The first short story I published was “La primera nevada” (The First Snowfall) in my book Una noche en casa (A Night at Home, 1995). It was about the first time my brother and I had ever seen real snow after my family moved to Madrid from Valencia. For a few months, we lived in […]
Parallel Parking
I learned to drive when I was eight months pregnant in Cherry Point, North Carolina. My husband was waiting for our first baby to be born to join his squadron in Okinawa on route to Vietnam. We owned an old, lime-green Rambler then, with the gearshift on the steering wheel and I could barely reach […]
Double Dipping During the Holidays
I get to double dip big time during the holiday season. No, not the way you think; culturally speaking. I love the American tradition of Christmas, but I still celebrate the Three Wise Men’s arrival on January 6th. And when Peter was alive, we also lit the candles at Hanukah. The fact is that I […]
Picasso’s Guernica / Coda
No wonder I was attracted to the black and white films that I blogged about in my last post, “The Children Are Watching.” I grew up watching Italian neorealist cinema by Federico Fellini and Vittorio De Sica, albeit they were strictly censored by the Franco regime. I used to go with my parents late in […]
The Children Are Watching
Belfast was the opening film at the recent Philadelphia Film Festival. Directed and written by Kenneth Branagh, it is currently showing on the big screen. Filmed in black and white, it tells the story of Branagh’s childhood in Belfast during 1969 at the beginning of the so-called Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was impossible for […]
The Fabric of Life
Philadelphia is one of those cities that still have neighborhoods defined by trade. We have the famous Jewelers’ Row off 8th Street, although some stores have been demolished to make room for a high-rise condominium. Never mind that its construction has been stalled due to the pandemic, leaving an ugly open wound fenced by barbwire. […]