New nanny - Senora Marta

Ammu Shonamoni,

Yesterday your nanny Angeles showed up in the morning in tears. She said it was too stressful for her to watch a baby. She said sometimes since you cry and she can't stop you from crying she goes crazy, she feels responsible, like she can not do her job right. I told her to relax, don't sweat it, you're a baby - babies cry! But ultimately I didn't want her to be with you anymore if she's so nervous. Of course you need to be exposed to all kinds of peoples and all kinds of personalities, but I hope you always try to surround yourself with as much positive energy as possible. The world is too big to be bothered by 99% of the things most people in modern society are bothered by. There is a lot of suffering in the world, a lot of real problems of science and economics and justice and health and loneliness and maybe love. These, I think, are worthy things to be upset about. So I asked Sra Marta who cleans our apartment to take care of you in our final week here in Mexico City. So she is here now and Angeles is gone.

Every person you meet in your life has a story, and if you try to find out their story you will learn a lot about the world and how we humans are. I will always write some things about the people in your life, and maybe one day when you're old enough it will mean something.

Sra Marta is 42. She's a little quiet, a little shy. She has two sons in their 20s. Her husband went to the US to work, to North Carolina when he was 30. When he was 32 his company sent his dead body back to Sra Marta's house, he had died in a car accident they said. She is a Jehova's Witness, she converted about 6 years ago after doing a lot of research and reading. It started by a Jehovah's Witness knocking on her door. Now she has two jobs. She cleans Sra Blanca (our landlady's) apartment for 200 pesos a day (US$13) and also sells tamales. On a good day she sells 20 tamales a day. They are 7 pesos each. But you have to subtract the money for inputs (chicken, corn, etc) She needs to work 2-3 days a week to pay for her food, the other days she wants to spend at her church or going door to door to spread her beliefs. She reads all the time, and sometimes she is so moved by what she reads that she is crying.

Here are both of their addresses in case you ever come to Mexico and want to find them, they like you very much and I know they will remember you forever, even if you show up 20 years later: