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 Vallarta Living | March 2006 
A Household Chore Brings Surprise Benefits
 Philip A. Rue - Fontana Herald News
| | Recently, two sisters who used to live in a small village in the state of Jalisco, visited their former hometown, and walked to the arroyo where they used to wash clothes. |
Exercise, fresh air, and water play make an excellent combination for persons interested in staying in good health and keeping a good silhouette of 90-60-90 in metric measurements. The best part is that it costs nothing.
A few hours once or twice a week are spent walking to a stream to wash clothes. After the routine is completed, there is the self-congratulatory walk home. A job has been done and stress, if any, has disappeared.
Fewer and fewer fortunate people - mostly women, but some men - are able to exercise their muscles al fresco, and convert a chore into a pleasant, productive social occasion.
In fact, this prevailing and popular physical activity has been a custom for many years among folks whose homes were a variable distance away from established urban facilities, and as a result had to improvise to meet their needs. The beneficial exercise was an unexpected byproduct of this duty.
In certain areas of Mexico, away from the convenience of populated pueblos, one finds that people can live a good life in simple surroundings.
In order to obtain the water necessary for survival, wells were dug by the locals in the various communities. This is a common practice found in rural areas all over the world.
In rural parts of Mexico, weather and water from natural sources produced riparian sites where the inhabitants could accomplish the necessary household chores of washing the family clothes effectively.
Constant streams of water descending from nearby mountains and flowing through arroyos formed convenient basins. Here the local residents, carrying soap or detergent, could soak and wash their loads of clothes. They would pound and scrub stubborn stains on flat rocks, rinse them in the running water, squeeze them and spread them on large rocks or nearby shrubs to dry. While still damp, the clothes were carried home to finish drying.
All this activity takes energy and keeps muscles in top condition, which in turn keeps the entire body in good shape. Remember 90-60-90.
Gyms are not needed here. The vigorous rubbing and scrubbing, combined with therapeutic conversation and laughter, are a fine formula for good health.
Recently, two sisters, one from Fontana and one from Ontario, who used to live in a small village near the town of Zacatecas in the state of Jalisco where Guadalajara is located, visited their former hometown.
For kicks, they walked to the arroyo where they used to wash clothes and were photographed in the act.
They remembered that there were no fish in the stream and if they were thirsty they would have to walk to a nearby well. Apparently, they enjoyed the reminiscent experience.
A surprising number of adult women in my English learning class told of their own experiences in washing clothes in nearby arroyos or streams. Some were only a few minutes away, while others were much farther. This is where the exercise routine would begin.
Luz Magena, a senior student, washed clothes in her arroyo for years, and then watched as the engineers diverted the fast-flowing stream into a holding lake to provide nearby homes with running water. The stream, with its comforting gurgle, was gone.
Today, tourists in Puerto Vallarta are bussed past the shallow River Cuale which flows through town, to observe, from a distance, ladies washing clothes in the river. The former home of actress Elizabeth Taylor is located nearby.
Maria Lopez, an adult English language student at Palmetto Elementary School, provided a photo of the two sisters as they washed clothes in the arroyo near their former home. The custom lingers on, but they all agree that a modern washing machine is better.
(The figures 90-60-90 are the equivalent of the 36-24-36 figures for desirable female dimensions.) |
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