Series 2 Episode 16 Transcript

Series 2 Episode 16

Joanna Pink ‘Art Club Mexico City’ transcript powered by Sonix—easily convert your audio to text with Sonix.

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David:
On today’s episode..

Joanna:
Back in November, we moved to a bigger space in Condesa. And it was lovely, because we could get lots of groups of kids in and adults and do lots of classes. And just suddenly it stopped and we had to close…

Joanna:
You’re having to think in a whole different way about everything and just keep coming up with new ideas, kind of every week, how to keep people interested and how to keep it exciting and also relevant to people. I know so many children are at home…

Joanna:
I mean, we’ve done a few online slime classes, but I feel a bit bad when I send all the slime ingredients out to the families!

David:
I’m David Bevis and you’re listening to Mexico Over the Wall, a podcast about Mexico from the other side. My next guest came to Mexico from the UK about four years ago and runs English language art workshops for kids in Mexico City. I’ll let her introduce herself.

Joanna:
My name is Joanna. I’m a teacher and I run Art Club Mexico City, which is a children’s art studio.

David:
How did you end up in Mexico?

Joanna:
I came over about four years ago just as a teacher. I just came to spend a year here. I wanted to teach in a different place for a while. I applied to a few different schools, got accepted to one here in Mexico City and came and then a few months in, just thought definitely not ready to start thinking about going back to England and just tried to stay a bit longer and a bit longer. And I’m still here.

David:
Did you know any Spanish when you came here?

Joanna:
No, I didn’t know any. I mean, I haven’t had lessons or anything, but I sort of pick bits up and I can do day-to-day things and have a few chats with people and I’m still learning.

David:
What was the hardest thing about adjusting to living in Mexico?

Joanna:
Well, obviously the language. I mean, just going out somewhere and not being able to easily have a chat and kind of getting lost in a busy conversation was probably one of the hardest things, as I do like to chat.

Joanna:
Besides that, I think just the general kind of pace of life. I was living in London before, and I moved to Brighton, but still everything was quite work, work, work. And it was just, I don’t know, it’s nice to be able to enjoy the side of life as well, have time to work and also time to explore. Yeah, there was a big difference and it’s kind of hard to adjust to in the beginning. I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do with myself.’

Joanna:
Some things may be simpler in a way back home and kind of trickier here and vice versa. It’s not like one place is easier than the other. It’s probably easy to sort things out in the bank in England whereas here that’s like a big thing that takes me a lot of time, but then other things I don’t know. It’s a balance, isn’t it?

David:
What things do you like about living in Mexico?

Joanna:
I love the pace, I think. I love the community that I’ve got around me here. The people I’ve met are just really lovely, very supportive kind of community, especially at the moment with the business I’ve got with the art classes and things. I mean, everyone’s really supportive and positive.

Joanna:
And I love the weather, obviously, and the food, but that’s just really a cliche. People back in England go, ‘Oh, it’s still dark.’ We went back in December and it was just dark for hours and hours and I’d forgotten that. I just feel a lot better having a lot more sunlight.

David:
How has the current situation affected what you do?

Joanna:
Completely changed everything. We’d opened a new art studio in.. just back in November. We moved to a bigger space in Condesa and it was lovely because we could get lots of groups of kids in and adults and do lots of classes. And just suddenly it stopped and we had to close. So we really tried to adapt the way that we’re working, do a lot of online things, do a lot of stuff that we can deliver to people’s homes, art kits… Just rethink the whole, the whole business really.

David:
Have you had more to do since it happened or has it slowed down a bit?

Joanna:
Well, we were busy before, but I think I have been busier in the way that I haven’t wanted to stop, because you’re having to think in a whole different way about everything and just keep coming up with new ideas, kind of every week, how to keep people interested and how to keep it exciting and also relevant to people. I know so many children are at home and they want things to do. And, you know, something that’s not just kind of sitting and watching TV or something. And people want more creative activities. So, I mean, that’s really given us a ground to, like more scope to reach more people.

David:
What do you do in your free time?

Joanna:
(Laughs)

David:
Is there such a thing?

Joanna:
Yeah, between this and and with a one-year old… I used to love to travel around and see little towns and new places. I mean, I’d like to just go out for coffee, but even that is kind of not an option at the moment. I try and paint, try and do something creative, but…

David:
It is hard, especially with a business, it’s…

Joanna:
Yes. Yeah, it’s hard to know when to stop, when just to switch off and have your own life. I don’t know, I enjoy what I do. So it kind of feeds into my life, and I quite enjoy looking at new projects.

David:
What advice would you give to somebody who’s thinking of coming to live in Mexico?

Joanna:
Just go for it! I think that I… I was, I don’t know… The people back home were like, ‘Oh, have you really thought it through? What you want to do? You haven’t learnt the language…’ But I think just go for it and and take classes. And I think everyone’s so welcoming and friendly and I managed to find somewhere to live, you know, just arrived. And I didn’t really know what I was going to do. But I think especially everyone I’ve spoken to as well that kind of does the same, just land here and you find where you want to live. There’s so many different places you can be in this city, aren’t there? That fit your lifestyle.

David:
What’s it like in the part of the city you live in?

Joanna:
All right, all right. I’m in Roma, Roma Sur. It’s quite a residential, quiet neighbourhood. I mean, there are a few small businesses. Quite a lot of street musicians at the moment that are coming round. I think that’s kind of exploded all over the city. So that might happen while we’re chatting. Keeps happening during the online classes. Suddenly you’ll have a little musical break! The kids are all entertained by that when it happens.

David:
What would you say you’ve learned from your time in Mexico?

Joanna:
I’ve become definitely more confident to go for things. I don’t know, maybe I’m more confident in myself if I have an idea. I feel like maybe I wouldn’t have been able to do this back in England. I was kind of really in the routine of what I was doing before. I was in a school and then home, and working a teacher. But I think I’ve learnt to kind of follow, I don’t know, something that’s important to me, to be able to pursue it here.

David:
Did you find it hard adapting to the teaching online from teaching in person?

Joanna:
Yes! It’s so very different, especially art, when you just want to go, ‘Oh, let’s have a look at…’ You know, you’re kind up close trying to show a line or like trying to get up to your camera on the computer is really hard! I’ve been teaching a very different way. More kind of guided drawings and step-by-step. Things I wouldn’t usually do in the studio. Much more like sensory stuff and slime making in the studio, that’s not really… I mean, we’ve done a few online slime classes, but I feel a bit bad when I send all the slime ingredients out to the families! It’s very, very different. I guess I try and keep their attention in different ways or show them different slides and visual things. Well, I mean, I had to really learn how to use Zoom a lot better when I realised the kids were doing all these things, like sending you a message and changing their name and I was like, ‘Oh, I really need to do a lot more research on how this works because they’re like one up on me at the moment.

David:
What kind of plans do you have for the future?

Joanna:
You see, I think at the moment everything is so up in the air. I was really, you know, I kind of knew what was going on a few months ago, had a clear idea. But now, I don’t know. I worry whether I’ll be able to open the studio again, whether we can have big groups of kids. I wouldn’t want to put anyone at risk. It’s just, I think we’re just gonna have to see how these next months go. And I change my mind every week. Sometimes I want to stay, sometimes I say, ‘Let’s move to the beach! I think that would be nice.’ It’s like everything’s exploded. But, I mean, I’d still love to be able to do this sort of work that I’m doing, working with kids and working creatively. I mean, I feel very lucky to do that, something that I really enjoy. And also, be able to help the families at the moment. I’m getting lots of messages from parents. It’s really helping them through, which is really, really good that they’ve got that as well.

David:
What projects have you been doing over this time then? What things have you been teaching the kids?

Joanna:
Lots of the group classes have just been quite relaxed and some people sign up to them, I think, to hear as sort of a top up for their English lessons. Well, so hear my English and just chatting in more of a relaxed way. We’ve been doing lots of guided drawing, so we’ll have maybe like today we’re going to draw a fox and then we’ll do step-by-step, just kind of a fun, relaxing kind of creating lesson. And then we’ve done other things… What else have we done? We had, I made this sort of crate of different activities that included slime and lots of different making things that kids could tune in and we could make things together and do clay workshops and things. And upcoming, we’ve got a castle camp. I’ve made these wooden doll’s houses and we’re going to make all the furniture and things. So that’s going to be over the summer. It’s a lot of fun! I really enjoyed making my castle actually.

David:
I guess schools are finishing quite soon, aren’t they? So kids are going to have lots of time.

Joanna:
Yes, they are. So we’ve got a few summer things coming up and a dinosaur camp. So I’m going to have different weeks. I’m trying to also make a virtual studio. That’s kind of in progress at the moment, where the children should be able to go in and click on books and artists and things. And it should take you to a link to YouTube videos. But that’s all half in my head and starting to be a thing.

David:
So I was talking there to Joanna Pink, who lives in Mexico City. Over the course of this series, I’m going to be interviewing people from all over the place about their experiences of living in Mexico. If you live in Mexico and would like to take part, please get in touch by writing to feedback@mexicooverthewall.com. Please support the podcast by giving us a review, which you can do via mexicooverthewall.com/apple for Apple podcasts if you have an iOS device or iTunes, or you can review us on Stitcher by going to mexicooverthewall.com/stitcher. You can also support us with hard cash by sponsoring us on Patreon. One of the benefits of sponsorship is that you can get extended versions of these interviews. Go to patreon.com/mexicooverthewall for more details. That’s it for this episode. I hope you liked it! See you next time.