Our Lady of Gunpowder

Paco was yelling at me, but the gunshots were so deafening I couldn’t hear a word. He finally managed to push through the crowd and cupped his hands around my ear. “No matter what, Miguel, keep your mouth open. There’s less risk of damage to your eardrums.”

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Alive in Two Worlds

The past is never dead. It’s not even past: William Faulkner

It is impossible to wander the streets of Valencia without being shadowed by memories, all of them beautiful, like the city itself. Each memory carries feelings of peace and comfort, because during the months when I first lived here, an unexpected new world revealed itself. It was not only the Spanish language — a new way of thinking — but also new friends and a Spain that was beyond the horizon of my American imagination.

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