It wasn't just old ladies or families, there were young adults and men alone etc. They all also seemed to have a different way of worshipping- meaning that some of them sang, some did not, some knew the words of the prayers and some did not- or at least didn't repeat them, some held their arms up when they prayed, some did not. In a setting where I was living among them- for instance, I might be able to do this in the field- I might be able to draw conclusions about why each person acted they way they did. Even if I had talked to more people that day, I could not have gotten to know them so well to know what type of person they were and why they were at Mass and why they did or did not repeat the prayers. But in a field study situation, this might be something that I will be better able to do. And since my project doesn't deal so much with religion, this might not be part of the questions that I try to answer, but I could perhaps gain insight into why certain people eat what they eat and the types of physical activity they engage in and why. I'm sure that there are variations within the community. I want to understand their perspective as a whole on health etc, but in order to do that I have to find out what the individual differences are.So the point of this thought is that, only given one afternoon to make observations about people is not enough. It is good practice and can open up some questions, but spending three months will give me so much more opportunity- even at that, I'm sure that three months will in some ways feel insufficient.
Another aspect of religion that I wanted to comment on was that it seems as though it is starting to change. For instance, more people were wearing jeans and more casual clothes than people used to in the past. Also, there were some electric guitars, which several decades ago would most likely not have been permitted in church. In class we have also discussed some of the changes in religion that are happening in Mexico. Roman Catholicism is still the predominant religion, but other religions are giving rise. There is supposed to be an Evangelical Church going up in the Ranchos. I am interested to see how the people respond to this and the changes in religious dynamics that it causes. In the book Pedro Paramo, religion was not portrayed well. The book was written several decades ago during what was probably the beginnings of some of these religious changes in Mexico. The author portrayed the Padre as a hypocrite, preaching of virtue but displaying none of his own. The people of the town were portrayed as ignorant followers (for the most part) going to the Padre for final judgment on their acts but in the end, dying and ending up in a heavenless state- like the idea of purgatory. The author seems to be saying that despite their beliefs there is nothing after death. The history of Mexico reports a very strong influence of religion, especially from the Catholic Church, it will be interesting to see if the people in the Ranchos still hold to this tradition, or if some of the philosophies of other religions/ideas are seeping into their culture.
Of course, I'm not really sure how I would go about answering these questions. It is not connected to my academic project, and religion can be a very sensitive subject. I also wouldn't want to get into a situation where I was presenting my beliefs in an inappropriate way. I think, though, that by participating in and observing the religious events, I will be able to gain some insight and maybe even be able to come up with some questions or engage in some harmless conversation.

Fresh Ideas

So I have been thinking some more about the challenges that I will face when I am in Mexico attempting to apply some of these cross-cultural skills and actually do this project that I have been preparing for. It is quite difficult to figure out what to do when you don't actually know what it will be like and you kind of just have to wait and see. But as I was giving my presentation today one of the challenges that I am most concerned for is helping the kids be motivated to do the exercises that I have for them. I mentioned that I would try to find common movements that the kids do everyday and compare them to the movements that I would like them to perform. Someone suggested somehow making it into a game. I think that is a great idea. I'm not quite sure how I will do it but I've been brainstorming a bit. SOmething that I have thought of is explaining the exercises through some sort of story or rhyme. Kind of like the rhyme about the bunny when you tie your shoes. This is the rhyme that I found online: "Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me. Bunny ears, Bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side beautiful and bold."
I'm not sure if I could come up with a rhyme but I think that I could come up with some sort of a story.
For instance, with the squat I could have them pretend they are ducking under something overhead. The bar they have to hold straight over their head could have some sort of food that they can't spill balanced on it. They have to keep their heels down- maybe their heels are on a mouses tail and if they lift them up the mouse will get away.
These are just ideas that came from the top of my head. I'd also like to incorporate cultural practices or other things that they are familiar with. For instance, I could have story with food they eat every day, or animals that are around the Ranchos. I could even use specific people that they know- like their teachers.
I'd like to come up with some ideas now of how I would do this with kids here in Provo just to have some sort of a base to work with. Then I can change the stories or rhymes to make them fit the culture of the Ranchos. Maybe there are already some rhymes or songs that the kids are familiar with. I could try to modify these somehow.
It's nice to have an idea like this because I have honestly not been sure what I can do to prepare myself for some of the difficulties that I am sure I will encounter. This gives me more of a concrete idea to work from. Maybe it won't work at all but it will probably lead me to figure out something that will work.

challenges

So from preparing my presentation I have been thinking about the possible challenges that I might encounter while I'm in Mexico. The challenge that I wrote down in class the other day that I'm scared of the most- or that would be the worst to encounter was that I would somehow offend someone to the point where I lost their trust and couldn't do my project and that this would cause problems for future field study students. Yeah- I'm just going to try really hard to not do that. I don't foresee any big problems that I could cause. But I guess my plan for fixing that would be that I would try and talk to someone within the community about how to repair what I may have ruined. I don't have bad intentions so I don't imagine I could do anything too harmful but I guess we'll see. I've been dilligently studying those mexican obscenities so that I know what words to steer away from :)
I was also thinking about the difficulties that I'll have trying to get the kids to do planks and things. I think that they will think it's really weird and stupid to try and hold a plank position for so long. So that is another challenge that I am worried about- getting the kids to cooperate. I have a few ideas in mind. Someone today suggested making it a challenge for them or some sort of a competition. I'm not sure if that is ethical or how to make it ethical.Maybe I could give a prize to the student that performs the best on each exercise. We'll see though. I'm not sure it that would even work very well. I just want them perform their best on the tests and not be lazy or unmotivated about them.
I was also thinking about entering the community and the gate keepers that I will need to get through. I think it will take some time to figure out how to present my project to them. Especially to the parents of the children that I will ask to participate. So I will have to figure out how to talk to people about it.

Culture Shock

So I really enjoyed the discussion in class today. I have a few thoughts about culture shock. First I think that it is important to realize that it is inevitable. Thinking that I will be somehow immune to it will not help me prepare for it. Also, this makes it so that I can realize that it is normal. Someone mentioned in class today that they would think to themselves- I'm not usually this grumpy/irritable- and this would help them understand that it was just a part of the culture shock. I think that this is a good thing to keep in mind. As well, it would be good that when in the honeymoon stage of the summer, to realize it and know that even though things seem so great now, ups and downs will come and that it is not biculturalism. Anyway, I think being aware that these stages and ups and downs are normal is a good way to cope with them while they are occurring. It is good to be self aware and not think that something is a bigger deal than it is.
With that said, I was also thinking of other ways to cope with culture shock. Someone mentioned not having too high of expectations or at least not too specific of an idea of what things will be like. We really can't tell beforehand what the experience will be like and when we have too specific of an idea it is for sure not going to be like that when we get there. So we will for sure be disappointed or shocked or it will somehow be harder to cope with it than if we had neutral expectations for the experience. Or even know that there will be some nights when I might cry or just be unhappy. This is not having low expectations, but it is being realistic and aware of the potential negative moments I might experience.
I also liked the coping mechanism mentioned- to use humor, or to laugh. I'm not sure which. I used this alllllll the time on my mission. I had a companion who said - you're either laughing or you're crying- so when we had hard days- which was often- we would laugh and joke around. Some of my later companions thought I was crazy but I was much more happy and could work better.
I also have a personal theory that when we're in a tough spot and are doing something really hard or uncomfortable just think of what a great story it will make someday. Even some of the uncomfortable moments that Ashley shared in class. They weren't pleasant at the time I'm sure but it was a great story to tell later and even a really unique experience that taught her a lot and she uses it now to teach us. I like thinking of the potential of a good story when I'm experiencing something really tough. It seems to give me a little perspective that the experience won't last forever- and even that thought can make me appreciate the experience a little more because I know that it won't last forever.

Language

I listened to "Where's my Babel Fish" yesterday and have been thinking a bit about language in general. First off I think it's great that we were given a list of slang and profane words and phrases to help us understand a little bit better what is going on. In addition, I have been thinking a lot about language from doing the translation work for my consent and assent forms. There are so many words that are just not common in Spanish. For instance some of the exercises and equipment that I will be using just are not common words in Spanish- at least not for a common person. I think I could say the same thing for English sometimes. If I start talking about lateral flexion of the I.S. joint, most people are not going to understand what I'm talking about. This is also something that I have seen when I work in the physical therapy clinic. The PT will explain certain structures of the body or procedures using words that I just learned in my anatomy class last semester. So, I am sure that the patient does not quite understand what he is talking about. This is just not too helpful for that person. This is something that I will need to be careful of when I am in the field. Common words for me may be uncommon to the people I will be living with. Even Spanish words that I have learned in class may actually be rarely used in rural Mexico and there will be other words that the people use for what I want to say. I imagine I will have frequent headaches while I am there trying to understand what is going on. So while this difficulty and problem is inevitable, I hope that it will not hinder me too much in my field study experience. In fact, I am excited to figure out how the people living in the rural areas outside of Irapuato speak and communicate differently than I have imagined here. It will be neat to learn some of the appropriate words and phrases that are unique only to Mexico and even only to Irapuato and the Ranchos.
In addition, it is not only language that differs between cultures, but as Liann described, there are concepts and ideas that vary greatly. Some ideas in American English just do not exist in India. I anticipate that there will be some similar difficulties that I find in Mexico. I am especially interested to find out the differences in their understanding of health and physical activity and then see how these differences in ideas bring about differences in behavior. At the end of Liann's discussion she mentions that she wishes she had emphasized the qualitative data more because it helps interpret the significance of the quantitative data so much more. This is something that I have been thinking about. I hope that three months in Irapuato is sufficient time to shed some light on the cultural reasons for physical differences between Mexico and other areas of the world.

New Insights

Okay so this is going to be an exciting post because I have some new insights that I can share. First, I was thinking about that thing that Amy said about making the assessments more functional. Well I can't really change the tests because then it wouldn't match the other studies making the idea kind of obsolete. However, I was thinking that while I am in Mexico for the first little while, I will try to observe different activities that the people do (either the kids or the adults) that are similar to or use the same movements as the the things that I will be testing. Then when I test the kids I can compare it to that activity and they can maybe see the value in me doing the tests instead of telling me that I'm torturing them, like Amy said the kids in Ghana told her. I don't know about you but I think this is a good idea. So for instance, for the hurdle step, maybe there is a fence that the kids have to climb over everyday and I could say that with this test we can see how good they are at climbing over a fence without wobbling over or using support. I just have to figure out how to say wobbling in Spanish.
Another piece of advice that Amy mentioned was understanding the culture to know how to influence them to let me do this study. It sounds somewhat manipulative but Amy is so sweet I don't think she manipulated them at all. She just used it to her advantage. She said the the Ghanaian people are somewhat proud of their physical strength so when she would present them the project they were eager to demonstrate how they were, "of course" stronger than the fat Americans. That was kind of her hypothesis so it wasn't a terrible assumption on their part. Anyway, she said that made it easier for her. So she would emphasize that it was a comparative study regarding strength and the Ghanaians were very eager to help her. So, when I'm in Mexico I will be looking for indications of which part of the study the Mexican people will relate to and when I present the study I'll be sure to explain that part- and I wouldn't leave out other things of course. I wish I could think of some things now that I could prepare for. All I can really think of is that I just feel like all Latinos, Mexicans included, are so nice and so they will probably be willing to help me. This come from my interaction with them here in the States- but they might just be nice here because I am a little white girl who is willing to speak my cute Spanish with them. Anyway, this will be something that I think about.
In addition, in the IRB protocol whatnot that we had today I was told to try and think of more risks that might be involved in the study- just to be thorough. One risk I will emphasize earlier is the risk of working with children. I also thought of the risk of competition among the children. What will some children think if they don't get picked for the study or if their parents don't allow it? Also, there may be competition within the kids that get picked. I don't want to have any of the other subjects present while I am assessing another child. I wouldn't want that child to be embarrassed. There also may be some more obese children that feel uncomfortable doing these exercises because they get made fun of or for other reasons. And there is also my gender- some kids may be shy doing this in front of a girl. So I may need to think of a way to get someone to help me with that- maybe a teacher or someone. In any case, I need to minimize these risks and try to think of any others that I can include in the protocol just to be thorough.
So these are my new insights and I think they are pretty good. They have at least gotten me thinking a little bit about how I can better prepare for the culture of Mexico.
Voila!

Finally got to talk to Amy

I was finally able to talk to Amy today. She brought up a lot of really great points for me to think about while I do the study in Mexico. I will highlight a few things. She mentioned that there were a lot of cultural differences that she didn't think of before getting there. - Kind of like we've been learning in class- :) For instance the Ghanaian perception of exercise is a lot different than the American idea. We think its no big deal to go for a run- or we even want to because we know that will help us stay fit. The Ghanaians don't need to exercise to stay fit. The things that they do everyday keep them fit. They walk everywhere and they do a lot of physical labor. So to go for a run is like torturing yourself. In addition, they don't have physical education in the schools there so they are not used to being told how to exercise or stay fit and they definitely are not used to fitness assessments.When Amy would test the kids, she would have them do side bridges etc for as long as they could and they would think it was so pointless- how can that determine if you are strong or you can work hard etc? For them it was like she was torturing them. So she said it would have been better to have them perform some sort of functional task determined by their culture- like carry a load on their heads- which they do all the time and measure that some how. I'm not sure what kinds of functional tests I could give the kids in Mexico- maybe something to do with a soccer ball. I'll have to think about that.
When I spoke to my Mexican friend for the Methods 1 interview- she said that they do have PE in Mexico and they have fitness testing in the lower levels. So I can anticipate that the kids are somewhat used to it but I am sure there will be some differences from the United States and the kids/all the people will have a difficult time understanding why I am making them do what I am will make them do. I'm not sure what these differences will be. I think I will talk to another Mexican that I know about this.
Amy also told me how she did her recruiting and I think it sounds genius and so simple that I wish I had thought of it before. She went through the teacher and sent letters home to the parents for them to sign giving kids permission to participate in the study. One thing she said she wished she'd had was to be able to meet the parents. The area she was in was fairly large and so she couldn't go meet all the parents there. But my area will be small and so it will be much easier for me to meet the parents and discuss the project with them and just in general build rapport. Also, this way I can make sure that they understand what the study is for because she said that she felt that a lot of people signed the form without really knowing what it was - especially since it wasn't in their native language.
There were several other insights that I got from Amy- mostly concerning timing and how to conduct the project. So it was a really good meeting. One sort of take home message that she said was- try to anticipate all the cultural differences that will affect your project but realize that you can't actually anticipate them all.

I have so many questions that I need answered.

Okay so starting the IRB proposal seemed like it was going to be a headache. And it kind of was but I was able to get a few things finished up. I still have a lot of holes though. I am a little frustrated because I haven't had success getting with my mentors about the project. I have just been emailing them questions but I think going to their offices will be much more effective. They have a lot of the answers that I need especially concerning the methods that we will use for the project. For now in my proposal I have made up a lot of the procedures according to what I think it will be like, but that might just change. But I'm just trying to think through the process and write it out as logically as possible. There are some places though where I know that I do not understand exactly how it will be so before wasting a lot time, I want to ask them directly.
I have been able to get a hold of Amy. We plan to have a meeting in Salt Lake this Saturday to discuss the project. I have a lot of questions to ask her as well. These questions have more to do with conducting the study in a different culture than they are about the methods. For instance, What went easier than she expected- if anything did. What was a lot harder than she anticipated? How did she find participants? How did she explain the project to the participants and the parents? How was she received? How did she handle any negative feelings that she may have encountered? What was most affective in working with the children? Was she able to effectively instruct them on the exercises? How did the pedometers work out? Did she lose any? (I want to know because my mentors want to give the kids accelerometers this time and they are a lot more expensive.) What advice can she give me for this type of a project? What would she think would differ in Mexico from her project in Ghana?
These are just a few of the questions that I have had in my mind and while I have a few ideas about the responses, it is always better to hear it from someone who has first hand experience. So in conclusion, I have a lot of questions that I need to ask a lot of people before I can move forward with my project.

Thoughts about the class readings

I enjoyed the class readings for today, but one thing that I thought of while reading them, especially "Christmas in the Kalahari" was STRESS. The idea that you think that you are doing something nice only to find out that it is the exact opposite thing that you should have done is probably one of the worst feelings ever. Of course in the story he actually did do it right, but he thought it was wrong and it gave him a lot of anxiety. And if he had really done something wrong it would have really sucked. That is just the type of cross-cultural misunderstanding that I'd prefer not to have while I'm in Mexico. That being said, how do I make sure that it doesn't happen? One of the interesting things from the article was that when he understood that the people were only teasing him and he asked them why they didn't tell him that was their custom and they said he didn't ask. That really killed him. As an field researcher he knows the importance of questions in his investigations. But really- how was he supposed to know he should ask a question like that? How do researchers figure out how to ask questions and not just assume that what they are presented with is the truth? I think about how I might react in the field. I am a pretty confidant person and can easily talk to people, but I can also be very shy especially when I'm not sure what I am supposed to be doing or if I feel disapproval from others that I respect. I anticipate that it will take me a bit of time to feel comfortable in Mexico. I will try my best to push myself out of my comfort zone right away but I also want to make sure that I don't step on any cultural toes while I do so. It is quite a delicate balance to try and enter a different culture as an active participant without knowing exactly which actions are appropriate and which actions are completely inappropriate. That's why I say STRESS when I think of this situation. The anthropologist was trying to do something nice for the people and while essentially he did, his lack of understanding of the culture caused him a lot of anxiety as he was trying to figure out why they were acting the way they were.
And so I say stress to that but in the end I have to remind myself of the great lesson he learned. Not only did he learn the lesson of humility which was the goal of the people, but he learned that they were essentially treating him as they would any native member of their community. This means that he was accepted among them. He had successfully entered their community and was treated as they were. Of course he was still different and not considered to be a native member there, but he was well integrated into their community and well-liked. So with that said- his time there was very successful even if it got a bit stressful sometimes. So when I go to Mexico- honestly if I am not constantly feeling like I'm being pushed out of my comfort zone, I'm probably not learning as much as I really need to be learning. So while I might feel some STRESS  at times (hopefully not too severe- or at least hopefully I won't do anything to ruin my trust with the people etc) I will also learn a ton and feel that my time there was a success.

machismo

I have read a few articles about machismo. First I would like to rephrase something that I said in an earlier post. From the article (Urquieta-Salomon, J, Tephichin-Valle, A, & Tellez-Rojo, M. (2008). Poverty and gender perspective in productive projects for rural women in mexico: impact evaluation of a pilot project. Evaluation Review, 33(1), 27-53.) I said that the women are not capable of advancing or learning new skills in order to get out of the poverty that they currently face. I did not mean it in that I  think that they are not capable. I was reporting the findings from the article. They found that the programs that they implemented were not successful because of the limited capacities that the women had and they had never been taught to increase their skill set. Etc. I personally think that women can help themselves and are very capable of learning new skill sets etc especially when it comes to helping their families. The article didn’t support this idea. Either way, I feel like I will see better what the women are like in Mexico and how they respond to things like machismo as well as traditions or changing traditions etc when I get there. Maybe my ideas and thinking will change.

As far as the article that I just recently read for today (LaFranchi, H. (1999). Woman cracks mexico's 'machismo'. Christian Science Monitor, 91(171), Retrieved from https://www.lib.byu.edu/cgi- bin/remoteauth.pl url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mih&AN=2083434&site=ehost-live&scope=site">Womancracks Mexico's `machismo.')I think that it shows the changes that Mexico is encountering while also showing how Mexico is slow to change. First off I feel that it is important for me to say that while I try to look at cultures and other ways of thinking objectively, I would not be honest if I did not say that I hate Machismo and sexism and the problems that come with it. With that said, I feel like I need to try to put my feelings aside in order to try not to judge the people and also to try and understand how and why they do what they do. It has been a concern of mine, how the Mexican people will react to me- as an educated woman trying to take measurements and collect data etc. I honestly have no idea if my gender will be a problem for them. But what I can try to make sure of is that there ideas about my gender do not become a problem for me. I have a higher goal in mind and if I allow my pride to get in the way and try to play a role that for them is not comfortable, they will not be so interested in helping me out.

Anyway, some of my thoughts however are as follows. Who says that a woman playing a traditional role in the home is a bad thing? In all honesty, this is somewhat of a personal dilemma that I have faced while trying to prepare for my career and simultaneously prepare for a family. I feel like the most important thing to look at is whether the people are happy. For instance, in the article “Woman Cracks Mexico’s ‘Machismo,’” it is stated that women are just as likely as men to support the traditional role of women in the home and well as vote for male leaders instead of female leaders. Women seem to be okay with this. (Okay, I’m sure that any radical feminist could come up with many reasons why women are okay with this. They are not allowed to be educated. They are brainwashed. I don’t know.—and I’ll be honest. It is not hard for me to think these same things. The oppression of women is real and not right.— are these women being oppressed? Who am I to judge?) Women may be just as happy staying at home with their children than men are going to work. In fact, one benefit to this idea is that women know their role and men know their role. Some of the confusion that comes with non-traditional roles would be absent. Also, in several articles I have read it shows that women usually get lower levels of education than their husbands. Maybe this does not bother them. I guess my point is that I cannot judge whether it is right or wrong. I think that the most important thing is whether the people are happy in the society and roles that they are in. While I am living with them, I also will better learn these roles and try to fit into them as well as I can. 

Interviewing and observing

I think that the interviewing assignment was pretty enlightening for me. First, I really enjoyed talking to the student. She was very helpful and interested in helping me fulfill my assignment. I also think that while this experience was helpful in practicing for being out in the field, my interviews with the Mexicans in actual rural Mexico will be a lot different. First of all, they will not be students who understand the importance of allowing another student to fulfill an assignment. Also they will not speak English and even though I spoke with her somewhat in Spanish, it was easy to fall back on English. With that also in mind- we were somewhat rushed. while I was able to put in the 45 minutes, we both had things that we needed to go do. So I hope that while I'm in the field time will be my friend. There will be more time to sit and talk to people, in a less formal way. There will be more time for me to be able to express myself in Spanish. In addition, I am kind of glad that my project relies a lot on quantitative data. (Although I also feel that this in itself will come with a different set of challenges.) Interviewing and remembering what the people say, asking the right questions, and getting the types of answers that you are looking for is indeed very hard. I will still need to informally interview people in order to get a feel of the activity levels and culture aspects that may possibly affect core stability, but I am glad that it is not the only data that I am relying on.
In addition, I want to comment briefly on the interview with my Mexican friend. She seemed to be in the opinion that children in Mexico now are not participating in the same activities as she did when she was a child. She feels that the children are less active. This is more evidence that suggests that there may not be a difference between American children and Mexican children in terms of core stability. My interviewee grew up in a larger city on the coast of Mexico and so her observations may not be the same as what I will see in the small rural areas that I am going. I guess that I will see when I get there.
Lastly, I want to briefly report on the meeting that I had with Dr. Mitchell. It was very informative and as helped me see a little bit more what I need to focus on. First, she told me that they changed to fitness tests that we will be administering. I will have to be trained in how to give these tests and to know what to look for. I'm excited because they seem to have it worked out fairly well. Also, she said that they are working on a movie that will demonstrate the tests. I will need to get it dubbed over in Spanish. I'm not sure how easy or difficult it will be to show a dvd in Mexico. It's something that I will need to look into. Dr. Mitchell also talked to me about the IRB approval which they have already started drafting. And so while that is nearing completion, I also need to have the forms etc translated into Spanish. So I will begin working on that fairly soon.
So right now, I'm making headway but I still have a long way to go.

Methods Practice 1: Interviewing

Methods Practice 1: Interviewing

I was able to interview a student from Mexico this past Friday. I found her simply by looking around campus and asking her where she was from. I had never met her before but she was very friendly and willing to answer any questions that I had. So this interview was semi-structured. I had most of the control over the topics of discussion, but she was also able to freely answer the questions and expound as she liked.
Activity level changes
Some of the points of interest that she brought up were the differences in activities between children when she was small and children today. She feels that kids today are not as active as she was when she was a girl. She says that she remembers always running and running. In her opinion the rumors of increasing obesity among children is true. In addition, she feels that not just children but adults are less active than they were in the past. More people take cars and buses instead of walking. She gave two reasons for this, increased laziness and increased danger. She felt that both were equally to blame.
Comparing US and Mexico
I feel it important to also note that of the activities that she listed having taken part in, the differences that I might note from my childhood is that she walked a lot more as a primary means of transportation and she also noted that they played a lot of soccer. She did not mention bicycles or other types of toys that they played with. I also didn't ask her about them either. But she mentioned being outside a lot and playing games like hide and seek or other games that they would make up. This is something very similar to what I enjoyed as a child as well.
Diet
Another interesting note was the diet she described. She mentioned a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. She didn't even know that you could get frozen vegetables at the store. She also made it a point to say that Mexicans eat a lot of fried food that can be very fatty. The meals they eat are also usually very fresh even if they are fried. They do not eat often at fast food restaurants. And McDonalds in Mexico has more fresh foods and takes longer to eat there than in the United States- according to her.
She also talks about "treats." She did not eat a lot of junk food and sugar as a girl. For treats she would have a lot of fruit. She eats more candy in the United States as an adult than she did as a girl in Mexico. 
PE in schools
When asked about physical education in schools she mentioned that during the younger years PE mostly focused on fitness testing instead of instruction. In the later years they were taught to play sports like volleyball and also played a lot of soccer. In addition, they were taught how to dance in school. I want to note that she didn't think of this as physical activity. I asked her directly about dancing and the latin culture. She agreed that it was a big part of the culture but that they didn't do it much until they got older. As children they were dance in school and at parties sometimes, but it was mostly for adults.)
Influence of technology
At the end of the interview she made it a point that the advances in technology were the cause of the obesity problems and lack of physical activity among children. She did not have tv growing up and now every household has a tv. She also mentioned the numerous television channels with cartoons and other kid type shows that are available all day long. This is another change from her childhood. She said that when they did watch television it was at a certain time that they could watch cartoons and then after that they had to find other things to do. I asked her as well about video games. She said that she doesn't know many kids who have video games, but she feels that computer games are getting bigger and bigger and more children are spending time doing that.

Mexican student (M)
Interviewer (I)
I: How long have you been in the United States?
M: about 5 years.
I: Did you know English before you came?
M: A little bit. My father, for a little while, was a graduate student here getting his masters. So when I was really little I learned English but then we moved back to Mexico and I was there until I decided to come here to go to school.
I: Well your English is very good. I imagine that it would be very difficult to go to school in a non-native language.
M: Yeah it is. My English isn’t perfect and it’s a lot different here.
I: What are you studying?
- (Information is too identifying and not related to this study. Also, I gave her a brief introduction to the study that I’m doing and we had a little bit of good yet irrelevant small talk.)
I: what kinds of activities did you participate in as a kid?
M: Oh we were always playing. We were always outside. We played games like hide and seek and a lot of futbol. We didn’t have a tv so we were outside all the time.
I: what about dancing? Isn’t that something very integrated into all latino cultures? When do you start learning to dance and how much is it a part of your life?
M: Oh yeah dancing is huge. As little kids we don’t dance very much. There is dancing at parties maybe and other activities but little children don’t dance a lot. But then we learn it in school. They teach us different dances in school. And so then we start to dance more and it’s really fun. Later on though we don’t want to do it because we are embarrassed. We think that people are looking at us and stuff.
I: So is this like a teenager type attitude?
M: Yeah when we are teenagers we don’t want to dance. We think it’s weird or something. But when we get older we really like it. We dance at everything. All parties and holidays. It’s a lot of fun.
I: What about other activities or sports? Do they teach you other sports in school?
M: What do you mean?
I: Well for example, in the United States we have PE classes. . .
M: Oh yeah we have those too in Mexico. In elementary school they give us physical testing you know like jumping jacks or they measure how far we can stretch. Things like that. Then later in Junior High we learn to play a lot of sports. We learn like volleyball and we play lots of futbol. Then we have tournaments and things like that to compete in and it’s a lot of fun.
I: What about at home? What kinds of chores did you do? For instance, did you help your mom cook or work out in the yard with your dad or help him fix things?
M: Yeah – mom would cook. . . I remember my dad would play with us a lot. He was always doing things with us. He would take us to the beach every week. He would also bring the neighbors and we would go to the beach to play. Our house was only like 3 blocks from the ocean and so we would walk there.
I: Did you walk most places? Did you walk to school for instance?
M: Yeah we walked a lot. When I was a little girl I was always running everywhere. I would walk to school when I was really little and then I would take the bus when I got older. But a lot of people walked. They don’t so much anymore. And the kids do not play the same now as they used to.
I: So you think that the things that you did as a kid aren’t the same as what they do now.
M: Yeah the kids don’t play as much as they used to. Not outside. They don’t have the same games. They watch a lot more television. We didn’t even have a tv but now everyone has a tv. And even you don’t see as many people just walking, they are lazier. They take the bus mostly. The public transportation there is really good. Not like here in Provo. But still before people walked a lot more. I guess it’s also kind of dangerous now. More than it was before.
I: So would you say that the people are walking less because of the danger or because they are lazy? Which do you feel is the main cause?
M: I think it’s both honestly. I think that both factors go into it.
I: Okay, well let me ask you about eating and food in Mexico. How many meals do you eat and can you describe them a little bit?
M: Well when we were little we would take lunch to school. A packed lunch. And we have four meals a day, not just three. But the last one is very light. It would usually be something small like bread and some chocolate milk. So it wasn’t really like a meal.
I: Yeah it seems like just a small snack.
M: Yeah it was very light. We would have that and then three other meals. And we ate every day at the same time.
I: What kinds of foods would you eat?
M: My mom would cook it mostly. We ate a lot of fresh vegetables. I didn’t even know that frozen vegetables existed. I thought it was so weird when I came here and saw that you could freeze vegetables. They are not as good. But it is kind of nice because I don’t have a lot of time to cook.
I: So would you take more time to cook and eat when you were in Mexico than you do now?
M: Yeah we would always eat at the house and it was always fresh veggies. We rarely ate fast food. If we ate fast food it was like on the weekend and we thought it was like a special occasion. It wasn’t very common, not like I do now here. And for example, McDonalds is a lot different there. The fast food is different. The McDonalds uses fresh food, fresh fruits and vegetables. And it’s not really fast. If you go there you still have to wait like thirty minutes to get your food because they cook it after you order it. It’s not like here where you get it thirty seconds after you order it.
I: Yeah it’s more like that in France. The food is a lot better too. I don’t think even Americans like the American McDonalds.
M: Yeah in Mexico it is a lot better tasting but it is not as fast as here.
I: What are some differences in your eating habits since you’ve come to the United States?
M: I don’t really eat fruit any more. I used to eat a lot of fruit in Mexico. I would have a lot of mangoes and pineapples and things like that. In Mexico they are a lot better and cheaper. And when I was little I would eat fruit as a treat. To me it was special to eat fruit. We didn’t really eat it with our meals. We ate it more like for dessert. We didn’t have a lot of chocolate or cookies or things like that. I don’t remember eating a lot of that when I was a kid. In fact I think that I eat more of it now than I did when I was little. The candy that we had was even kind of spicy.
I: Oh yeah, I’ve had Mexican candy before and it was like a sucker cover in chili power.
M: Oh yeah we love that. We put chili power on everything and we really like to eat a lot of spicy foods. We would even put it on the fruit and eat fruit with spicy stuff on it.
I: What other kinds of foods did you eat a lot in Mexico?
M: Well, remember we aren’t perfect. We would have fresh fruits and vegetables but we had a lot of fried food as well. We love eating lots of food and deep frying it.
I: I’ve read several articles about an increasing trend of obesity in Mexico, similar to what we are seeing in the United States. What do you think of that? Have you noticed it and what would you suggest is influencing it?
M: Oh yeah well I think that there are a lot of things that go into it. I do feel like the kids are fatter. They don’t run around and play like we used to. I blame technology. You know when I was little we were sometimes able to watch cartoons but they only came on at a certain time. Now kids have tons of channels with cartoons all the time. They can just sit and watch for hours. When we watched tv there was a certain time slot that we could watch them in and we would but then there was nothing else to watch and so we went outside to play.
I: Is it just television or are video games also really big there right now?
M: I don’t see a lot of video games. But I do see a lot of computer games which is essentially the same thing. A lot of kids also play a lot of computer games.
I: Hmm, that is interesting. . . . Okay well thanks so much for letting me talk to you. That is pretty good for not. Good luck.
-END-

Gender Dynamics in Rural Mexico

I read an article discussing a pilot project with the goal of educating and therefore increasing the income of women in rural Mexico. (Urquieta-Salomon, J, Tephichin-Valle, A, & Tellez-Rojo, M. (2008). Poverty and gender perspective in productive projects for rural women in mexico: impact evaluation of a pilot project. Evaluation Review, 33(1), 27-53.) First though, I want to discuss the recent push toward increasing opportunities specifically for women in third world countries as an attempt to improve the economic status not only of the individual women, but of the communities they are in. It is interesting to note the change in emphasis- where before men were given the priority as bread winning and therefore were the ones that could qualify for loans or given education and now it is the women who are given these opportunities. A prime example of this is microcredit, in which only women are given small loans to begin private businesses in order to support their children. With this is mind, I wonder what kind of shift this creates in the culture and gender dynamics of these communities. This article discusses several different interventions that were taken in order to educate and give opportunities to women to help them come above the poverty line. Some of the interventions worked and some did not. Most of the problems seemed to stem from the already embedded gender "roles" and ideals within the society. In Mexico, the women are responsible for the household chores and tasks, while the men earn food or money so that the family can eat. When given "projects" or ways for the women to earn money- they were still left with all of the tasks that were required of them before. The tasks were not redistributed. In addition, the women were already not as well educated as the men. They were not accustomed to learning new things and gaining new capacities. And so they didn't gain the abilities that the interventions attempted to teach them. They do not have the mentality for learning and increasing their potential for a better life. 
This brings to mind a few questions for me and my project. First- how will these differences in gender roles effect my interaction with the people? Who will I need to talk to in order to find subjects for my project? The fathers or the mothers? As well, will they listen to me. I am a woman and I may not be regarded as an equal when I am speaking to men. What will they think of my increased education? Will they judge me for it? Most women my age in Mexico already have a couple of children and are taking care of their households and husbands. Will my difference in position and ideals in life conflict with theirs? I am not really sure if these questions can be answered until I get there. 

Reading: Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo