World Beginnings

My mother, Evelyn Jean Irvin Bagwell, was born in Arkansas in 1924 and died in MS in 1978. She lived a relatively short fifty-four painful years. She was the last of five children, and she was born at home, delivered by a country doctor who was, apparently, not very skilled with forceps. This left her with damage that affected her left ear and eye. And a fatal cerebral aneurysm that was silently growing throughout her life. My grandfather never forgave himself. Her three brothers were all sent to university, but she and her sister were expected to marry well. Her brothers and sisters did marry well, but my mother had a “lazy eye” from her forceps delivery, which probably impacted her suitors. It isn’t so much “what my mother told me” but the strength she showed me living through unspeakable adversity. It is one of life’s tragedies that so many of us don’t fully appreciate our mothers until too late. Since I was the eldest of five, Mama often called on me, “Sister Sue,” for help with so...

Why do I tidy up my house before the house cleaner comes? Guilt? Embarrassment? I have always thought if I procrastinate about cleaning the cat box or emptying trash cans, why should they face them? Besides, I want them to clean the big stuff, like moving furniture and getting all of the dust bunnies hiding under my bed. Before I realized it, I was remembering Cairo and Whaby. Each school had a secret communication system the maids, nannies, drivers and gardeners utilized.   When new staff arrived in August, candidates would magically appear at our doors. After a long day of new staff orientation, I arrived at my apartment and a lady waiting outside the door;  but when I told her I needed full-time she said she couldn’t,  but she would send her husband to meet me. I questioned her about why her husband would clean my house and care for my pets and she replied with a wry smile “I am his second wife and he needs to work!” The next day there was a very ...

A Dancing Catrina is the fun loving, flirtatious skeleton representing triumph over the sadness of death. Just as the legend goes, she waits for us around corners and we never know when she will whisk us away to forever. Many expats have elaborate Catrina figures in their homes and she is immortalized in painting; murals; dolls of every type;    dinnerware; candy skulls and even trivets.   The pagan roots of Catrina figures and Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, go back to the ancient   Aztecs and the goddess Mictecacihuatl who was the guardian of the dead. This morphed, as many pagan rituals throughout  the ages, into the Catholic All Souls Day. The Catrina as we know her today, began life in Aquascalientes, MX and a political cartoonist,   Jose Guadalupe Posada. She was a satirical figure mocking Mexicans who were following foreign fashion styles. Her depiction soon evolved into representing people from all walks of life, symbo...

Grocery shopping in China was always challenging   made more so  by the fact that so few of the Chinese spoke English. Body lotion and face creams were particularly hard to find because all had whiteners, as some unsuspecting women discovered after using them for a few weeks when splotches appeared on their face and bodies! One day I was at the big Suego across from school, as opposed to the little Suego closer to my house, I was in the women's personal care aisle desperately looking for a body wash I recognized, when I saw a large display of Cunt Soap. I did a double take and looked around for a hidden camera or laughing people but no one was looking. Quickly I bought ten, it was right before Christmas and they would make perfect stocking stuffers! The next day, I took my “find” to school to share at break and lunch with fellow staff members. The next time I was in Suego, the shelf was almost empty. Nanjing, China 2012

Oh, the irony! This photo was taken at a small market here in Ajijc. Am I the only one whose jaw is gapping? Why aren’t the feminine products next to the diapers? Or the Downy? The Fabreeze? But no! It must have been some man who equates women’s needs with heavy duty cleaners such as Ajax. Or even worse with pest control! There is a subliminal message here that is as old as the ages!