Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Meeting Las Abuelitas



DONYA SILVIA, HER DAUGHTER ARLENE, AND ARLENE'S SON DIEGO
 EL CARDÓN    LAGUNA SAN IGNACIO

Today I walked around with my wonderful guide Jackie, talking to all different kinds of Grandmothers (and daughters and grandchildren).  We visited two out of three of the little outposts where people live on the lagoon, El Cardón (loosely, "thistle"), and Escuelita ("little school," where they have the elementary school and kindergarten). 

The first grandmother, Donya Maria, was about seventy.  Her boyfriend is 37.  She has 27 grandchildren by nine children and if her tenth child hadn't died it would probably be more.  Another grandmother, Donya Olivia, used to see lots of ghosts about twenty or thirty years ago, but she doesn't see them anymore and she doesn't know why. 

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