La Primera Vez (The First Time)
From: Megan Martin
Series: Llegando de los Pueblos (Arriving from the Villages)
Length: 17:59
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- La Primera Vez (The First Time)
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- Megan Martin
A simple story about the first time anyone has had to do something they find disgusting. Epifami Jiménez is a young woman living in the misty green mountains of San Andrés Chicahuaxtla. When she and her husband decided to return to her indigenous community to raise their children, there was no kind of work to be had. A cousin suggests the poultry business. On a small scale it is an accessible trade with little investment, and pretty good return. Here’s the catch, you have to slaughter the chickens yourself. Here’s Epifami’s story of the Very First Time—and how it changed the way she looks at all things crawling the earth.
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Piece Description
A simple story about the first time anyone has had to do something they find disgusting. Epifami Jiménez is a young woman living in the misty green mountains of San Andrés Chicahuaxtla. When she and her husband decided to return to her indigenous community to raise their children, there was no kind of work to be had. A cousin suggests the poultry business. On a small scale it is an accessible trade with little investment, and pretty good return. Here’s the catch, you have to slaughter the chickens yourself. Here’s Epifami’s story of the Very First Time—and how it changed the way she looks at all things crawling the earth.
Broadcast History
Current and on-going broadcast on XETLA, La Voz de la Mixteca, an indigenous station in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Transcript
La Primera Vez – Script
Ambi from the main plaza in San Andrés Chicahuaxtla fades in.
NARR: TODAY WE’RE VISITING A FRIEND IN THE SMALL COMMUNITY OF SAN ANDRES CHICAHUAXTLA. LET’S SIT FOR A SPELL AND CHAT WITH EPIFAMI JIMÉNEZ SANTIAGO AS SHE REMEMBERS HOW SHE BEGAN AS A POULTRY VENDOR…
Epifami: I had a cousin named Abraham, he sold, too. So, he says, chicken’s good—it’s a good seller. And well, we had no money—I mean, there was not enough for the kids, for anything—so we decided to get started in this business.
Music fades up and under the story that follows…
E: It really cost us to get it going because the first time we didn’t really know how to slaughter the chickens. It’s not so easy; it’s an animal, too, and…it hurts to see it like that.
Music up and down
E: Just to take care of the animals and uh, you know, well it took a lot, to feed it, give it water—all of that. You hav...
Read the full transcript
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fado Blanquita | Música en la Mixteca Agrupaciones de Cuerdas | Testimonios Musicales. | XETLA | 2006 | 03:36 |
Additional Credits
This piece was produced in Fulfillment of a Fulbright-García Robles Fellowship, administered by COMEXUS.
