Articles 2010

A MAN CALLED BENITO By Dave Gutk   At the age of thirteen Benito left the field and walked  to Oaxaca  where he found work as a domestic servant in the household of Don Antonio Maza, who also employed his sister. Don Antonio, impressed by Benito’s quick intelligence and desire to learn, became interested in his development. His friend Antonio […]

Sins of Our Fathers By Scott Richards   Mankind’s unfathomable ability to consume, destroy, endanger and control his entire environment has fascinated and saddened me from childhood. As we unconscionably harvest the Earths resources to the brink of extinction and beyond in our congenital belief of self-entitlement, ignoring the billions of inhabitants of this planet

JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE WORLD By Carol L. Bowman Part Three—From Land to SeaTorre del Paine to Punta Arenas   As our bus climbed in elevation, the Andean peaks enveloped us on all sides. The flatness and stark emptiness of the Patagonian steppes gave way to Beech tree forests of Chile’s Torre del

UP-DATES FROM THE ANIMAL SHELTER By Thetis Reeves   We dropped by the Shelter dog center the other day to see how Bingo was faring these days now that Chester, his long-time room-mate, finally got adopted a while ago. Chester held the record of being in residence for 359 days before going off to a

The Continuing Adventures of Mildred and Suzette… By Katie B. Goode Don’t Call Me M’am   “Good afternoon, m’am,” Eduardo said, proud of his new English greeting. “Eduardo!” Mildred said, desperately trying to hide the twitch at the corners of her mouth with a smile. “Su ingles es muy bien,” said Suzette. “Except for the

GRINGAS & GUACAMOLE By Gail Nott Training Techniques   Years of counseling couples and breeding and exhibiting show dogs has led me to the conclusion that one can utilize identical training procedures to insure appropriate behaviors by husbands and puppies. First and foremost, do not yell, scream or wave your arms. Both hubby and puppy

The Magic of Translation By Michael Warren   Every poem is a translation. Impressions become thoughts and thoughts become ideas; an event sinks into the poet’s consciousness and a mysterious alchemy begins to occur. Once this is understood, it becomes possible to approach the task of translation with a proper humility. The magical process has

The Spanish System of Surnames By Jose Casas y Sanchez   Since time immemorial in Spain, the Catholic church and the civil government (since the middle of the 19th century) have been using the same system for registering and ordering the surnames of individuals. Itsuse was extended to the New World, starting in the Colonial

Change Of Life in Mexico By Bernie Suttle   The stagnant traffic eased onto the Chapala Highway and we were swept into a whirlpool of cars, trucks busses, cycles, and even pushcarts. Just as our 11-year-old Sebring was coming up to speed and moving into the center southbound lane, it shuddered, moaned and died. Good

There’s Something About the Dalai Lama… By Julie D’Costa   There’s something about the Dalai Lama that gets me thinking. There’s something about him that is different from most ordinary mortals.   These days he is everywhere – in Vancouver, at a huge fundraiser for children of the world in Eastern Canada, and even on CNN