The "next genius" of Latin America

I finally received my copy of The Romantic Dogs by Roberto Bolaños. For some reason I have grown infatuated with this author although I really haven't read any of his work from start to finish. This will be the first book that I will read cover to cover by him. There is a certain element of his biography that draws me to wonder what his work is like, not to mention that I have still yet to find someone call him anything short of a genius. But probably my biggest fascination with this is author is that he might be the answer to what I have been waiting for, the "next genius" of Latin American poetry. For so many years it has been the same authors dominating the literary scene and space: Garcia Marquez, Allende, Neruda, Borges, Cortazar, Cisneros. It would be nice to get a new face and a new escape from reality, a new name to associate with Latin America author.

Could it also be that I'm fascinated with him and his work, because he is no longer alive. It wouldn't be the first time an author becomes more popular after their death, Selena, Tupac, Richie Valens, Kurt Cobain etc. (to name a few musical artist). There is also so much ambiguity as to how the events in his life played out. For instance, it is not know whether he was in Chile the day of the Pinochet takeover. Some source say he was there, but other say he was in Mexico. Another uncertain fact is his use of heroine. People have speculated that he was a heroine addict, but some of his closest friends deny it. Whether these people are trying to salvage his image or not, it still create a ora of which I have grown found of.

Nevertheless, I'm going read my copy cover to cover and try to the most out of it. This for the moment, is the only copy available of his poetry. I'll be on the look-out for other books of poetry. Though many consider him to be a novelist since most of his works are novels, he himself always considered himself first a poet. I'll keep everyone posted!

In other news:

It looks like Spring is finally here! It is about time! I cannot believe that it has been 6 months since our first snow fall. In celebration of ending our misery, I went ahead and bought myself some new soccer cleats. They look so fresh and so clean, that I had to go out and get them dirty. They feel wonderful, light, with a good grip. I actually already knew what they would feel like since I have the indoor version. This Thursday they will be put to the test when the teachers play the students in a "friendly" game. We'll see how friendly the teachers are! ha!

Getting ready to make our road trip to Phoenix this weekend. Erin will be there for almost a month working on her pediatrics rotation at one of the local hospitals. I'm going to miss her so much, but I'm also very happy that she will be able to spend some time in Phoenix with her old friends and I know how much she love that city. Plus I'll get to see my family which is always a blessing! Speaking of family, my little brother Aldo is going to have his first son this April. Everyone is so happy and excited for them. Despite all the craziness that my brother has gone through, I always knew he was a family man. I'm going to be a Tio again! Yay for more babies!!!

Spring Break

Though the picture of the beach looks pretty sweet, this is definitely not how my spring break turned out. If fact, it snowed on the second day of my three days off, but it was a nice break from school and the chaos of my weekly schedule. I was able to get a lot of small things done that I would normally stress out about, such as finding time to go to the doctors. What a different it makes to have a few spare hours to get some of your "chores" done. I feel like I'm always on the go during the week and by the time the weekend comes around all I want to do is just relax and veg a little.

I did happen to order a few books that I'm really excited about.

-Chronic, D.A. Powell

-Bird Eating Bird, Kristin Naca

-Faith Run, Ray Gonzalez

-The Romantic Dogs, Roberto Bolaños

I'm most excited to receive my copy of the Bolaños text. From all the review I have read, he is probably the best "new" writer coming from Latin America. The only problem is, and it is a big problem, is that he died almost seven years ago. From what I have read, he had a very erratic life, jumping from job to job, country to country, being heavily involved in the anti-political movements of Chile and to top it off, was a heroin addict. Hows that for "Rock Star" status. Fro what I have gathered, his best work are his novels, particularly a novel titled: 2666. (I plan to read it this summer, all 996 pages of it!), but I wanted to get his book of poetry, because Bolaños said he considered himself first and foremost a poet. So...I'll anxiously wait for his book to arrive and maybe discover, as all have said, the best "new" Latin America author.

Remembering Chile

In wake of the earthquake in Chile that literally rocked the earth, I decided to jot down a few memories of my short trip to Chile.

December 2001. I was at the end of my 6 month stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina, school had ended and I still had about 3 weeks before I had to return to the U.S. Being in South America and not knowing when I'd be back, I asked my parents if I could make a trip to Chile, after all I did have a cousin that was studying at the Catolica there, and when I mean cousin, I mean a real cousin, not a friend of a friend that us Latinos like to call cousins. I hadn't seen my cousin Ricardo in about 7-10 years. Last time I saw him he was in high school in Santa Barbara and I was a little kid still picking my nose. Nevertheless, he was there in Chile and had been there for almost 3 years. My mission, to try to find my cousin.

Arriving in Santiago de Chile was a bit of a shock to me. Not because of the climate or the infrastructure, simply the shock came when I asked a lady where I could find a public phone. When she responded, I could have sworn she was speaking in a different language. I had never heard the Chilean accent and it was as different as everyone had warned me. Once I got acclimated to their canto I phoned a friend of my parents, whom I obviously called tio (uncle, its a latino thing).

This friend of my parents, whom I had apparently met once in Tucson when he was in Phoenix on business and decided to come visit our house, surprisingly enough was not Chilean, he was actually from Puerto Rico, but had now lived in Chile several years after marrying his wife. I remember the first night sleeping in his home, which was outside of the city limits. For the life of me I couldn't sleep. It wasn't that I was scared, or tired, or uncomfortable, the problem was that it was too quiet. I had now been accustomed to the noise of the city in Bs. As. Constant cars driving, the city bus screeching its brakes and the occasional yell of people walking the streets after a late night at the bars. It was the quietest night I had ever had.

My week long stay always started out the same. Walk to the bus stop to catch it until it took me downtown. From 9-5, I would just wander the city. Looking at the buildings, people watch, try to write some poems in my travel journal and of course the occasional panic of getting lost in city. Santiago was a very pretty city. It wasn't as city-wise as Bs. As., which was a relief. For the past 6 months I had been surrounded by concrete, people and skyscrapers. It was nice to see trees and the beautiful mountain range of the Andes from any part of the city.

After three days of discovering why so many people had fallen in love with Santiago, I reassumed my mission to find Ricardo. The phone number my mom had given me to reach him was of course out-dated. I called with no avail, so the next step was to look in the white pages. Apparently Ricardo Sepulvedas is a popular name in Santiago as there were about 10 people with that name. Nevertheless, I began calling the numbers hoping he would answer. No luck, so I ventured to pick 3 houses to visit and knock on their door. If he wasn't one of those three, well I could say that I tried.

House #1, never found it. If fact I don't know if I copied it right, because the directions didn't make sense when I arrived in the neighborhood.

House #2, actually a fancy apartment building. I asked the doorman if he could show me the way to the apartment building and he was kind enough to show me the way. When I knocked, a pretty girl opened the door and I asked if Ricardo was home. Closing the door a little, enough to where I couldn't see her but could still hear her, she said: "Ricardo there is someone with a weird accent looking for you". When the man opened the door again. There he was my cousin Ricardo, surprised as hell to see me!! We gave each other a big hug and of course I gave him my explanation, but he just couldn't take his eyes off of me, like I had been raised from the dead.

In true older cousin fashion, he wanted to take me out on the town that night. I can honestly say that all I remember is taking a few shots of Pisco and game over, we had a great time and I ended up waking up on his couch hung-over as hell. I haven't seen my cousin since that morning that I left his apartment nor have I taken a shot of Pisco again. No gracias!!

Toward the end of my Chile trip, I visited the beautiful Viña del Mar. One of the most beautiful cities I have been too. No wonder the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda found so much inspiration in this small town next to the pacific. I only spent a whole day there, but walking the beach and visiting the old building of the cities was so magical. It was a town captured by beauty.

It was the perfect way to end my trip to Chile. I loved everything about the country. The people, the culture, the food, everything was exceptional. I pray for the people of Chile that they may find peace in spite of such a tragic event.

El pueblo unido, jamas sera vencido!!