Border Links

During our trip to Mexico, we experienced a completely different culture and living situation. Compared to the U.S., the housing seemed impoverished from structures with water and cooling systems to barely standing sleeping quarters made of recyclables and other garbage. The culture seemed very family based, unlike the popular notion of “if you don’t have money, don’t have children”, something I have heard many Americans say. Watching one of the videos in class, I remember a family explaining that having children was the only thing worth living for in their lives, the only reason they still looked forward to waking up in the morning.

Taking the tour of the factory was directly related to many of the readings on U.S. companies using cheap labor, and with OTIS being barely over the border, this was a perfect demonstration of just that. Noting that most of the product and groceries were of similar price to ours, but the workers in the factory started their salary at $9 per day showed us just how hard it is to afford the necessities. We got to see just how much of a discrepancy there is in cost of living and wages earned. The factory seemed to be nice in the aspects of benefits, food, and education.

Having lunch with Yolanda was quite an experience, especially with our lack of Spanish, and her lack of English skills. This was still a very positive experience, most of the time we spent laughing. Living in the conditions did not seem to affect this family’s positive attitude and loving atmosphere.

It would have been nice to learn more about the wealthy communities and how educated they were, how much they made, and what percent were connected to the U.S. in any way.

I wasn’t too put off by the border patrol and how they explained their job, but it was highly different than what was told to us by the border links people at the house before we left. The man speaking to us also seemed to have opinions that he couldn’t express because they were personal.

Overall, the things that seemed to correspond to our readings related to the factory and wages. It is still difficult to understand just how hard it is to legally get into the U.S. and how much money it ends up costing, and what can be done about the deaths and harassment.

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