Greetings from Mexico! I’ve now been here almost two weeks, so I figured it was time to let the rest of the world know what’s gone on since I’ve been here. My time has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions as I’ve tried to adjust to life in a completely new atmosphere. I was so hoping that I would write to all of you with stunning reports of my flawless and effortless transition into Mexican life, but to be honest I have really been struggling. It is so scary to move to a foreign country without knowing anyone, and I would really appreciate your prayers for me to find a good friend and shake off a little bit of this loneliness. I feel isolated in my apartment, and usually don’t get home until after dark (so I’m not getting as tan as you think). I miss my family and friends dearly!

My work has been more challenging than I expected, but I am learning SO MUCH. One of the things on my “list of fears” before coming to Mexico was knowing what my job is but not knowing how to do it. That particular fear was terrifyingly spot-on. This week I have been working on creating a new “loan product” for Sé Más (the microfinance I work for). All of our loans thus far have been to clients who want to expand their small businesses, but these loans are going to be for people in the community that need a water tank for their house. Municipal water is only available a few days a week, and so families without water tanks are forced to go without water on the off days. Installing a $200 water tank can solve that problem (they can save water from the days there is municipal water provided), but most families don’t have the initial lump sum needed for installation. I have been put in charge of creating and marketing this new product! SO overwhelming! Here are some of the things my boss charged me with at the beginning of this week:

-creating a credit application for clients seeking a water tank loan
-writing a social impact survey
-meeting with the mayors in the two communities we are targeting to get an idea of how many people are without water tanks
-designing a marketing campaign so that people know this loan is available
-writing a report of our actions for the government
-visiting existing small business loan groups to raise awareness and explain our new product

I have no experience with marketing or even with creating flyers. I have no experience even knowing where to go to print things in rural Mexico. And it’s not like I can look up the mayors’ numbers in the phone book (what phone book?). Also, I had never written a credit application, social impact survey, or government report before…until this week! Additionally, all of this is done in Spanish, which can sometimes be exhausting and intimidating.

I hope my explanations of this don’t sound like complaining, because I am so thankful to have the opportunity to learn all of this! One thing I’ve learned: It is HARD to market to poor people. How do you market to people without phones, internet, or even legitimate addresses? How do you market to people who sometimes can’t read or have less than a high school education? How to you explain the meaning of credit and interest rates to someone who speaks a different language than you and who has never been offered a loan before? And how on earth can I create a credit application that will accurately determine the ability of someone (without a credit history) to pay off a loan consistently? The goal is to provide credit to those that wouldn’t normally qualify, but how do we ensure that we are making smart financial decisions as a microfinance business? Those are the things I think about all day. Interesting stuff, no?

I suppose this post was mostly about work, but maybe it will provide a little insight into what I’m doing down here. Until next time....love to each and every one of you!

Address

I am here, happy, and well! Some of you asked for my address, so here it is. I'll post a longer update when I get some time. I still need to take care of some bigger priorities (like, um, buying food...) but stay tuned! All my love.


Amy Clinton
Quinta Francisco
Agustin Melgar #8
Colonia Dorada
Bucerías, Nayarit
C.P. 63732
Mexico

Things I am Afraid Of, With Regard to Mexico

-having frizzy hair for the next 6 months straight
-hating living in a tropical climate
-hating my job
-being bad at my job
-finding myself over or under dressed
-getting raped/kidnapped/held for ransom/murdered by a Mexican druglord
-being bored after work at night
-not being able to exercise
-knowing what my job is but not knowing how to do it
-not using my Spanish enough
-not having enough kitchen utensils to cook
-having a medical emergency in a foreign country

Hopefully in a few months we can all look back at this and laugh.

Resolutions.

I’m having trouble making my new year’s resolutions this year. I love the new year, love getting to start over and contemplate what I’d like to accomplish in the year to come. It feels brave and virtuous to take time to reflect on the year behind, and to resolve to better myself in the year ahead. Tons of people tell me they hate resolutions—that they feel cheap and ingenuine and are never fulfilled anyway. While I can understand that perspective, that isn’t how it feels to me. A new year feels fresh and clean, like new school notebooks in August, not yet marred or bent. And, I keep my new years resolutions. I do. Except for last year’s resolution to only check Facebook once a day. Oops.

Some of my past resolutions have been fun or trivial, like watching all of the movies on the American Film Institution’s 100 Best American Movies List or resolving to floss my teeth daily. Last year’s was more serious: stop worrying. I loved watching people laugh when I told them I intended not to worry in 2010, and explaining that yes I was serious. I knew that in 2010 I would graduate from college, and my parents had informed me they would no longer support me financially—PANIC! So while looking into a year full of doubt and facing fear of unemployment, I resolved to be vigilant about not freaking out. That resolution centered me through the year, and when the jungle drums would start to beat I really did make a conscious effort to be still. I pulled out my best Lamaze-like breathing techniques, my most potent chill pills, and tried to feel the reverence and peace of God humming in me.

So anyway, I’m having trouble making a good resolution this year. Actually I have an idea, but it’s fuzzy. I want to be like Michelle. Michelle is a woman in my mom’s aerobics class, and six weeks ago she brought her third son, Joseph, into the world.* Yesterday was Michelle’s first day back at aerobics since she had her baby, and so our class started with everyone gathered around his car seat cooing. As our workout got underway, I watched amazed as she soothed his cries without missing a step. She held him tight as we went up and down on our steps and kicked our legs into the air. When we stretched to cool down, she stretched her left arm over the same leg while balancing Joseph in front of her face with her right arm, speaking to him and making faces. As I looked at her, I couldn’t help but think: this is motherhood. Michelle had sweat pouring out of every pore of her body, yet she kept up with our step choreography as she clutched Joseph, essentially a little 10-pound heater, close to her breast. The steps she took created together a song of empowerment: I am a woman. I am a mother. I am caring for my body and for my baby. And I am so so strong.

In ten days I leave for Mexico, to take my first steps as a working woman. I hope that in my work I will be caring and gentle and strong. I hope that the work I do in microfinance might give women the tools they need to be the best versions of themselves. I want to resolve to be what I love about women. I love that women are strong, and that so much of their strength is not for themselves but for others. Strength born of love. So many times I lament that the soft and spiritual part of me is buried under an impatient and critical cover. That really, I am like Michelle but that I don’t know how to exhibit that part of myself publically. I think what I want to resolve is to deal with people delicately and with kindness. I want to be a woman who is not only strong but who is also approachable, genuine, warm and soft. I suppose I feel that I already do love others. What I’d like to do is stop being embarrassed to show love, and to learn how to be loving without sacrificing feminine strength. This I resolve.

*A note about aerobics: Yes, I go to my mom’s aerobics class when I’m home. Yes, I am embarrassed about this. Although it sounds pretty lame, these women do work. I am always ashamed that I have so much trouble keeping up, especially considering I am at least fifteen years younger than the youngest woman there, and about thirty years younger than most of them.