– an excerpt from the book: “Agave Marias – border crossers, boundary breakers.” by various authors. When I refer to “my Mexican maid,” my Canadian friends cringe. I suspect they picture a stooped crone in a shawl, scrubbing my floors on her hands and arthritic knees. Lupita is young, a handsome woman with strong features, […]
Continue Reading– an excerpt from the book: “Agave Marias” by various authors. I’m sorry your husband couldn’t come today. He’s a much better driver than you are. No offense, its just that, generally speaking, women aren’t very good drivers. Watch out for that kid on the bike. Driving in Mexico here, its not easy, especially for […]
Continue Reading– an excerpt from the book: “Agave Marias – border crossers, boundary breakers.” by various authors. Some of us wondered how that wedding could be blessed by God. Was it really His will? The village padre said it was. No one dared ask why. That would just give him a chance to preach to us […]
Continue Reading– an excerpt from the book: “Agave Marias – border crossers, boundary breakers.” by various authors. Two things the three señoras had in common were poverty and pain. Even their names, Dolores, meaning pains, seemed to cast a grim prognostication on their lives. Their informal names of Lola did nothing to lighten their load. Lola […]
Continue Reading– an excerpt from the book: “Agave Marias – border crossers, boundary breakers.” by various authors. Giving birth is difficult enough with one woman involved; imagine when it takes ten. We conceived of this anthology in October of 2004. We had no instruction manual to follow, no physician to monitor our pregnancy, check our blood […]
Continue ReadingAlejandro stands on the far side of the chain-link fence with a dead kid at his feet. This morning there is no smile, no buenos dias, no offers of zucchini, only a scowl and a gesture of dismay, intimating that I should appreciate the severity of my problem. Within minutes I realize that he’s been sent to […]
Continue Reading– an excerpt from the book: “Agave Marias – border crossers, boundary breakers.” by various authors. The objects in my house have become a form of dialogue between my housekeeper Yolanda and me. I put things in places where they are artistically pleasing to me. That is why the Virgin of Guadalupe has resided for […]
Continue Reading
Sometime during my first month in Guanajuato, the idea floated into my head of writing an article about the sonic landscape of the city. This of course includes a great deal of music, since it resounds in every corner. But surrounding the music is a larger sonic landscape, comprising a range of sounds, some magical, […]
Continue Reading
Guanajuato is, and has been for a long time, a centre of culture and education. In one way or another, it has always been prosperous, either through the richness of its farmland or its mines. There was the money to support cultural activities and the desire on the part of the rich mining families and hacendados, I […]
Continue Reading
The city of Guanajuato is nestled in a sort of steep basin in the Sierra Madre Mountains and spreads up around the center of the basin. Imagine a huge, terraced rice paddy such as we’ve seen in photos of Indochina. Then, imagine a city built on those terraces, a city in which there are practically […]
Continue Reading