A passion for books can open a window on one's own hometown, or lead a person far and wide in search of adventure.
The best literature unites disparate cultures in an understanding of the common themes of humanity.
Jenny Emery-Davidson's passion for contemporary writers in the American West led her south of the U.S. border this year to teach on a Fulbright-García Robles fellowship at the Universidad de Guanajuato in México.
She was accompanied by her husband, Mark, and their dog, Bill.
The U.S. government grants thousands of Fulbright scholarships each year to teachers and students to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." Twelve scholars each year are sent to Mexico from the United States.
Emery-Davidson took time off from her duties as English professor and Director of the Blaine County Campus of the College of Southern Idaho to spend six months in the central Mexico city of Guanajuato, teaching some of her favorite books to upper-level University students.
She earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from University of Utah before coming to Hailey. Her doctoral thesis was on western memoir writing. She hopes her trip will shed light on both sides of the Hispanic-Anglo cultural border in Blaine County.
"I was motivated to apply for the Fulbright because American Western writing is so interwoven with Mexican history and culture," says Emery-Davidson.
"I also wanted to gain fluency in Mexican culture and language and develop connections between The College of Southern Idaho and Mexico."
Many of the Mexican families that live and work in Blaine County have roots in Guanajuato. Some of them take advantage of free English language courses at the College of Southern Idaho, while some Anglo students from Idaho have chosen this year to study in Guanajuato.
"What we hear in the news is all about the violence in Mexico. That was not our experience at all. It was humbling to be the recipient of so much generosity and kindness from people. They are very concerned about the reputation their country is gaining in the news media."
The Davidsons drove across the border at Laredo Texas, traveling eventually through highland areas of cactus, scrub oak, roadside fruit stands and colonial architecture. The couple discovered that 2010 marks the Bicentennial of Mexico's independence from Spain in 1810, as well as the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution in 1910.
Mexican Independence Day celebrates the events and people that led to a popular uprising of poor native and mixed-blood people against the oppressive upper classes of colonial New Spain as Mexico was called. Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo organized the first battle in the war for independence in the village of Dolores in the state of Guanajuato.
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"The World Cup was playing and it was mandatory for school children to watch the game between Mexico and South Africa. They expected Mexico to win because something historic happens every 100 years. They tied in the first game."
Emery-Davidson had her students in Guanajuato read popular works of western fiction and memoir, including Wallace Stegner's "Angle of Repose," Terry Tempest Williams' "Refuge", and Judith Freeman's "The Chinchilla Farm," books that challenge conventional myths of the American West.
"They were very well read in Spanish and European literature and well-versed in myths of the American west, but they had never heard of any of these books. What fascinated them most was the idea of the American road trip."
"The Chinchilla Farm," written by Camas County resident Judith Freeman, chronicles a road trip by the book's protagonist from the high mountain west to Mexico, a journey that resonates more clearly for Emery-Davidson after her experience. She and her husband experienced all night dancing and music and church celebrations during the Week of Saints surrounding Easter in Guanajuato. After the Day of Flowers they woke to see the city strewn with paper flowers.
"It was a tremendously valuable experience for me, not only to increase my vocabulary, but to gather shared images of the country. I also gained a whole new understanding of the immigration experience. You have to depend on people for so much."
While the topography of Guanajuato was similar to Idaho, and faces many of the same environmental challenges of the American West, Emery-Davidson found that Mexico differs in essential ways from its neighbor to the north.
"Our public lands set the United States apart. These don't exist in Mexico."
Emery Davidson is back at work at the College of Southern Idaho campus in Hailey, teaching American Literature and composition, and overseeing 80 academic and community education programs.
She can now relate details of her trip, like the green oranges squeezed at roadside stands, with some of her Mexican friends and former students in the Wood River Valley, or chat about her trip at Taqueria al Pastor in Bellevue over a horchata. These stories reach out from one world to another, right next door, but so far away.
"What interests me most is how writers evoke a specific place and the people who live there, the relation between the two," says Emery-Davidson.
"In the West we are very much defined by the environment, and how it has captured our imaginations, but the best regional writers are pertinent beyond their regions."
To read more about Jenny Emery-Davidson's journey go to www.idgto.blogspot.com.
Jenny Emery Davidson
