Synopsis
Anna leaves behind her home in England when she moves to Tampico, Mexico with her husband William in the year 1919. Her English ancestry isolates her from her new life, and so begin her daily inscriptions in a poetic diary, which capture her daily thoughts, tribulations and her endeavors to understand the strange new culture that exists around her.
As an avid reader herself, the entries in her diary reflect the books that she is reading. Each entry describes in detail the enormity of the torment that she is subject to; the hardship of adapting to the lifestyle with which she must acquaint herself, along with the pleasures of her new found activities, those of which, will ultimately lead towards her destiny.
Elizabeth Braun delivers an absorbing literary tale of original prose; the daily thoughts of a woman who refuses to concede to her life of cultural and social isolation from the country she lives in. Anyone who has moved into a distinctly different social or cultural environment will be able to relate to her journey. Tampico’s Gold is an illuminating tale that is certain to captivate the reader.
September 25 Tampico Alto
Today I took the ferry across Rio Panuco with el Padre. We hitched a ride with a farmer in his wagon to Tampico Alta. The farmer was bringing his produce across the river to the market in Tampico, so he had an empty wagon going back towards Tampico Alto.
The little town immediately captivated me. This little pueblo boasted a huge church glistening in the sun with a tiled entry way and with murals painted on the walls and ceiling. The double doors that are all down the side of the church were wide open, letting the ocean breeze keep the interior cool. The church looked like what you would expect a Mexican church to look like. It is white, trimmed in blue, sitting on a hill, on the town square in a place of honor. The surrounding buildings were all stucco and painted white with thatched roofs, looking awfully meager next to the church.
I plopped down in the garden and attended to my sketching while el Padre visited with the priests. When he was finished with his business, he stopped by the garden and picked me up. We needed to make one more stop, a visit to his abuela.
His grandmother looked like a grandmother, short, plump, slightly stooped, and graying. She greeted us warmly and insisted upon serving us some lunch. She served us tortillas and some sort of bean and sausage soup. It was quite spicy actually, but good. We had watermelon tea to drink, (water with watermelon chunks in it). I drank it rather cautiously, but with the spicy food, I drank quite a lot.
When we were leaving his grandmother made one statement that stuck with me. I have been trying to figure out exactly what she meant by it. "Cuidado, ella es tan bonita para ser solemente una amiga." The best I can make of it, it means caution, and she's too pretty to be only a friend. If so, I can’t really ask William for his help in translating! But maybe I am mistaken, hopefully so!
October 21 Cenote
Today we hiked to the Sacred Cenote, a source of water for the area and home to the Mayan god “Chac”, the god of rain.
It looks like a huge sink hole; the water level is at least 20 feet below ground level. There are plants growing up to the edge of the Cenote and even inside along the walls above the level of the water! So it is very scary to look down into it. I kept hanging onto William for fear that I might fall in! The water is a dark green color, not appetizing in the least!
Mr. Thompson had set up a crane like structure, with a claw attached to a cable which could be raised up and down with a hand crank. Of course William had to give it a go! He does love mechanical things!! Over the years Mr. Thompson has extracted a multitude of objects, some even made of gold and jade, pottery and even skeletons with clothing remnants still attached! Ugh!! Which made me hang onto William all the tighter! But Mr. Morley assured us that the items were offerings to the rain god, including young virgins. To which William whispered in my ear that I was safe!! HA!
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