Phone Rings, You Answer: No Matter What

The other day I got a message from a friend that said “I have to tell you, you look amazing. Happy. Radiant!”  I have to tell you that I feel really happy here (and FYI – having someone send you a message like that makes you really feel like you are radiating joy and beauty)!

Radiating joy in el campo. 

One of my fellow volunteers recently said that in the US she felt really unhappy and here in Mexico she felt extremely happy.  I can relate.  I had a good life in the US, but I felt like I wasn't living life to the fullest, churning away at a job I liked and felt proud of but spending all of my vacations visiting all the people I loved who lived far, far away.  Maybe it’s because everything is still new here and there’s an adventure around every corner (#adventureswithgiantmothsandspiders), but the only thing I’m missing these days is access to sushi.  Ok, and sometimes I really miss Target, the comfort of a spider-free plush couch, anonymity, and massages.  I really, really miss massages.  However, I feel more like myself now than I have in a really long time and I think a big part of that is having the time and will to learn new things.  For example, I recently learned how to embroider tortilla towels, that not all grasshoppers are green and that there are hormones you can use to make plant cuttings grow roots.  

Word in the forest is that the red grasshoppers are the young ones. 

My group of volunteers, counterparts and Peace Corps staff.

Those Peace Corps volunteers - they're good people (for example, Mickey & Tess)! 

There’s also comfort in being part of a larger group of like-minded souls who are all going through the same things as you at the same time.  Nothing restores your faith in humanity and the next generation like hanging with a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers.  I’m learning new things about myself every week (the good and the bad), and learning about all those cultural differences that could lead to misinterpretations.  For example, phones.

From what I’ve seen, people in Mexico have a different relationship with phones than in the US.  In the US there’s a socially agreed upon norm that it’s rude to be on your phone while at a meal with a friend, during a work meeting, in the movie theater, etc.  People still do those things in the US but there’s a lot of apologizing/explaining involved (or at least there are a lot of nasty looks and exasperated sighs from passive aggressive bystanders) and phones are put on silent when you know it would be rude to interrupt someone or something with a call.

No worry about phones when you're out in el campo without cell service. 

Not a cell phone tower in sight. 

I think we all prefer the sound of a waterfall to a phone. 

Things are a little different here in Mexico where every phone call is treated with a certain amount of reverence.  My cell phone apparently has the capacity to record a voicemail, because one time I received one, but I have no way to retrieve it.  So let’s just hope that message wasn’t important.  My coworker told me not to worry because nobody really uses voicemail in Mexico.  That appears to be true as people will answer the phone each and every time it rings.  You’re in the middle of giving a presentation and your phone rings? Well, just stop presenting and take that call.  You're in the middle of a meeting where someone else is talking and your phone rings?  Go ahead and answer and talk at the meeting table.  I was giving my first presentation (in Spanish) and the office phone rang. I knew it would be answered but kept on talking. After a few minutes I was talking mid-sentence when, without warning, the phone was put on speaker mode in the middle of the table and suddenly the person on the other end was wishing us a happy Independence Day.  More different from office culture in the US this could not be.   

Speaking of different, this is part of the ice collected during the defrosting of my mini-fridge after one month of use. A well-sealed freezer I do not have.  

I was really taken aback the first time I saw someone stop to respond to a What’s App message as they were actively presenting in front of a group of about 50 people, and I had to fight the feeling that it was rude for a call to be answered during my presentation because it wasn't rude.  I'm just in a different place with different norms.  And it made me wonder how many other times in my life I’ve gotten aggravated or felt slighted by someone because they behaved in a manner that didn’t match my cultural norms (or how many times someone here has had a negative thought about me because of something I've done that was totally normal for me).  For sure, people are sometimes rude (you know who you are and yes, it really is rude to text during movies), but sometimes maybe their actions just don’t match with what’s normal and polite for you.  

I’m going to stick with my US phone norms here in Mexico, but I'll also try not to take it personally the next time that phone gets answered while I’m talking (cause that's for sure gonna happen). And I can always suggest that we all follow the sage advice from the artist Cake and just put those phones down for the day.