So law-abiding, but yet so innovative.

When we first moved here, several things called my attention. Latin-American culture is different from United States culture and this is a well-known premise. Having already lived here for a couple of months some years ago, I am still impressed by a few aspects of North American culture. I will not attempt to make a full analysis on the differences between Americans and Chileans; instead, I will try to describe an Austinite paradox.

So law-abiding, …

Have you ever driven through Austin’s streets? You may find some traffic Austinites complain all the time about, but you would be mostly amazed by how polite drivers are and how traffic signs are almost always respected. I have a legitimate Texas driver’s license, which means that I had to take the same test as Texans and let me tell you that it’s not a difficult test. So the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) does not represent a true filter to keep reckless drivers off the streets. Austin’s drivers have a genuine concern for driving responsibly and making the road a pleasant place. For example, for merging into a highway, you only have to signal left and people will welcome you in. No need to stress about forcing your way in or requesting the right of way by pulling down the window as I was used to. Here, I can count on people waiting patiently with me for a left turn, because I am confident that no one will skip the line using an illegal move.

Austinites are so punctual. They don’t settle with arriving on time to a meeting, but they also leave on time as instructed. I was amazed to find birthday invitations for Juanito with starting and ending time. We usually establish arriving time adding an extra 30 minutes to ensure people will be there when the food is ready. However, we would never dare to indicate the time when people have to leave. It is assumed that they can return home whenever they feel like it, forcing them out would be considered rude. But Americans shouldn’t have the problem of annoying guests that just won't leave (not even when the lights have been turned off and the floors have been swept) because ending time was established from the beginning.

Event organizers know they can rely on the honesty of Austinites. They don’t spend much money on security because history has taught them that if there is a fee to pay, it will surely be paid. As I narrated on a previous blog, we attended Bat Fest on August. In the entrance, there was a table with people collecting the fee, but you could choose not to pay it by just going inside. Nobody was guarding the entrance. The same phenomenon happens with public transportation. Allegedly you have to show your UT ID when stepping into the UT Shuttle, but I have ridden the shuttle for 3 months now and no one has ever asked for it. I would imagine that everyone has one so it would be a waste of time and resources to oversee this compliance. In Chile, many people consider it is almost their right to try and not pay the proper fee into a festival or a bus. They will try several times to get in without being seen by the guards. If they are successful, they tell everybody of their accomplishment proudly; if they are not successful, then they will either surrender and pay or just leave because they didn't have enough money to pay for the ticket to begin with.

… but yet so innovative.

Word on the street is that Austin is going to become the new Silicon Valley. Many blogs are talking about how technology firms are moving to Austin (v.gr. roadshow.slate.com). Big companies like Dell established their headquarters in Austin. Startups that began in California are now moving here because operating expenses are lower. There are several local incubators, like the Austin Technology Incubator or Capital Factory, that help startups grow into companies. Like Silicon Valley, Austin also has a casual culture, freedom to experiment, and a collaborative environment so that startup teams get all the support they need.

I am familiar with the youngest side of Austin. I have witnessed how young people in every store and restaurant find every means available to be successful. Since employees of most stores and restaurants earn money according to how much they sale or serve, the workers put all their effort in maximizing this amount. This may sound obvious, but as I told you in an older post, that is not always the case. I think all these workers are also entrepreneurs. They have to make money based on tips, so they invent different innovative strategies to flourish. They are so kind and diligent, that  we always tip them accordingly. They don’t just wait for fixed payment or settle with minimum tips. They will tell you jokes, worry about the stroller, fetch you a high chair, or even select a sweater that matches your outfit without me having to ask for it.

Trying to understand how people that can pass as very square minded are so innavotive, I have come to a possible explanation. Maybe this well-organized environment, where children are taught from the beginning how to respect other people by showing up on time and paying for the tickets, is the perfect surrounding for new businesses to prosper. When you know exactly what to expect from taxes, payrolls, and regulations, then it is easier to work and start a business. What I admire, though, is that this disciplined atmosphere has not inhibited Austinites’ ability to create new solutions and products to old problems. Fortunately, Austinites have the energy to figure out solutions by themselves, even when they had been told repeatedly that they can’t do certain things.

Not everything smells like roses here in Texas

I never quite understood why we were moving. Sure! He wants to study and she has to come with him, but why did I have to come along? I was perfectly happy where we were. My room was always warm, the minute I woke up somebody had my bottle of milk ready and then I could sleep in for as much as I wanted. I had a big room of my own, full of toys and a soft floor to practice my crawling. She was always with me and we understood each other pretty well. Some days she would get creative and invent the most funny ways to play; while others she would be tired, so I would play a little bit more on my own or go on longer expeditions around the house to find new playmates so she could rest.

Life this way was easy and great. I was the star. I felt like the biggest attraction in a zoo, like Alex in Madagascar.  All my needs were covered, the people I loved were always with me, and I was growing fast and healthy.

But, some damn day, he told her he got accepted in the program. So, moving plans began and happiness as I knew it was over. The money wouldn’t be enough, so before moving to our final destination, we would live with great grandma. She is so old that she yells all the time as if we all were as deaf as she is. My new room was like living inside a library (and not in a good way) because everything was filled with dust. The curtains hadn’t been opened in years probably. I missed the fresh breeze that visited my old room. The only upside there was the food, we had a lady that cooked so my mom wouldn’t have to cook for me anymore. Don’t get me wrong, her food was OK, but these dishes were just delicious. I could never get tired of them. The lady cooked something different every day.

I was almost beginning to like that place, when it was time for our final move to the US. Here, I can’t understand a word. She is now so full of activities that I go to school twice a week. Can you imagine? I am only one year old! They make me walk everywhere and I even have to eat on my own. I don’t know what happened to she carrying me on her arms everywhere. That, I enjoyed; walking, not that much. One day she even dared to suggest it was time for me to say goodbye to my pacifier. Thank God she came to her senses before committing that crime. There is also the weather subject. At first, it was hot as hell. I didn’t have any summer clothes, so I had either too much clothes on or too little. But these days have been cold as death. Is wanting a longer transition period too much to ask?

I had to forget about the soft floor and settle with a dirty rug. They go to bed so tired at the end of the day that I have to scream at them in the mornings so someone brings me my milk bottle, which some days is not even warm. And immediately after finishing the milk, she dresses me up for school. Not cool! Sure, I get to be alone with her the other three days of the week and I enjoy playing with my dad on weekends, but don’t forget that back home we could do this every day, not just three days a week. And lastly, the food. She cooks vegetables for me. But each dish can last for two or three days, it can get really boring. Damn you Costco and your huge packages.

I guess the good old days are over.

The Point of View of an Austinite Mother

The Point of View of an Austinite Mother

www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/lw9727/

The assignment for this week was to interview a true Austinite. I needed some answers to questions that were starting to grow in my head, so I took advantage of this opportunity and talked to Lucy Wood, mother of two children and a professor at UT. Since Juanito was born and I quit my job, it has not been easy to decide if I want to be a stay-at-home mom or develop a career as an entrepreneur. Or maybe, I could manage to balance both.

I think that balancing my role as a mother and my role as a professional is not easy. I asked Lucy if this had been difficult for her to see if I am the only mother that feels this way. To my relief, she answered: “Yes, yes!  I haven’t done it well. I think I just don’t eat right, I don’t sleep very well in the night and I don’t exercise. But I do a good job at my job and I do a good job with my children. But I don’t have any sleep time as a result, so I have to work on that. I think I’m a good mom and I think I’m a good worker, but I probably need to take better care of my body: sleep and eat better and relax a little bit more.”

 “When I was growing up it was very common for a woman to stay home. Most of the mothers in my neighborhood in Philadelphia stayed home. I was raised at a home where none of the mothers were working. In Austin, almost all the women I know work”, Lucy told me while comparing her childhood in Philadelphia with her current life in Austin. I even feel that work is an unspoken requirement people demand from us. And of course, many need to work to support their families. However, leaving the money factor aside, women that are mothers need to be excellent workers and excellent mothers at the same time. This is not easy and many mothers have to rely on people they don’t know to educate their children for them, although I imagine most of them would prefer to be at home with their children. I believe they have such social pressure for accomplishing professional development, that they don’t feel free to spend every day at their homes.

Here we are signing the Partner's Agreement for our
inflatable lifejackets business in Chile. 

Maybe this subject has been analyzed too many times already, but I didn’t know what was really at play until I had to experience this dilemma on my daily life. For instance, being away from Juanito means that I could miss an important stage of his development, like his first word. Or, as Lucy said, watching your children learn and enjoy new experiences and discoveries is one of the most remarkable things of being a mom. Of course, being at work means we are going to miss some of these things and that is the decision every mother has to make when trying to balance professional development against staying at home with the kids.

In my opinion, the hardest stage for being away from children is during their first two years of life. Every baby book says that this is the crucial part of a person’s development because it is when brains grow the most. About this, Lucy mentioned the importance of connecting to her children so that they know she is there for them, to see them grow and develop. So when we add the social pressure to work plus the importance of being there during the baby’s first stages, all we get is stress.

Juanito's first steps and his first trick-or-treating ever.

To top this off, maybe mothers were not satisfied with the already high amount of stress and pressure on themselves because they came up with multiple occasions to compete against each other. This can become really insane. Mothers compare every stage of development of their children with other kids. Here in the US, I have noticed that people are really frantic about whose kid begins walking first. For example, the guy who rode with me during my driver’s license test here in Texas told me he had bought a book titled Teach Your Baby to Walk Early, poor baby walking when she was only 7 months old!

Anyway, Lucy gave me a solution for each of my concerns. When we were almost done talking, I asked if she could give me some advice, since she is already an experienced mother. She told me wise words: “Be easy on yourself. Be kind to yourself. Just realize that it goes fast and that you are doing a great job and try to give yourself positive energy.” I think I’m going to do just that.