Mapping and Remembering

Today Emelia, Roberto, Ana, Francis and Teo, along with Erik and Juan Manuel, participated in mapping. It was hot; spring came early in Cuernavaca this year. It usually arrives by the 21st of March. The birds perched up in trees, right now are singing and making lots of noise.

We went to La Estacion´s ex-train station, a very pretty building. Even though it seems like it is federal property, we talked about how we can use this space for communal gatherings, or for the town´s hour as Mexicans say.

The women utilized this time to get to know one another better. For example, Francis shared that her family lived in a train wagon. Some people recollected sad times, like what happened with Teo´s son. The occupation of territory continues up to this day.

We also noticed that despite of the decrease in trees, some people find creative ways in maintaining green space.

We took pictures for record keeping and after a lot of walking and talking; we uploaded the photos, through the recent internet connection within the community, onto the blog. Participants said that they enjoyed the walk, some recognizing that “we don’t even know the place where we live” or the history of the train station. Some pointed out how the neighborhood has changed and where there use to be houses of plastics now stand houses made out of cement blocks or bricks. One thing that was not liked, however, was the hot climate. Next time we will have to bring along hats or umbrellas.