Week 2: Tierra y Corazón

No me extrañes corazón, que regreso en el camión.

Loteria is a board game that’s considered a staple in most Mexican households. It was Bingo before I knew Bingo. However, unlike Bingo, riddles are called out instead of numbers and playing cards are populated with vividly colored images that correspond to each riddle. (Leave it to mi gente to douse such a simple game with beauty and spirit; or if Bingo was invented after Loteria, leave it to Americans to drain it of its original creativity.) Players guess the image that solves the riddle being read and mark their playing card with a tick, usually a bean.

Growing up, this game of chance was my family’s favorite pasatiempo. Each round of the game inspired in my parents childhood memories of their own families playing Loteria-  each memory that came to mind became a story. It was partly through this game that I came to know my parents: their families, their friends, the place they called mi tierra, Mexico Lindo- all of which I knew only by name.

This week’s topic, tierra y corazón, brought to mind one of my favorite riddles:No me extrañes corazón, que regreso en el camión.Do not miss me, darling, I'll be back by bus.

Corazón translates into the English equivalent of both heart, the physical organ, and darling,  a term of affection. By playing on this double meaning, the riddle reconciles the two: we are tied to the objects of our affection, for these same corazónes are equally vital to our survival as the physical organ that pumps blood through our veins. For my parents, the memory of Mexico Lindo, their tierra y corazón, is the closest thing they have to the real thing while they are away. Before they gained LPR status and the privilege to travel outside the U.S., it was the promise of one day returning to their corazón that provided solace in a foreign land.

The second half of this riddle speaks to the physical journey my parents took to when their tierra: for my mom, that was Tepelmeme, for my dad, Puerto Mixteco. The pueblos they left are isolated in the mountainous terrain of the Oaxaca.

For my project, I juxtaposed 4 photos:
The first is a scene of the mountains that my parents call their tierra.
The second is a picture of the road one takes to enter/leave the mountains.
The third is a photo of my parents hiking in a mountain in Santa Monica, CA.
The last is a picture of a bridge that links East Los Angels to Downtown Los Angeles.

The red string traces the emotional and physical journey my parents undertook when they immigrated from Tepelmeme and Puerto Mixteco, Oaxaca to Los Angeles, California. It’s the same path they will follow when they return. The black pattern marks the border that separates them from their corazón.