Gorilla Xmas

Christmas in Mexico is no joke. You don’t see much of Santa Claus nor Rudolf, but there is a ton of fireworks and two weeks of block parties in every pueblo. Basically a two week continuous party with the whole family. Expect to eat and drink a lot.


We had the year end Gorilla Glass party last week before vacations started, which consisted of a barbecue, gift exchange, and piñata. The piñata was a new sort that I had never seen before, with little strings to pull underneath so that you don’t need to wack it with a stick. This seemed way too easy and against the whole piñata concept, so we smashed it with a stick anyway. Abigail gave me a little painted armadillo, and I gave Yolanda a glass dragon fly that I made.


I am constantly reminded of what a great crew of people I have working with me. A good part of my team has been with me for years and we have struggled through all sorts of life hardships and joy together- funerals, births, sickness, weddings, and the day to day work making glass. We come from all sorts of backgrounds- me the tattooed gringo from New England, Margaret from Seattle, but mostly local women from small towns in the hills, many are single mothers.


In Oaxaca there is a big exodus of men to the bigger cities or to the United States to look for better paying work. In Oaxaca tourism powers the economy, and between the social unrest of 2006, the bad economy worldwide, and the swine flu virus, tourism in Mexico is in the dumps leaving many small towns in desperate poverty. I feel extremely lucky to be able to provide good work for my team during these hard times. Not only do I provide work I am also able to provide good benefits including free health care for all my employees and their families, free daycare, paid maternity leave, free continuing education opportunities, up to two weeks paid vacation, and a year of the end bonus equivalent to two weeks salary.


In reality Gorilla Glass exists thanks to my customers; it is the amazing community of customers and friends from around the world who demand glass piercing jewelry who make Gorilla Glass possible. The piercing community is one of the greatest groups of sweet, eccentric, passionate, occasionally jaded, diverse, and intelligent people I know. Thanks to all of you! It is with great satisfaction and pride that I can be the link between my community working and living here in Mexico and the big international community of piercing shops around the planet.