Connecting the Americas, Bridging Cultures Supergringa in Spain: A Travel Memoir
What if the only way you could pursue an education and have time to write was to take a vow of abstinence and poverty and enter a monastery or convent? That was the decision Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana made when she became Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Sister Juana Inés […]
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Our biggest changes may arrive when we are looking the other way. Perhaps a stork , a blood red cardinal, or the wind delivers them at our door. At 20, I hoped to travel the world with my partner in the future, but I didn’t feel comfortable going on my own. During my first two […]
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Happy Women’s History Month! Let’s dig in… In Mexican history one of the most famous women is a Nahua (Aztec) who lived five hundred years ago. She’s a controversial figure because she rose from slavery to wield power as a diplomat negotiating between two great nations. She began life named Malinali when she was born […]
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According to what I’ve read, the first documented free man from Africa to land in the Americas was Juan Garrido. He was born in present day Angola, moved to Portugal, then to Sevilla, Spain. A few researchers think he may have been the servant or slave of Pedro Garrido on his first voyages of conquest. […]
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This last weekend was a winter highlight, the International Festival of Madison. The many cultures that grace this small city are represented in music, dance and food. To mention a fraction of the offerings: Capoeira, Swiss Alphorns, German music, Taiwan Puppets and for dances; Mexican Folkloric, East Indian, African, Chinese, Bolivian and Lithuanian. We wish […]
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Fall of my junior year in college I went to Spain for a semester. Those four months were key to who I’ve become. What I learned about myself and what it meant to be a gringa in the world was central to my experience. Here I confess what I learned about my own personality. 5 […]
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