Patience is a Virtue

Patience is a virtue, and when you are in Mexico it is a necessity. This is especially true when you interact with government bureaucracy, even at the local level.

Manuel and I met Saturnino (refer to blog entry Saturnino and his Stoves) and Luis, the comisario (town mayor) of Zacango at 10am outside of the Municipal building where we planned to met with Presidenta Luisa, who was elected to a three year term in 2009 as president of the municipality of Olinalá. To begin this process we signed in on the first floor, which allowed us to climb the stairs past the guard armed with an automatic weapon. We were greeted at the top of the stairs by a crowd of people who were already in line to meet with her. We signed in again with her secretary, this time including the reason for our visit. We were 9^th on the list. When I asked how long we might wait, the response was perhaps an hour, or two, or perhaps less. Translation: who knows?

After meetings earlier in the week with another government agency involved with adult education, Manuel and I decided our next step was to talk with the president as she might be able to help us in the process to get internet service for Zacango as part of the watershed management process. Zacango currently has no telephone lines; however there is one satellite phone in the community.

I enjoyed the first hour, watching the variety of people, talking with Saturnino, Luis and Manuel, and marveling at the wonders of bureaucracy. Thankfully we were waiting on a balcony that overlooks the market and basketball court, so there was no shortage of entertainment and a cool breeze to help pass the time.

During the second hour, we spotted Bruce walking through the market and invited him to join us in the waiting game. He laughed at the fact that we were still waiting. When he tried to join us, he was denied access to the second floor because he was in shorts. I sensed that he was not too sad that he couldn’t join us as we waited.

As noon came and went, I was well beyond restless. I had already walked the corridor several times and checked out the town library with books from the 50s. I asked the secretary once or twice where we were on the list with always the same response, a smile and “un ratito más” (just a bit more). Translation: who knows? Just keep waiting. Not even my white privilege moved us up the list.

Most of my frustration was for Luis and Saturnino who had given up most of their day to wait. I expressed to them at various points that I was sorry that they had to waste so much time waiting. They just chuckled at me as if I was the only who didn’t know the secret. They had completely expected to wait, be it an hour or all day. This is how it worked. Luis and Saturnino did not show any signs of being upset. And a quick look around at the others who were waiting told me that this was entirely normal.

As my stomach growled shortly after 1pm, we were ushered into Presidenta Lusia’s office for our audience with the President. I explained our business and Manuel filled in the gaps. I suppose good things come to those who wait. She agreed to support Zacango with the installation of internet, but we would have to work with the phone company to check on the process and the rates. She also said that she would support our request through another government agency for the installation of computers; however, the funds for this would not become available until the end of the year. And so the 20 minute meeting concluded.

From my perspective the system is quite time inefficient; however, there is some logic to it for those from the surrounding communities who do not have telephones. For the people who live as far away as two hours from Olinalá, the only way to access the president is to come early in the morning and wait, for lack of other modes of communication.