Jay’s World-Wide Book Tour: Novel Destinations

My life’s SLIDING DOOR MOMENT probably happened to me in my junior year of college. During the summer I worked a minimum-wage job cleaning dormitory rooms after students went home for their vacations. The job may have been a little grueling. All day long, I scrubbed floors, walls, windows – I remember moving a lot of scratched and damaged furniture up and down staircases and in and out of the buildings. Nasty stuff. A lot of beer stains and cigarette burns. But I was happy. This was like my first full-time 40-hour-a-week job. I was making good money, meeting new friends, and learning some responsibility. Besides, I went home with a lot of STUFF the former occupants of these dorm rooms left behind. Shoes, coats, cassettes, plants, drug stashes….

This was U.C. Santa Barbara: most students were really smart – back then I think you had to be – and probably for this reason, they were all in a hurry to get away. I can’t remember the exact dates, whether it was May or June or July, but after final exams, the dorms took on the atmosphere of a Prison Break. These students had places to go and people to see, so not suurprisingly, they didn’t spend too much time worrying what they left behind. Relax! I’m not talking about any coke or crack or crank or anything like that, but I often came across little weed in a plastic baggy hidden away in a secret, long-forgotten hiding place in the back of a dresser or underneath a mattress. I could slip a baggy into my sock and finish the day. But before I left, I would also check out the BOOKS were left behind. I mean it when I say these students were smart. They were readers. They read everything. I didn’t really know young people like this back at home.

In my “Sliding Door Moment,” I felt like I was opening myself up to a whole new world of literature, language, and adventure. I stopped playing basketball after work. That was over. I would go home to my Isla Vista apartment and READ. I’m not saying I smoked any of the weed before or after. But I began to read books I never considered or imagined I would ever touch. Each day I would READ some more. Crime thrillers. Fantasy novels. Conspiracy theories. With each book I read I became a different person. Like David Bowie, I was a chameleon. You could look at me one day and assume I was one thing. But, as long as I kept reading, I could come back the next day, someone completely different.

Horizontal Vertigo was a difficult read for me. I was starting and stopping with each sentence to understand the meaning of what author Juan Villoro was trying to say. I should be used to that. I mean, I’m a community college-level English teacher. But this was different. It was clear to me that author Juan Villoro is both a great writer, and a hopless lover of his hometown. He writes about its history, design, culture and people. More pointedly, he respects and admires its chaos. I remember my first visit to Mexico City, like 25 years ago. As our airplane made its descent out of the darkness above what seemed like a forever sea of lights, I felt like we were approaching an entirely different planet.

At first, I thought my difficulties reading this book may have come from the translation, but I have come to think the author deliberately integrated the strange mysterious qualities of his city into his prose. In this author’s mind, everything is much HARDER and WEIRDER in Mexico City. Even for someone like Villoro, who has lived in the City all of his life, he says the closer you get to where you are going, the more obstacles appear in your way. It’s always The stifling traffic. The monstuous bureaucracy. The mass of people. This is everyday life in Mexico City. Nothing makes sense. He writes about the Tire Shop right across the street from the Historic Church. The Taco Stands directly in front of the Corporate Skyscrapers. The everyday sights and sounds can be overwhelming. One of my favorite lines from the book comes from a time that Villoro escaped his city for a brief respite. An escape. A vacation. I think he was in the Tropics walking along a peaceful beach when he found himself sweating profusely and breathing out of control. He couldn’t seem to enjoy a moment’s peace. This is when he asks himself, “Why am I walking like this when there is no one waiting for me anywhere…. Because I come from Mexico City.”

This is what I mean: Villoro wrote this love letter to Mexico City in a crazy, fragmented series of images and ideas. Horizontal Vertigo reads like a Bob Dylan poem or a Franz Kafka Novel. It made me dizzy trying to keep pace. According to Villoro, the people who live there never want to leave. Many of them just can’t. Their city is so BEAUTIFUL. To them, disappointment is not an emotion; it’s a way of life. I had to read Horizontal Vertigo like two or three times to get what I wanted out of it. The result is my upcoming classroom project that I will introduce to a few classes after our Spring Break. I’m calling it Jay’s Mexico City Scrapbook. On Final Exam Day I’m asking groups of students to present the magic and mystery of what they find most interesting in their research of Mexico City.

Lucky for ME – when we come back from Spring Break, my students will already be arranged in groups.

The first day back, I will ask each group to select their Mexico City Research topic.
At the appropriate time, I will distribute one display board to each group. This, among other things, will serve as a visual aide. Ver es Creer.
Each student will be graded upon individual contributions – No one will be affected by non-attending or non-performing students.
COMPLETION of Mexico City Research Projects will be our NUMBER ONE priority from return to Spring Break.
Depending on student needs, I will soon provide a tentative schedule of events with real-time dates.
Significant Class Time will be devoted to preparing STUDENTS for SUCCESS!

Jay’s Sample Brainstorming Exercise – Below, I share my Fast Four choices – If I’m in a group, I would want to convince my group to present the Mexico City Metro.

MORE Mexico City Brainstorming Ideas:

In groups, students will meet each class period to plan and conduct the following:

RESEARCH: Select an issue of interest for themselves, as well as their intended audience. Research and take notes so they have all the information they need to prepare an engaging and persuasive speech.
CONTENTION: Decide their point of view on the issue. What message do they want to get across to their audience? This will become their contention/thesis.
KEY INFORMATION: Brainstorm supporting examples and quotes to support their stance.
LANGUAGE: Consider the persuasive techniques they will incorporate to grab the audiences attention and persuade them. E.g. anecdotal evidence, quotation, figurative language, facts, statistics, emotive language, hyperbole etc.
REFLECTION: Sum up their project experience for audience. Share personal viewpoints. Engage with the audience through question and answer opportunities.

Jay’s Saludos from Mexico City Postcard:

On Final Exam Day, we will decorate our room with Mexico City Postcards that students create themselves. This may become one of our first activities required for the project.

On the Front of the card:

I ask my students to convert a MEXICO CITY image into a POSTCARD.
The image will make up the FRONT of the card – A detailed description and/or analysis will compose the BACK of the card.
Their Postcards could be a MEXICO CITY PERSON, PLACE, THING, HISTORICAL EVENT, CULTURAL PHENEMONON, MUSICAL OR SPORTS MOMENT, FASHION STATEMENT, MOVIE SCENE, SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY…
THEY Decide

On the Back of the Card:

Like, what EXACTLY are we looking at – I encourage my students to be DETAILED and SPECIFIC in their DESCRIPTION.
Are they sending us a historic picure of Selena at Audiodorio Nacional? – What is she wearing? What is she doing? How are people responding?
Are they sending us a picture of a Mexican League Baseball Game – Will the image focus upon the stadium, or a uniform? – They can capture a favorite player making a play – Will they be able to provide us a detailed analysis of the action?

I have read about the Mexico City Emos in a book titled Down and Delirious in Mexico City. Here is where I read about the Mexico City Punk Scene. I will encourage my students to write about the music of their choice. In his book, Villaloro dedicated an entire chapter to the legend of Paquita la del barrio. In Down and Delirious, L.A. Times writer Daniel Hernandez made it a quest to find the heart of the punk scene. These punks were his people! The Emos, apparently not.

But they were good enough for me. Below is my postcard I will model for my students:

Estimados Estudiantes,

Pictured above are two Mexico City Emos. I’m not clear of any subtle differences between Imperial Emos and Mexico City Emos, but I know there are plenty of Emos here. I’ve seen them come and go in my classes. Many Emos go for a very dark look. Dark hair, dark eyeliner, dark shirts, dark pants. Black is not only a fashion style, but apparently it is also an attitude. Many of the Mexico City Emos describe themselves as troubled or depressed. It’s a bit confusing to me because they often choose to be sad. I know this because I’m reading about them in a book off my shelves here in Mexicali called Down & Delirious In Mexico City. According to this book, Emos like the drama. The sadder they look, the better they feel.

In this image, the guy on the left, Edgar, has a down-turned mouth. In Mexico, the photographers ask their subjects to say “whisky”when they want a great big smile. There is something about pronouncing the “w” that creates an upturned mouth. In this picture, Edgar is probably saying, “cough medicine.” The girl on the right is actually smiling a little bit. I couldn’t find out her name, but she’s probably not a serious Emo, or maybe she hasn’t been an Emo for very long to suffer any real sadness. She appears to have dark eye shadow, but it’s applied very neatly. I’ve read that some Emos like to smudge up their make-up across their cheeks to make it look like they have been crying. This girl doesn’t even have the piercing on her face like her sad-sack friend. There are plenty of Mexico City teen rebels who are angry with the Emos for copying their style. Like when they cut up their arms with razor blades or stick nails in their faces, that’s COOL, because their look represents their rebellion against their society. The Emos, according to them, have no purpose. They want to look sad because they are Pendejos.

Here is a problem for the Mexico City Emos. They have drawn animosity and disrepect from other subculture groups around the city. I’m talking the goths, punks, skateboarders. Edgar says that he’s often misunderstood by people of all ages. They don’t understand why anyone would choose to be sad. Rocio – OK, I now know her name probably doesn’t care what other people think. I mean, it’s her life, and she will do what she wants.

I hope this works! We are all living in difficult times. Corruption in our Government. War in Iran. Rising gas and grocery prices. A brewing healthcare crisis. For me reading and writing provides a brief escape. I’m too old, or too poor, to travel like I once did. But reading about Mexico City seems to bring me back to life. It puts a bounce in my step. I imagine my students have to be tired of the standardized instruction and tiresome topics they are faced with in some of their other classes. I hope writing about Mexico City will open their eyes to a whole new world. Another planet.