A Tour of Paradise

PREFACE

The following stories are written by two English as a Second Language students, Maria Catelina Aldana Amaya and Katherine Satizabal, taught by their ESL teacher, Carol Bowman, for over 10 years. Throughout the years both have struggled to learn correct English grammar and recently the class has progressed to the point that they were given the assignment to write a short story in English. They were coached on writing all types of stories – informational, nonfiction, fiction, and even memoir. It is important for the English-speaking public living here in Mexico to understand how much Mexican adults want to learn this second language and how much effort they put into learning all aspects of it. Neither of these stories has been edited by the teacher. They are presented, as written, for you to enjoy, and marvel at the degree of competence each has achieved. If this preliminary offering is accepted by the reading public with enthusiasm, perhaps other students in the class will be motivated to share their stories with El Ojo readers in the future.  Carol Bowman

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Have you ever been to Paradise by chance? I have, it’s awesome!

All days begin with a wonderful sunrise. The first lights of dawn offer us an extraordinary variety of shapes and colors, between red, oranges and yellows in the sky, making marvelous pictures. This atmosphere invites us to go for a walk to admire all the rolling mountains around and feel the fresh weather of dawn.

During the swallow migration period, you can see a great performance flying up and down the streets. They seem to be dancing in a huge scenery, accompanied by the singing of birds.

In this hot time, the cicadas don’t stop singing, asking for water. Probably you get tired of listening to them, but after all it’s part of the show and you finish appreciating them.

The air, Oh, the air; another wonderful look. The air runs without you seeing it, but you can feel it and listen to it. Sometimes the air is warm and gentle. Other times it is forceful. The bushes and branches sway from side to side and the tree leaves look like they are clapping or dancing between them. When there are strong gusts of wind, they make a scary and long sound. You can feel nervousness, but you get used to it and you achieve a change in you perception.

When the rain comes the clouds turn dark. Once in a while, the air pushes them away and sometime the clouds overflow, giving a marvelous colorful life to nature. The water runs through the hills down to Lake Chapala. It’s a wonderful view, like a subtle white thread. People like to walk to the nearest waterfall to enjoy the spectacle.

When the sunset begins to appear, the sky shows us its happiness and plenitude to finish the day with different colors. The sun goes down and the moon makes its presence known by showing us a lot of stars in the sky, inspiring musician, poets and lovers. Actually, Pepe Guizar, inspired by Lake Chapala composed the unforgettable song, Chapala, among others. He is known as the “Musical Painter of Mexico.”

I live with these wonders that nature offers us in my house in Chantepec. They make me feel a special connection with myself; peacefulness, happiness, wellness and very much loved. This makes me always have an attitude of gratitude toward my Creator and Father God.