There’s a newness every morning in Mexico City, as store owners wash their sidewalks and prepare storefronts, the sun peeks over the horizon into the cool blue sky, and vendors take their bikes and carts to the streets to sell tamales, coffee, and more, filling neighborhoods with sounds and smells like urban birds singing. Opportunities to experience this unique and beautiful culture are served up, rolling by, on street corners and peeking out of unexpected places – yours for the taking. The beginning of my Mexico City love affair My senior year of college, with and insatiable sense of curiosity […]
A Tale of Hispanic Heritage & Why It Matters
Fifty years ago, the president of this country had the social consciousness to celebrate the contributions of Latinos in United States during National Hispanic Heritage Month. It’s more important than ever to continue the tradition, tell our stories, share our joy, and dispel myths and prejudices. Hispanic Americans have risen in importance and power, but still, we are classified by color and culture. An intertwined tale of Hispanic Heritage Nogales, my hometown, is named after a walnut grove that belonged to the Elías family (Los Nogales de Elías), which was then a part of Mexico. Following the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, the Elías […]
Indomitable Mexico City
Exactly 32 years ago today (Sept. 19, 1985), Mexico was hit by a huge, destructive earthquake. Today, in a long series of global natural disasters, another big earthquake has reverberated through the city. Lives have been lost, buildings destroyed, and the dust has not yet settled. Mexico is a sprawling metropolis with something for everyone. It’s the best place to get lost or to find yourself. It has spectacular architecture, unparalleled cuisine, and the richest of histories, but the best thing about Mexico City is her people. They are cultured, welcoming, energetic, and warm. The time I lived in Mexico […]
Letter to My Daughter: Leave While You’re Young
The photos of your new life are breathtaking. You decided to leave with a one-way ticket, to get a change of scenery. Some fresh air in your lungs. It was time. Your family misses you, and although my advice may not be popular with them, I just wanted to tell you…don’t come back. Don’t even consider it. Not yet. You have to leave while you’re young. This is your time. You were born with a great restlessness that many never know and most won’t understand, and they’ll try to lure you back. Being away from everything you’ve known will allow […]
A Huge Border Wall is Not the Answer
In the late 1800s, my family came from Solingen, Prussia and built their homestead in a canyon on the Mexican border before Arizona was a state. At that time, Nogales was literally a walnut grove bisected by an international line with little more than a railroad station and post office. My grandmother and all her siblings were born on that land, as was my father and his siblings, and it’s where we spent summers when my mom dropped us off with family and went to work. When I was growing up, the fence, as we called it, was literally a […]