Local partnerships

Almost 50 years, we’ve been here. The one who started here was my mom. She started, and now I’m here, and then my daughter. So, we’ve had three generations. And that’s how it goes. And when I can’t handle it anymore… well, that’s it. If the next one doesn’t continue, then it stops there. Before, we used to sell food. Later, when there were many eateries, we focused… You see, food is very labor-intensive, it’s a lot of work. And if it’s left over, it gets wasted. The profit goes to waste. With what I sell now, nothing goes to waste. It finishes. I arrive early here, at 6 a.m., sometimes 6:30 a.m. I come to mop, clean, and prepare. Then my daughter arrives to prepare her dough, but everything is already ready. There’s already beans, already guacamole. I have everything prepared. If I have time, like now, I’ll prepare potatoes for tomorrow. Because I don’t have any left. For example, yesterday I prepared chicken, now I have chicken. A little while ago I prepared guacamole. I don’t do everything at the same time anymore. Little by little. I get too overwhelmed and then tired. But I do it! Well, yes, I like my work because who would give it to me? That’s why we keep going. But, well, here we are, let’s see how long we can keep going.

What sells the most are the basic necessities. Onion, tomato… The tomatoes come from nearby, from Zaachila, or from other places, but from here, from the region. Many fruits come from Puebla, but they arrive at the Central and there we have suppliers who bring them to us. On the days I have to buy, which are Mondays and Thursdays, I get up at 2 a.m. Then I go to the Central to buy and then I come here. On the other days I get up at 5:30 to open at 7 a.m. I can’t say that I like it 100%, I think 50/50. It’s very tiring, but well, it’s the job. My parents started the business about 20 years ago. Quite a long time. And I started about 12 years ago, approximately. I have a 14-year-old daughter, and she doesn’t like my job very much. I wouldn’t want her to stay in the same work because, yes, it’s very heavy.

On my land, I used to plant thin beans, green beans, purple green beans, large beans, támala squash, criolla squash, and yellow corn. And then around it, a prickly pear hedge as a barrier. When I fell two years ago, my land was left unattended. And when I recovered, I went to see it and it made me sad to see it neglected. I have three children, one who is slowly dying. He is 40 years old and looks like he’s 100. He is married, and so his wife is with him. It is sad to see a child slowly dying. We are like clowns. Inside we are dying but we put on a smile. Don’t you know they say a smile moves 400 bones? There are good days and bad days. And from the bad days, you have to make good days

I sell every day. On Sundays I don’t sell here, but I go to the market. Because here on Sundays there is nothing. Usually, I arrive here at 8 a.m. and leave at 6, or 5:30. I started selling at 14 years old and now I’m 62. I started in Benito Juárez, and when the central market started, I came here. My boss brought me to sell. He taught me. And now I’m quite grown, I know how it is, how to buy, how to sell… I’m already the boss. These chiles come from the Mixes. That’s why they’re called Pasillas Mixes. Here they only bring them from my supplier, I take them, I don’t go out. In the Mixes, there are many people who grow them because it’s their harvest, and that’s how they make their money: planting to send it. We buy at 200 to 250 pesos per kilo. Then, I roast them. Up here I put them to roast, and when there is strong sun, they dry. Up to two days, and they look golden. Very golden, very dry. Because if they look moist, they don’t grind them. Next door, over here, they grind them. They charge 50 per kilo for the mill. I’m from Tamazulapam del Espíritu Santo and I speak Mixe. There, before, when you are born: only Mixe. The little ones are born and start speaking Mixe. My daughter is a Mixe teacher, and we speak Spanish and Mixe. It sounds beautiful!

Here at the Central de Abastos I’ve been for 10 years. And in the city center, at 20 de Noviembre, I was also there for 10 years. I started around 16 or 17 years old. I continued studying and because of that I was working too. And yes, I really love my job, truly. In the morning, I have to take the bus to get here by 8:30. I start on time with the fire. I arrive, light the fire, and then: the cleaning. While the grill is heating up. And then you have to start selling. The first customers arrive around 9 a.m., but sometimes others are already waiting, in line. My boss is in Zaachila and he is the one who slaughters and distributes. Everything that is first-quality cuts he sends to me, to sell here; the second-quality cuts are sold in the neighborhood, and the bones and everything else are for broth.

We have different products: sauces, tostadas, and right now we also have coffee, but here the main thing is cheese and quesillo. That’s what we sell the most. To make quesillo, it’s almost the same procedure as for cheese. You pour in the milk, let it boil at a certain temperature, then add the curd. They put it in molds, add salt, and the cheese is ready. And for quesillo, it’s almost the same process. Only that once everything is compact, they pour hot water over it so it becomes elastic. Then, they add cold water so it doesn’t keep cooking and has the required elasticity. This process requires a lot of time and dedication, mostly. But if I had the possibility, I would make my own cheese and quesillo. When my mom first opened the creamery, it was in the year 2000, my brother Alejandro was little. At that time, since he was an only child, they named the creamery Alex. It’s like an abbreviation of his name. He also works around here. But in fact, more people’s help is always required for it to work. The work is quite heavy; it’s very tiring to be here every day, standing every day, attending… But I also like it, it’s nice.

My family are merchants on both my mom’s and my dad’s side. So, my grandmother on my mom’s side was the one who started the business when the market was established, and then it passed to my mom, and from my mom, I continued. Three generations, let’s say. And God willing, with my children too. As a merchant, sometimes you leave your family. On the 31st, the 1st, the Day of the Dead—you’re here, and it’s the season for us! From here I get everything—for school, for transportation… But sometimes you want to get home, to enjoy with your family, to rest. You leave here and you are a woman, you take on the role of a mom. You arrive home and your children, what they want is their mom, and their dad. I told my daughter that when you feel this, that you go to work and leave your children, it’s hard. And you will never understand it until you are a mother. Also here, you make a real home because you share more with the people you have here than with the people at your house. I tell you, when my cousins have parties or something, sometimes I don’t go because I’m here all day. You arrive early, open up, and who do you have breakfast with? With your neighbors! Who do you eat with? With your neighbors! And at night, who do you have coffee with? With your neighbor!