NEWSLETTER

INTERVIEWS BY RODRIGO TEIE
PHOTOS BY MARTHA ÁLVAREZ


OMAR AND JAVIER
Vice: Hi Omar, how old are you?

Omar: I’m 15.

Which character do you usually dress up as?

Spiderman. Though sometimes I also work taking pictures and printing them out. It depends who’s here.

How long have you been working here?

Since September. Before this I worked in a kitchen selling chips and corn dogs, but it was too tiring. I like this more. And a few of my cousins work here too. It was the youngest one that started here first. He was Tigger, and he was only 11 years old when he started.

What’s your cousin’s name?

Javier. He’s 15 now. He’s deaf. We live like three houses away from each other in Chimalhuacán.

That’s pretty far. How long does it take you to get here every day?

An hour and a half.

Can you help us communicate with Javier?

Yes. We can sign to each other.

Where did you learn sign language?

I don’t know sign language and neither does he, but since we’ve been together for so long, we have our ways of understanding each other.

OK. How long have you worked here, Javier?

Javier: [in improvised sign language to Omar] Three and a half years.

We have a picture of you as Spiderman.

Yes, but I like the donkey costume better. It is more suited to me.

Why?

Because donkeys don’t talk. I don’t like others using the donkey costume. They don’t take good care of it and they leave foul smells. I am the only one who takes it home, where my mother will wash it.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I used to practice basketball for handicapped people. I once even went to Washington to play. I was really good. But I stopped playing because I got bored and felt the training courts were too far away.

Down the street I saw some girls hitting on a guy dressed as Elmo. Do you get that often?

Omar: Yes, a lot of girls that skip school come here and they start flirting with the donkey. We introduce Javier to them, but it ends after they leave.

Can you ask Javier if it gets very hot inside the costume?

He says that he has gotten used to it. Other kids feel the heat and never want to wear the costume again. But he doesn’t mind because he likes being the donkey.

Are you in school, Omar? Do you want to keep working here?

No. I would like to be a photographer. But not a photographer here. I want to be an event photographer.

Do you wonder what becomes of the pictures in which you appear?

Not really. We’ve been in so many pictures.


CONTINUED
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