It's a slow morning here on calle 19 marzo; it seems like the whole pace of my life has slowed down a bit here in this Caribbean capital. The heat, the language, and the project work take their tolls, and I have been guarding my afternoon naps with ferocity. While my pace has become more like a meandering walk than the sprint I usually live, the days do seem to be disappearing. There is so much to take in, so much to absorb, so many experiences to be had in the next four weeks.
School is moving along, though my favorite classmate, Chris, is leaving tomorrow. Good news is there is a revolving door of students, and I hope we add new faces to class next week. A friend and fellow teacher, Kristy, will be joining me here next week and beginning Spanish classes as well. I'm looking forward to having another partner in crime! I have one more week of grammar and conversation classes, and then I add an afternoon class in Dominican culture and history to the mix for my third and fourth weeks of school. I will be interested to see what kind of teacher they bring in for this cultural studies course, as he or she is coming from one of the local universities to teach me.
So far most political or cultural discussions we have gotten into in my classes have been a bit truncated as my teachers are very conservative evangelical Christians whose religious perspectives define most aspects of their lives. Both women are lovely people, but they most definitely find me to be a bit out there, which to an extremely conservative, evangelical Dominican woman, I most certainly am! I have simply been trying to take in their points of view and beliefs about life, their country, and their people--absorb what they have to teach me. Chris and I both love to talk about race, so we have been bringing those issues up in class a lot (who will be a rabble-rouser with me now?!), and it has been really fascinating to compare how African-Americans relate to their black identity as compared to most Dominicans. Chris, who is black, pointed out to me that for Americans of color, one drop of black blood proudly allows you to claim your African heritage. Here every word in the world is used to describe people who are all of color; every word, that is, but black.
Indio, indio claro, morena/o, morenita/o, mulatta/o. To be called negro/a here is an offense, an offense that usually comes along with being called haitiana/o, as the darker one's skin is the more closely one is related to the other part of the island--the part of voodoo, creole, inexplicable natural disasters, and abject poverty. In one of my interviews yesterday, a former Dominican high school teacher and his lovely wife discussed the relationship Dominicans have with their African heritage as one of refusal and rejection. Yet, as Candi explained to me, it is a rejection that can only go so far. A woman of very light-skin and mixed background (French, Italian, Spanish, and African), she said that since childhood, she has felt her African roots through music and dance. When she hears the beat of a tambour, she feels it in her blood. Her husband, a non-dancing dominicano (a rare breed here!) elaborated on this refusal of blackness and the general quest Dominicans have always been on to set themselves apart from their brother country, Haiti, and find some sort of pure Dominican identity. This search, it seems, has led the culture to see itself as more white, more Spanish, more Catholic, and less black, less African, less connected to the cultural practices brought to the island with slavery.
Chris also turned me on to PBS's recent series, Black in Latin America, which shot an episode here in DR and Haiti. I have been consuming that series with intensity, taking in so much new information and many enlightening perspectives about the black experience across Latin America. In my own project, one question I am asking people is to identify experiences that unite all parts of the Americas...and our continental relationship with slavery and the African diaspora is one of the most important links we all share.
Well, the day stands before me, waiting to lead me to new places donde puedo absorber momentos nuevos. I am excited for this day, which includes shooting the second part of my interview with Candi and Eduardo, an afternoon of photography, and an art show tonight featuring Nathalie's collection of reportage here in Santo Domingo. I happily make myself into dry cloth ready to sponge up all the day has to give.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
k8elisa2011's photostream
k8elisa2011's photostream on Flickr.
This is the collection of photos I am shooting in DR this summer. It is my FIRST attempt at real photography and stands as the pictorial partner to the blog I am writing. Cheers~
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
to choose/escoger
I took a day off yesterday, and have chosen to blog every other day to ensure I have something to say and don't feel the pressure to write every night....entonces escribo ahora....
I started school yesterday, and have been TIRED from my morning classes, homework, and project work. It's all good, though. It is all a blessing.
Yesterday I showed up thinking I was just taking a test, and found out that I was to start my classes as soon as my level was assigned. I was very happy to test into their fifth level class (out of eight), which is like a low advanced class. My classes are held on the second floor of a building about two blocks from my apartment; it is a building that one would miss easily, no sign or placard denoting it as a language school. I arrive at 8:30 in the mornings and settle in for three hours of grammar and conversation with a 30 minute break in-between sessions. The grammar block is so good for me because I understand and speak a lot more than I really know how to write or read correctly. My grammar teacher is a small morena with a large personality and presence in the classroom.We work out of a one paperback book provided by the school and she uses only a chalkboard and conversation to drive instruction. As a teacher of language myself, it is really interesting to see what she does with the limited resources they have. Compared to the endless supply of STUFF we have to use in education in the USA, it is bare bones around my school, yet in the end, sometimes the simple choice is the best. A pencil, notebook, and a good teacher go a long way in life. Following our break I return to our small room for an hour and a half of conversation with my 19 year old teacher whose personality fills the room ten times over. Today she decided that we should spend the time talking about love, relationships and our past relationships! As a 28 year old in class with two 20 year old college boys, it was an hysterical class. I like my school and know that I will walk out in four weeks with more confidence and abilities with Spanish.
Que mas...I am devouring this photography thing...loving the learning process and eagerly spending a good hour or two in the evenings doing street photography. People here are very willing to be photographed, which makes the experience a joy. When taking a photo, choice is so important. What are you trying to capture? Who or what draws your attention most? What feeling, emotion, or moment do you want to be recorded? Thus, I have been thinking a lot about choosing these past two days.
Choices are everywhere in this post-modern world, especially for educated Westerners, like myself, who have evaded early marriage and familial commitments. Sometimes I feel as overwhelmed with the choices my own life presents to me as I do when trying to choose what to photograph. Travel opens up new worlds, new places, and if you are like me everywhere you go, you can envision a life there and see how that reality would be possible. The choices are overwhelming, like being stuck in a Baskin Robbins for eternity, but instead of 31 flavors to choose from, there are an infinite number of options. How do you know where to be, what career to do, who to love? These are questions that rattle around my brain often, especially when I escape my dictated reality of teaching high school in Indiana. Don't get me wrong, I am so blessed to have the career I have...I am absolutely in love with teaching. It defines me in so many ways. At home in my bubble, I can forget how big the world is and how many options I have. I become focused on my students, my friends and family, my daily life, and I let the choices drop away. When I am traveling, it reopens the enormity of our world and the various realities in which I could be living. In the end, I come back to the knowledge that intuition has always been my ultimate compass, thus far it has guided me pretty well. The challenge is simply to create the space in life to hear myself and know why I choose what I choose. Whether taking a photo or making a major life choice, may I always move with the assurance of intuition...could I be so lucky?!
Choice. What do you choose to do with your life's energy and why? I would love to know.
I started school yesterday, and have been TIRED from my morning classes, homework, and project work. It's all good, though. It is all a blessing.
Yesterday I showed up thinking I was just taking a test, and found out that I was to start my classes as soon as my level was assigned. I was very happy to test into their fifth level class (out of eight), which is like a low advanced class. My classes are held on the second floor of a building about two blocks from my apartment; it is a building that one would miss easily, no sign or placard denoting it as a language school. I arrive at 8:30 in the mornings and settle in for three hours of grammar and conversation with a 30 minute break in-between sessions. The grammar block is so good for me because I understand and speak a lot more than I really know how to write or read correctly. My grammar teacher is a small morena with a large personality and presence in the classroom.We work out of a one paperback book provided by the school and she uses only a chalkboard and conversation to drive instruction. As a teacher of language myself, it is really interesting to see what she does with the limited resources they have. Compared to the endless supply of STUFF we have to use in education in the USA, it is bare bones around my school, yet in the end, sometimes the simple choice is the best. A pencil, notebook, and a good teacher go a long way in life. Following our break I return to our small room for an hour and a half of conversation with my 19 year old teacher whose personality fills the room ten times over. Today she decided that we should spend the time talking about love, relationships and our past relationships! As a 28 year old in class with two 20 year old college boys, it was an hysterical class. I like my school and know that I will walk out in four weeks with more confidence and abilities with Spanish.
Que mas...I am devouring this photography thing...loving the learning process and eagerly spending a good hour or two in the evenings doing street photography. People here are very willing to be photographed, which makes the experience a joy. When taking a photo, choice is so important. What are you trying to capture? Who or what draws your attention most? What feeling, emotion, or moment do you want to be recorded? Thus, I have been thinking a lot about choosing these past two days.
Choices are everywhere in this post-modern world, especially for educated Westerners, like myself, who have evaded early marriage and familial commitments. Sometimes I feel as overwhelmed with the choices my own life presents to me as I do when trying to choose what to photograph. Travel opens up new worlds, new places, and if you are like me everywhere you go, you can envision a life there and see how that reality would be possible. The choices are overwhelming, like being stuck in a Baskin Robbins for eternity, but instead of 31 flavors to choose from, there are an infinite number of options. How do you know where to be, what career to do, who to love? These are questions that rattle around my brain often, especially when I escape my dictated reality of teaching high school in Indiana. Don't get me wrong, I am so blessed to have the career I have...I am absolutely in love with teaching. It defines me in so many ways. At home in my bubble, I can forget how big the world is and how many options I have. I become focused on my students, my friends and family, my daily life, and I let the choices drop away. When I am traveling, it reopens the enormity of our world and the various realities in which I could be living. In the end, I come back to the knowledge that intuition has always been my ultimate compass, thus far it has guided me pretty well. The challenge is simply to create the space in life to hear myself and know why I choose what I choose. Whether taking a photo or making a major life choice, may I always move with the assurance of intuition...could I be so lucky?!
Choice. What do you choose to do with your life's energy and why? I would love to know.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
to recharge/recargar
I spent the first part of my day reading Feast of Goats, an intricate historical fiction novel about the assassination of Trujillo and those involved in this historical turning point. I sat in the same cafeteria as I read this afternoon while Jay worked on video and still shots around the city. It was a peaceful day of taking in our surroundings and getting ready for the coming week, thus making today's word recharge/recargar.
After a slow afternoon in the cafeteria, we came back to the apartment to do pretty mundane things--laundry, dishes, image uploading, email writing. Asi pasemos la tarde.
We were told yesterday that a famous concert happens every Sunday in a spot called las ruinas del san fransisco, so we decided to cart the camera gear up to las ruinas to see what it was all about. What we foudn was more than I could have hoped for. It was like a scene from Buena Vista Social Club--tons of older Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards, and who knows who else making mind blowing music and dancing to the pulsing rhythms of original island dances and the far away cadence of Spanish flamenco. With Jay's guidance, I began working on my photography skills! I can now talk about ISO, f-stops, and am learning how to focus my eye and be patient enough to capture something meaningful in an image. I have always been drawn towards photography and am really engaged in this learning process.
I felt recharged by taking in our environment this evening and encouraged by the agelessness of dance here; equally fluid and beautiful were the 75 year olds dancing salsa as the 18 year olds beside them! Dancing keeps us young and open to our world. It allows us to recharge our internal batteries through movement and expression. You might feel physically exhausted after dancing, but something inside yourself has been strengthened and recharged. I can tell that many of the people around us tonight come to las ruinas every Sunday to take in that awesome scene and recharge themselves on the dance floor.
This is it for a lazy Sunday...I start my language school tomorrow, and a new world unfurls.
After a slow afternoon in the cafeteria, we came back to the apartment to do pretty mundane things--laundry, dishes, image uploading, email writing. Asi pasemos la tarde.
We were told yesterday that a famous concert happens every Sunday in a spot called las ruinas del san fransisco, so we decided to cart the camera gear up to las ruinas to see what it was all about. What we foudn was more than I could have hoped for. It was like a scene from Buena Vista Social Club--tons of older Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards, and who knows who else making mind blowing music and dancing to the pulsing rhythms of original island dances and the far away cadence of Spanish flamenco. With Jay's guidance, I began working on my photography skills! I can now talk about ISO, f-stops, and am learning how to focus my eye and be patient enough to capture something meaningful in an image. I have always been drawn towards photography and am really engaged in this learning process.
I felt recharged by taking in our environment this evening and encouraged by the agelessness of dance here; equally fluid and beautiful were the 75 year olds dancing salsa as the 18 year olds beside them! Dancing keeps us young and open to our world. It allows us to recharge our internal batteries through movement and expression. You might feel physically exhausted after dancing, but something inside yourself has been strengthened and recharged. I can tell that many of the people around us tonight come to las ruinas every Sunday to take in that awesome scene and recharge themselves on the dance floor.
This is it for a lazy Sunday...I start my language school tomorrow, and a new world unfurls.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
to peregrinate/peregrinar
Today I awoke at 8:00...looked at the clock, realized I had no where to be, and rolled back over until close to 10:00. The sun was blazing when I chose to enter this world. I'm not sure what the weather channel was talking about when they prepared me for stormy days.
After re-learning how to make the all important cafe with the old fashioned drip pot that came with our apartment, I was ready to take on this day.
Today that can only be encompassed by the verb to peregrinate, to meander on foot with no real purpose...translated in Spanish to peregrinar, which I learned this evening takes on a holy meaning here...those who search on foot for that which is holy, akin to a pilgrimage.
Jay and I left the apartment with camera gear in tow in search of a place to change money and the idea to find what there was to be found on this Saturday. We ended up at the cafeteria situated on El Conde--the main walking street of Santo Domingo. We walked past this place once on our way to the casa de cambio, and the ambiance drew my attention...outdoor tables, groups of Dominicans involved in conversation or games of dominoes and cards, and a spattering of tourists taking a break from their sight seeing itineraries. We circled back around that way, and I just had to go in for some people watching and una limonada frozen! Jay began jumping up periodically to shoot interesting moments happening around us while I soaked in the scenery. This must have drawn the attention of our waiter, Jesus, who asked me what we are doing here with so many cameras! After a quick explanation, he pointed out several individuals he said we needed to meet who were sitting around us.
As it turns out, this cafeteria is a well-spring for la cultural bohemia de santo domingo. The country's most prominent artists, poets, historians, and professors pass their Saturdays drinking cafe and el presidentes in this very spot. Serendipities abound. Sitting to my right was a tall man reading Roald Dahl and scribbling away in a moleskin, who Jesus introduced me to right away.
Joan is an advertising executive here in DR who in one days time has become our new favorite person in Santo Domingo! After our introduction, he immediately pulled up a seat and engaged in a fascinating conversation with us about the nature of Dominican culture and history. For the next couple hours, we sat under an umbrella while the afternoon rain passed discussing the intricacies of Dominican identity. Joan might be the Dominican equivalent of Woody Allen--he has lived here all of his life and deeply loves, appreciates, and has sought to understand his people. Talking with him today helped me focus this project while also expanding my ideas. One point of Joan's that is sticking with me tonight is the idea that an essential aspect of Dominican identity is the suppression of culture, the hiding, pushing aside, or diminishing of that which is most fully full of the essence of what it means to be Dominican. This is an idea I am just starting to learning about, so I cannot say much more...but I find that statement fascinating.
As we were wrapping up our conversation, his friend, Milton, peregrinated by the cafeteria. I believe peregrination is an art form here, something Americans could learn much from when it comes to daily life. Milton is a painter and musician who is leaving in one week's time to study music in Paris. Milton became interested in our conversation about fuku, and wanted to hear more about our project. As all synchronisities seem to unfold, Milton had an exposition of his paintings up in a cultural center a few blocks from this cafeteria. He invited us to see his paintings and offered to do an interview!
What ensued was so magical, the fruit of peregrination...walking, exploring, and being present in a moment. We set up in a beautiful garden connected to this art space under statues of cristobol colon y los reyes catoloicos and began our first interview. Joan gladly helped Jay behind the camera, utilizing his own skills and background in film and video work. Milton and I dove head first into the topics of Columbus, fuku, our shared American story, the path we must walk as a global society to heal our historical wounds, and the expression of these ideas in his art...Jay is working hard to convert video tonight so that we can post clips tomorrow.
Following the interview, our meander continued; Joan invited us to meet some of his friends at a new bar that opened around the corner from our apartment. The front the building is a shoe store--shoes that resemble the oh-so popular Toms that are blowing up at home, except these are a handmade tradition produced by one family from Spain! They just opened an indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant connected to their shoe store that has such a relaxed, inviting vibe. There we were introduced to Jaime and Nathalie--a gorgeous couple of great talent. Jaime is a photographer and videoographer whose photos Jay and I actually saw from his Flickr account during our pre-trip research! He might be the most talented photographer working in DR today. Nathalie, who studied at the New School in NYC, does reportage and is incredible. We passed the evening in conversation with them about their artistic styles, histories, and perspectives. We also planned a beach trip for next weekend with them, exciting.
I am tired from this day, but filled with the knowledge that there is so much to explore...so many holy moments to embody. Day two, focused on the art of peregrination, has centered me fully in this journey and set the stage beautifully for the work Jay and I want to do while here.
After re-learning how to make the all important cafe with the old fashioned drip pot that came with our apartment, I was ready to take on this day.
Today that can only be encompassed by the verb to peregrinate, to meander on foot with no real purpose...translated in Spanish to peregrinar, which I learned this evening takes on a holy meaning here...those who search on foot for that which is holy, akin to a pilgrimage.
Jay and I left the apartment with camera gear in tow in search of a place to change money and the idea to find what there was to be found on this Saturday. We ended up at the cafeteria situated on El Conde--the main walking street of Santo Domingo. We walked past this place once on our way to the casa de cambio, and the ambiance drew my attention...outdoor tables, groups of Dominicans involved in conversation or games of dominoes and cards, and a spattering of tourists taking a break from their sight seeing itineraries. We circled back around that way, and I just had to go in for some people watching and una limonada frozen! Jay began jumping up periodically to shoot interesting moments happening around us while I soaked in the scenery. This must have drawn the attention of our waiter, Jesus, who asked me what we are doing here with so many cameras! After a quick explanation, he pointed out several individuals he said we needed to meet who were sitting around us.
As it turns out, this cafeteria is a well-spring for la cultural bohemia de santo domingo. The country's most prominent artists, poets, historians, and professors pass their Saturdays drinking cafe and el presidentes in this very spot. Serendipities abound. Sitting to my right was a tall man reading Roald Dahl and scribbling away in a moleskin, who Jesus introduced me to right away.
Joan is an advertising executive here in DR who in one days time has become our new favorite person in Santo Domingo! After our introduction, he immediately pulled up a seat and engaged in a fascinating conversation with us about the nature of Dominican culture and history. For the next couple hours, we sat under an umbrella while the afternoon rain passed discussing the intricacies of Dominican identity. Joan might be the Dominican equivalent of Woody Allen--he has lived here all of his life and deeply loves, appreciates, and has sought to understand his people. Talking with him today helped me focus this project while also expanding my ideas. One point of Joan's that is sticking with me tonight is the idea that an essential aspect of Dominican identity is the suppression of culture, the hiding, pushing aside, or diminishing of that which is most fully full of the essence of what it means to be Dominican. This is an idea I am just starting to learning about, so I cannot say much more...but I find that statement fascinating.
As we were wrapping up our conversation, his friend, Milton, peregrinated by the cafeteria. I believe peregrination is an art form here, something Americans could learn much from when it comes to daily life. Milton is a painter and musician who is leaving in one week's time to study music in Paris. Milton became interested in our conversation about fuku, and wanted to hear more about our project. As all synchronisities seem to unfold, Milton had an exposition of his paintings up in a cultural center a few blocks from this cafeteria. He invited us to see his paintings and offered to do an interview!
What ensued was so magical, the fruit of peregrination...walking, exploring, and being present in a moment. We set up in a beautiful garden connected to this art space under statues of cristobol colon y los reyes catoloicos and began our first interview. Joan gladly helped Jay behind the camera, utilizing his own skills and background in film and video work. Milton and I dove head first into the topics of Columbus, fuku, our shared American story, the path we must walk as a global society to heal our historical wounds, and the expression of these ideas in his art...Jay is working hard to convert video tonight so that we can post clips tomorrow.
Following the interview, our meander continued; Joan invited us to meet some of his friends at a new bar that opened around the corner from our apartment. The front the building is a shoe store--shoes that resemble the oh-so popular Toms that are blowing up at home, except these are a handmade tradition produced by one family from Spain! They just opened an indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant connected to their shoe store that has such a relaxed, inviting vibe. There we were introduced to Jaime and Nathalie--a gorgeous couple of great talent. Jaime is a photographer and videoographer whose photos Jay and I actually saw from his Flickr account during our pre-trip research! He might be the most talented photographer working in DR today. Nathalie, who studied at the New School in NYC, does reportage and is incredible. We passed the evening in conversation with them about their artistic styles, histories, and perspectives. We also planned a beach trip for next weekend with them, exciting.
I am tired from this day, but filled with the knowledge that there is so much to explore...so many holy moments to embody. Day two, focused on the art of peregrination, has centered me fully in this journey and set the stage beautifully for the work Jay and I want to do while here.
Friday, June 17, 2011
to settle/afincarse
Here I am--day one on this Dominican odyssey--ready for a million more days, but I will settle in tightly for 36.
It is a breezy, cool evening in Santo Domingo and the smell of a well cooked dinner is distracting me from the computer screen in front of me. My roommate and film making partner cooks! Our home for the next five weeks has high ceilings, white walls, well placed art, a balcony where I could waste away my life listening to the waterfall outside our apartment, and a rooftop pool that offers relief from a sweltering Dominican afternoon. Today we passed la tarde caminando por la ciudad. As I floated on my back in the pool this evening, staring at the same stars I see at home in a different alignment, I am once again overwhelmed with my blessings. Thank you to all who have helped me be here enjoying this moment.
It has been a day of settling into the rhythm that life will hold for the next five weeks.
My aunt helped me pick out this really special book during my time in Chicago before leaving called Life is a Verb. I have only started to explore the lessons it offers, but today I am taking from it the idea that to be engaged in life fully one must look at every day as a moment for action...today's action word is SETTLE, afincarse.
Today I arrived to this gorgeous apartment and began settling around 12:30; I was ushered into DR by Ezekiel, the airport pickup from my language school. He was the angel holding my name thus rescuing me from the cart of luggage and camera gear that has traveled with me from Indiana. I never knew how many conversations an oblong bag (suspiciously denoting film work) can bring to travel moments. As great as those random talks were, I was happy to see a friendly face willing to share my load. As soon as we got in the car, Ezekiel asked me, "Bachata o Merengue?" My response... "Me encanto los dos!" We spent the next 30 minutes driving into the capital singing along to the enticing cadence of these Latin rhythms...I felt my students with me as a belted Bachata lyrics I know mostly due to their influence in my life. He turned down the music only to point out the monument erected to Cristobol Colon...with a grimace he pointed it out to me, waiting for my response to this historic spot. I, in turn, asked this new friend what he thought of the father of the el mundo nuevo. What ensued was EXACTLY why I am here--honest, profound, off the cuff conversations with people who have something powerful to say about the continents we call the Americas. Ezekiel will be one of our first interviews...so I won't ruin his story by divulging too much in this post.
I took that encounter as a good omen, telling me that there is a story to tell. A story I have prepared for years to record.
It is a breezy, cool evening in Santo Domingo and the smell of a well cooked dinner is distracting me from the computer screen in front of me. My roommate and film making partner cooks! Our home for the next five weeks has high ceilings, white walls, well placed art, a balcony where I could waste away my life listening to the waterfall outside our apartment, and a rooftop pool that offers relief from a sweltering Dominican afternoon. Today we passed la tarde caminando por la ciudad. As I floated on my back in the pool this evening, staring at the same stars I see at home in a different alignment, I am once again overwhelmed with my blessings. Thank you to all who have helped me be here enjoying this moment.
It has been a day of settling into the rhythm that life will hold for the next five weeks.
My aunt helped me pick out this really special book during my time in Chicago before leaving called Life is a Verb. I have only started to explore the lessons it offers, but today I am taking from it the idea that to be engaged in life fully one must look at every day as a moment for action...today's action word is SETTLE, afincarse.
Today I arrived to this gorgeous apartment and began settling around 12:30; I was ushered into DR by Ezekiel, the airport pickup from my language school. He was the angel holding my name thus rescuing me from the cart of luggage and camera gear that has traveled with me from Indiana. I never knew how many conversations an oblong bag (suspiciously denoting film work) can bring to travel moments. As great as those random talks were, I was happy to see a friendly face willing to share my load. As soon as we got in the car, Ezekiel asked me, "Bachata o Merengue?" My response... "Me encanto los dos!" We spent the next 30 minutes driving into the capital singing along to the enticing cadence of these Latin rhythms...I felt my students with me as a belted Bachata lyrics I know mostly due to their influence in my life. He turned down the music only to point out the monument erected to Cristobol Colon...with a grimace he pointed it out to me, waiting for my response to this historic spot. I, in turn, asked this new friend what he thought of the father of the el mundo nuevo. What ensued was EXACTLY why I am here--honest, profound, off the cuff conversations with people who have something powerful to say about the continents we call the Americas. Ezekiel will be one of our first interviews...so I won't ruin his story by divulging too much in this post.
I took that encounter as a good omen, telling me that there is a story to tell. A story I have prepared for years to record.
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