tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32365088981237500682024-02-19T02:33:15.541-08:00Sueños Latin American ImportsAll Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-34929729805693214642015-12-01T09:04:00.001-08:002015-12-01T09:06:22.379-08:00THE 83¢ MIRACLE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Two years ago a friend on Facebook, a
guy I never met who lives on the East Coast, contacted me through Facebook’s
chat function with an “amazing opportunity” and because he “couldn’t sleep at
night” he wanted to “share this once-in-a-lifetime chance” with a “real
go-getter.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
guess I was the go-getter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
explained to me that the grand prize for the person who could sell the most
within the parameters of this “opportunity” was a brand new BMW.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Who
wouldn’t want to own a BMW???” he typed emphatically.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Well,”
I began, “just last week I bought a BMW, a slightly used X5.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I explained some of the features:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a sleek merino leather interior and a really
cool moon roof that I can open up while cruising north on the Pacific Highway
pretending to be in a Mr. Mister video.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
don’t remember the exact words he used, but his response to my enthusiasm was a
comment along the lines of “Well, la-dee-dah.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I didn’t expect this, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If anyone is excited about their new car purchase and talks to me about
it, I am happy for them, I don’t scorn them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t feel any sort of envy in situations like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually find that when people upgrade
their cars or their homes I tend to feel inspired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Italian immigrant grandfather used to say,
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Q</i></span><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;">uando il sole splende</span></i></span><span class="shorttext"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;">, </span></i></span><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;">il sole splende</span></i></span><span class="shorttext"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;"> </span></i></span><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;">per tutti</span></i></span><span class="hps"><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: IT;">,” That phrase translates to</span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When the sun
shines, the sun shines for everybody.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If someone can work hard and buy something nice, then I can, too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
life was not always that of the entrepreneur with the cool German car living a
shorts-based existence in beachy southern California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth be told, for most of the time I have
owned my company, it has been a struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s taken me a lot of work to get to where I am now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that most people refuse to look at the
work involved and glamorize the life of people who start their own businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose this comes from seeing too many
informercials promising that you, too, can be sipping mai tais in Fiji while
your business runs itself, or the latter-day equivalent:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the YouTube ad with the guy who claims that
if you read a book a day you can start your own business, tool around in an
Italian sports car all day and live in a (rented) mansion full of tacky décor
(just click your mouse and transfer some cash for the “secrets”).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
constantly remind myself of a time many Junes ago in hot Phoenix when I was
staring down at a bleak summer after a somewhat mediocre holiday season and
spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I owned a retail store then and
I knew that for the next 3 months traffic would be way down inside my store
because people would be either hiding under rocks or heading to San Diego to
get out of the heat, anything but driving around that hellish metropolis to go
shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, with credit cards at their
limits and very little cash in the bank and not yet having proved my
credit-worthiness to qualify for a line of credit with my bank, I sat down at
my kitchen table to budget out the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I used estimates on sales and worked with what little money I had
left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of this budget included spending
$90 for the MONTH on food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order
for everything to work I had to spend no more than $3 a day on food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, this was in the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could I do it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
found creative ways to stretch my food dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I discovered the ethnic grocery stores – Mexican and Vietnamese – that
sold the basics in bulk for less than any “big box” store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also received the second-rate produce
that was not up to the chain store standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tomatoes were three pounds for a dollar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lettuce was fifty cents per head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Meats were cheaper at the Mexican places and fish was cheaper at the
Vietnamese places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also introduced
to new foods at these stores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Loi Nam
Grocery I will never forget the delight on the face of an Asian man in his 80s
when a worker at the store dumped out a crate of what looked like a type of
tomato.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old man was so happy, smiling
broadly and muttering ecstatic phrases to himself in his own language. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to ask what these things were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His daughter who could speak some English
told me they were a certain type of persimmon found in Vietnam and Laos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought some.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were cheap and I had to see what all the
fuss was about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was that June I
learned to appreciate the small joys in discovering a new fruit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
had a small plastic container in my kitchen for my food money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the calendar ground to the end of June I
found that I had 83 cents left in this container.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>83 cents!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I survived on 3 bucks a day for food and had money left over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yay!<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I wanted to shout my victory
from the rooftops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told some customers
about what I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most people reacted in
the opposite way of how I felt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
older lady looked at me gravely and tears swelled up in her eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I never knew things were so bad for you,”
she said quietly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t share this sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt like I had accomplished something
massive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Most
people don’t know this story of mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
I feel those days are far behind me I know full well that things <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i> go back to this – for me or for
anyone else – and I am fine with knowing I could do what it takes to make do
with what I have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I wrote here was
not meant to garner any sort of sympathy or to engender feelings of any sort,
good or bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would only ask that when
I do buy that beach house overlooking the Pacific that you please keep in mind
my $3-a-day struggle and just be happy for me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-78326600118755419862015-09-14T08:50:00.002-07:002015-09-14T08:51:01.942-07:00NOTES ABOUT BUYING TRIPS<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMbif2WLgdYddQ9JpooZJgUObi2H9WDx7Z-h0R9iihs9bRLiSnkYmhDASc1gSrdX2oTVw7jGkf4YS2ft9LMtXxDjZBSIcXnu6yM_DSClo5Nj0Vx0qzrvoqONBNApkwNO4CnhqEuJrZWY/s1600/Peru+vendor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMbif2WLgdYddQ9JpooZJgUObi2H9WDx7Z-h0R9iihs9bRLiSnkYmhDASc1gSrdX2oTVw7jGkf4YS2ft9LMtXxDjZBSIcXnu6yM_DSClo5Nj0Vx0qzrvoqONBNApkwNO4CnhqEuJrZWY/s320/Peru+vendor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <br /><br /> </span>When I owned my retail store in Phoenix I would get certain
people who would walk in my door; look around at all the colorful, exotic and
unusual (not mutually exclusive terms) merchandise; and come up to me and ask,
“Do you need anyone to help you on buying trips?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The person who would ask this was usually a
yoga-poised, upper-middle-class, white woman tending toward middle age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have ever lived in Phoenix, the
typical “buying trip” questioner usually hailed from North Scottsdale or some
other tony area of “The Valley.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
questions were sincere, and so were my replies.<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Do you speak Spanish or
Portuguese?” I would begin.<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The expression on their faces
always would start to change with that first question.<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Have you had any experience
in Mexico or other parts of Latin America outside of the touristy or beach
resorts?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would continue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By the second question the light was
usually out of people’s faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I
was asking was going counter to their image of a buying trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure if Cost Plus or Pier One
commercials have anything to do with it, but I can only imagine what these
women were thinking what buying for my store was actually like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only assume that they pictured
themselves in some sort of khaki-colored safari outfit complete with pith
helmet and white silk scarf, standing beside a truck with a clipboard in hand,
watching other people load that truck, and having a translator close at hand so
that nothing would be missed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Can I tell you that I have never had
a buying trip like that?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Most of the times I go buying, I do
go to the remotest places to find the best stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chuckled when I received a Yelp review back
in 2006 that called me “The Indiana Jones of Latin American Arts and
Crafts.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I do occasionally get
lazy and buy stuff from trade shows, most of my merchandise comes from the
small towns throughout the hemisphere, from the unsung folk artists working
from home with their families and friends in some of the most desolate
areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going to the “untrodden” places
myself ensures a constant flow of fresh, unusual items to delight my customers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And buying trips usually are a TON
of work and fraught with many difficulties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, you’ve heard of a magical town in the mountains where its
inhabitants make the best stuff?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
the bus might not show up to take you there, or it will break down on the road,
or if you hire a driver the driver’s car’s axle will become so choked with sand
that you can’t make it to the destination (all have happened to me).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you short-handed for loading the truck?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YOU load the truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did your favorite crafter forget to put “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hecho en Mexico</i>” stickers on your
merchandise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tough luck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looks like you will be staying up until
3:00 in the morning in your marginal hotel room putting stickers on all of your
colorful finds, hoping that the hotel doesn’t turn off the electricity for the
evening before you are finished.<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have to say that physical
fitness is a key component of a successful buying trip and I hadn’t realized it
until my last buying trip of 2 months ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Being in good physical form never even crossed my mind in years past. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just got up and went and did what I needed
to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took my body for granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, this July 2015 buying trip really
kicked my butt because I have never been so out of shape in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The previous July I had an accident and
couldn’t walk (or walk properly) for a good 9 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t exercise much and I put on
weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t think much of it until
I took this buying trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was 100%
urban – no jungles, mountain, deserts, etc. – and it kicked my butt!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had never been so sore and in so much pain,
and I really didn’t do much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, I was
on the go for 100% of the time, because you can’t relax and ALWAYS have to
maximize your time on buying trips, but it really shouldn’t have affected me
the way it did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That last buying trip
was a wake-up call and I am making the changes that I need to so that all
future buying trips will be easy, at least when it comes to anything to do with
the physical aspect.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even now, while I am 100% online, I
get the buying trip requests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
mind the company and sometimes I have gone with other people on these
purchasing adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your passport
is handy and you fit the buying trip criteria I would welcome an extra pair of
hands and someone to talk to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
person can be of great help, no doubt about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just leave the pith helmet and the clipboard at home.</span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-77409410839654203402014-06-08T11:08:00.000-07:002014-06-08T11:09:29.668-07:00ON THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF MY MEXICAN ADVENTURES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1J4yEbREkjLAwnRXaHBMxwL5dGvao0218R2rMOv_sx-ptkgYhQDxaCZN8XcUe9Zwz6rw36nz1-KhQOHJlTdrSfIQPB0ttdR5ligAu2AZmZsTxFFKnWlXnhsIOluVnaV7VOZ8IR8HuIY/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1J4yEbREkjLAwnRXaHBMxwL5dGvao0218R2rMOv_sx-ptkgYhQDxaCZN8XcUe9Zwz6rw36nz1-KhQOHJlTdrSfIQPB0ttdR5ligAu2AZmZsTxFFKnWlXnhsIOluVnaV7VOZ8IR8HuIY/s1600/025.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's really hard for me to believe that it's been 25 years since I took that first train down into the heart of Mexico as a student. I've been back there to work once (in 1995) and have gone there, literally, countless times since I started Sueños Latin American Imports back in 1999. It's a second home, but is still a place of mystery and adventure to me. Following is the entry I wrote exactly 25 years ago today, by hand, in pencil, in the pages of a blank journal. I hope you enjoy following along with me.<br />
<br />
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua June 8, 1989<br />
<br />
Well, I finally made it! I'm sitting quite patiently at the Ciudad Juárez train station. So far the trip has been nothing less than eventful. I travelled out to El Paso with 4 people in a cramped Datsun but I can't complain; it was cheaper than the bus or plane. Upon arriving in El Paso we took a rickety bus to nowhere - actually somewhere, but I don't quite know. It took us across the border all right, but it didn't stop at immigration. Wandering aimlessly in the foreign city, we finally got to the place "to get our tourist cards stamped." There was a little hassle but we got through it fine. We proceeded by taxi to the train station to wait and wait and wait. Although the train is late and we are all a bit wearied, it has given me many chances like these to reflect upon things. I have to admit, it hasn't hit me yet. Overall, I feel very content and happy with my decision to come here in this manner. Sometimes apprehension is present but that is quickly replaced with excitement and happy thoughts of anticipation. So goes my first day of my first adventure in a foreign land.All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-87015736648011662512014-04-15T09:50:00.001-07:002014-04-15T09:58:00.738-07:00GUEST BLOG POST...<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Carlin, Dan. “Little Shop of
‘Miracles.’” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Arizona Republic</i>. 27
Aug. 2004: E1, E2. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Print.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kPlTk0gL3bEjRNykpk4aEAEG3UwKAPYnmrAB4vpb2hFCZMYPi6zVMeUOWF83m2ujids8chNih4KvN9UrZQzbo_rBE0Ybl8H7EEhRIn1sfv9MH8vqq1bK7nVSBs9eyZfvAqg1cjM9iUA/s1600/GoldenHeearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kPlTk0gL3bEjRNykpk4aEAEG3UwKAPYnmrAB4vpb2hFCZMYPi6zVMeUOWF83m2ujids8chNih4KvN9UrZQzbo_rBE0Ybl8H7EEhRIn1sfv9MH8vqq1bK7nVSBs9eyZfvAqg1cjM9iUA/s1600/GoldenHeearts.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Little
shop of ‘miracles’<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Milagro buyers, store owner find good
fortune in Latino charms<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">By Dan Carlin<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"></span></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Robert
Bitto runs an unusual store for an extraordinary clientele.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many
of his customers hug him when they enter his shop, buy him presents on his
birthday and invite him out for dinner throughout the week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They
do so because Bitto is a friend, but also because he and his central Phoenix
shop, Sueños<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Latin American Imports,
have altered their lives in profound ways. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I
meet the most interesting people here,” says Bitto, 36.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“This
stuff really opens people,” he says, gesturing to the kaleidoscopic collection
of arts, crafts and religious tokens that fills the walls and covers the floor
of his store. “I hear a lot of stories about what’s happened in connection with
the things I sell here. You have to wonder what’s going on.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bitto
sells milagros (Spanish for “miracles”), rustic, metal charms shaped like body
parts, animals and various allegorical subjects that are said to possess
supernatural powers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometimes
he sells them in bulk over the Internet, but mostly he delivers them one by one
over the counter at Sueños, his bright yellow store on Seventh Avenue. The
business has connected him to the curious culture of milagros, drawing him into
the lives of the characters who shop there. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Finding
comfort<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">On a recent
afternoon, Cecelia Larson, a grave-looking woman with a tousle of dark hair,
comes into the store with an ordinary request.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“My sister is having
eye surgery tomorrow,” she says. “I want to put a candle and a milagro by her
bedside to help protect her during the procedure.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bitto nods and sifts
through a wicker basket on his counter filled with different milagros –
pistols, horses, livers, lungs. After a few moments, he finds what he’s looking
for and extracts a glittering metal eye form the pile. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">He presents it to
Larson for her approval, then slips the object into a small, yellow envelope
and places it on the counter. Larson covers it with a protective and smiles
slightly, as if suddenly reassured.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Many of Bitto’s
clients are middle-aged Mexican-American women, but they are also young
mothers, U.S. Marines, pagans, devout Catholics, elderly Anglo-Americans and
teens, all joined by a belief in the power of milagros. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bitto often hears how
his milagros helped a couple to conceive or saved a customer from a
debilitating illness or protected a loved one in danger. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Customers at Sueños
speak freely about divorces and family problems, illnesses and tragedies. Many
of them stop by the store simply because a visit makes them feel better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">“You just feel
comfortable here,” says Jeanette Sinohui, a Sueños customer since 1999. “You
can just come in a say hello, then turn around and leave without buying
anything.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Something
to believe in</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Walking
into the brightly colored interior of the store is a calming experience. Water
trickles from a fountain in the center of the store while tiny mariachi or
norte</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ñ</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">o
music pipes in softly over the stereo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
orange wall of Sueños’ interior glow with the colors of the art and crafts
Bitto has collected from all over Latin America – shiny ceramic chickens from
Mexico, checkered quilts from Peru, delicate paper roses from Chile. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
corner is covered with dozens of crosses of all sizes, made from Brazilian
driftwood, Mexican bottle caps, plastic, silver and everything else imaginable.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sinohui
says she comes in to see Bitto at least twice a month because it “lightens my
day.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
she buys milagros for herself and her friends because of what they’ve done for
her in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“As
you go through life and medical things happen, (milagros) give you something
you can believe in, that you can hold in your hand,” she explains. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bitto
isn’t sure what to think when he hears stories of the milagros’ power. A
self-declared fallen Catholic, he grew up without the cultural experiences of
most of his customers (his father is an Italian immigrant, his mother is
descended form 17<sup>th</sup> century Dutch and French settlers.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’m
not a believer and I’m not a non-believer,” he says. “If the supernatural rears
its head, I’ll look at it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Plenty
of Sueños customers cast a similarly skeptical eye on the more esoteric
products sold in the shop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Karen
Perry, a former lawyer, shops at Sueños to furnish her Scottsdale home and her
condo in Rocky Point. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When
asked about milagros and the religious items in the store, Perry lowers her
voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “There are a few things that are a little
scary to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Bad
times, good times<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bitto
says he started Sueños to fill a niche for unique goods. After five years of
working as an international accountant for American Express, Bitto considered
getting a doctorate in anthropology. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Plan
B was to open a Latin American imports store with the contacts he’d built over
the years. Through six months of studying in Mexico and years of traveling
around Southern America, Bitto had gathered the names of artisans throughout
Latin America, thinking they might be useful some day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He
quit his job in 1997 and opened Sueños in a storefront at Camelback Road and
Central Avenue. Two years later business outgrew the space, and he moved to
Seventh Avenue. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
a business as emotional as Bitto’s, store traffic tends to fluctuate on the
mood of the country. When things are bad, business is good, and he says there
has been a revival in milagros in the last few years. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Marion
Oettinger Jr., curator of Latin American art and interim director of the San
Antonia Museum, says milagros have always reflected the concerns of the
Southwestern Hispanic society. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“They’re
more than just objects,” Oettinger says. “They’re also a part of a cultural
complex, and they can tell us a lot about the people who use them.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
few other stores in Arizona and around the West cater to the rising interest,
selling milagros and crosses, but he familial atmosphere at Sueños draws
customers from all over the state,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>and
Bitto has even made friends around the world through Internet sales. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
while stores like Casa del Corazon in Encinitas, Calif., or Milagros Gallery in
Sonoma, Calif., stock milagros for collectors, Bitto attracts a working-class
Mexican-American clientele. Most of the milagros at Sueños cost 95 cents each,
or $28.95 for a bog of 100. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometimes
Bitto wonders if Sueños is worth the trouble. Prostitutes stroll the street on
cooler days, and some mornings he has to kick drunks off the stoop of his shop.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
January he was robbed, tied up in a backroom until a neighbor discovered him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“At
that point, sales weren’t very good, and the robbery just made things worse,”
Bitto says. “I came in one day and just yelled at the top of my lungs, ‘I hate
this place!’”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
word spread of the robbery, one customer offered Bitto two counseling sessions
with a therapist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bitto
declined, but the kindness of the gesture made him realize that Sueños was much
more than a store. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Whenever
I think of closing this place down, I think of the impact on peoples’ lives, in
the countries where I buy the stuff and here, and I can’t do it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-47222387851219495492014-04-04T19:18:00.000-07:002015-10-12T09:01:24.676-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">TALES FROM THE JUNGLES OF CENTRAL AMERICA:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WAS “THE OLD GERMAN” REALLY A NAZI?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlybavJ9titEvE81_cIN-VP6S8YPVr8ZLS23Kgh_OZsRcoPMhttN_D9U3FbYA5oqbFnO2HKax6ruQr-GE-uSv0IVFMHl2k2oe8gD_DWViT1dVpunWG-YmNm6ge4fLMz0S5D7UeWjxi1DA/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlybavJ9titEvE81_cIN-VP6S8YPVr8ZLS23Kgh_OZsRcoPMhttN_D9U3FbYA5oqbFnO2HKax6ruQr-GE-uSv0IVFMHl2k2oe8gD_DWViT1dVpunWG-YmNm6ge4fLMz0S5D7UeWjxi1DA/s1600/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Far
from the jewel-encrusted elephants of the Raj, where Queen Victoria was styled “Empress
of India,” there existed a colonial backwater where nothing of consequence
occurred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People in London who were
eager to celebrate the fact that “we hold a vaster empire than has been” had
ignored British Honduras, later renamed Belize, and left the people who lived there
pretty much to their own devices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
society developed in this tiny chunk of Central America comprised of
shipwrecked English pirates, runaway slaves, Mexican refugees, and other
assorted scalawags and miscreants, all under the protection of the British
Crown, at least nominally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the
opportunity to spend 19 unforgettable days in Belize back in 1998.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Starting
my imports business was always “Plan B” in The Great Plan of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Plan A” was to ditch Corporate America and
go back to school to get a PhD in Anthropology with a special concentration in
Archaeology emphasizing the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the late 1990s I had taken the entrance
exams and some classes to get me going in the right direction but I lacked any
sort of field experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in the
beginning of 1998 I signed up to be a volunteer at an excavation of a Classic
Maya site called Blue Creek which was sponsored by a university in Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would be down “in country” for a few weeks
to help on the dig and to learn everything I could about archaeology in
context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think I had been more
excited about anything ever before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
site of Blue Creek, near the “town” of Blue Creek, is located in the
northwestern corner of Belize, just a few miles from the Mexican border.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m hoping it hasn’t changed much, but when I
was there that part of the world was pretty raw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The area was a dense and humid jungle with
intermittent clearings of green pastures and farmhouses courtesy of the
Mennonites, a religious group which had moved to British Honduras in the late
1950s from the prairie provinces of Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Originally from Central Europe, these straw-hatted, straw-haired people
seemed out of place in the Central American jungle, speaking a form of 17<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Century German and maintaining their Central European folkways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of the proximity of the town to our
camp, we had Mennonite cooks and a Mennonite washerwoman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will never forget Margaret, the
bespectacled and stout bonnet-wearing cook fixing heavy German breakfasts for
us daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was I in Latin America?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
expedition sometimes hired people from another local town called San Felipe to
help with the digging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The people of
that town and of some of the scattered settlements in that region were
descendants of refugees of the Caste War, a conflict between European Mexicans
and the indigenous Maya that lasted throughout most of the latter half of the
19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The refugees
were mostly ethnic Maya and spoke Spanish and some English (required in school
because English is the national language of Belize).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They identified more with Mexico, listening
to Mexican music, reading Mexican magazines, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an aside, of all the places in Latin America,
these people are the only ones outside of New Mexico I’ve found who refer to
themselves as “Spanish.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I include
my home state of New Mexico as a part of Latin America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As one of my sociology professors at UNM once
said, “I must say in all sincerity that Latin America begins at the Río San
Juan.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in this area, the “Spanish”
had been there the longest of any of the contemporary peoples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our
transportation in Belize from the camp to the dig and to the towns was in the form
of old pickup trucks that took a beating on the lumpy dirt roads of the
backcountry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would ride in the back,
and I have never been so jolted in vehicles in all my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our daily routine would take us to a place in
the road near San Felipe to pick up a few workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually there were two younger guys, Ricky
and Milardo, who were eager for work, mostly because the archaeological field
work was easy compared to working for the Mennonites or cutting sugar cane all
day on the plantations near Orange Walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because I knew Spanish I got to know the workers pretty well and we talked
at length on the road and in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Every day on the road out to the
ruins we passed an overgrown compound set away from the road but visible
through the jungle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had high walls
and these walls were covered in vines and a tangle of other plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The place looked almost abandoned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked Ricky what this place was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“The Old German lives there,” he
said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Who is he?” I asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A Mennonite?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“No,” Ricky said, “He moved here
before the Mennonites got here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe
about 10 years before the Mennonites.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
thought, why would a German man move to the middle of nowhere in the mid-1940s?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to find out his story so I began to
ask around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In our free time we would
wander into “town,” and would take some of our meals at a place we nicknamed “The
Taco Burger” run by a middle-aged Mennonite woman named Judy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next to Judy’s place was a small general
store run by Judy’s younger cousin Helena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Helena was pretty talkative and I always chatted with her when I went in
there to buy things (to this day I still have cloth I used for face rags that I
bought in her store).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked Helena
about The Old German and she told me that it was not in her nature to gossip,
but the man kept mostly to himself and only interacted with the townspeople on
rare occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told me that the
town was going to have a bake sale in the next few days and he would probably
be there because he always attended such events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Mennonite community had the
bake sale in what was considered the “core” of Blue Creek Village, a grouping
of farmhouses and outbuildings which looked like a piece of rural Pennsylvania
that had been dropped out of the Central American sky like Dorothy’s house in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wizard of Oz</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I was disappointed that I did NOT see Pennsylvania
Dutch shoo-fly pie among the baked goodies, I did catch glimpse of The Old
German.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He was of average height and very
fit for a man in his 70s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had
silver/white hair parted and combed nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wore
contemporary clothing and was clearly not a Mennonite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was I staring at him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His brown eyes met mine and he turned away
like a shy person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt no desire to
approach him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought, whatever
brought him to such a forsaken place was his own business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">As difficult as it was, </span>I put
my curiosity on the shelf and enjoyed the bake sale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whenever I think of the many things
that happened in Belize, I always think of The Old German.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who was he and why was he there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, in my mind, he had fled Europe
because he was a Nazi and he was leaving behind a checkered past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was he a prison camp guard?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was he Eva Braun’s gynecologist?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What treasures of the Third Reich were housed
in his jungle compound?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years I entertained
these questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps, though, this
man was just an ordinary citizen whose family was killed, and wanting to forget
the horrible events of the war he went as far away as he could to try to escape
his awful memories and build a new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am thinking that now this man would be in his early 90s if he is still
alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Old German will always be one
of my life’s big question marks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
curious person, it is difficult for me not to know the real story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-57454127829639324302014-03-25T22:20:00.004-07:002015-09-17T22:59:59.074-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">THE AGUILAR SISTERS AND THE FOLK ART
LABEL QUEENS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoi1Jc3uMT6iZ6LDhGby7K_RuYRl1vBdrEAbcp5rYt6Awp5TpOmC-ErlEJdOLSrLfGn-4ozNHXo6x3xtoihj_8xEWD-8nmtGlhSqZcz3_gEHkA0cjsoE1kHWVmkQKNCFDWwAZgEupyObE/s1600/FotoFlexer_Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoi1Jc3uMT6iZ6LDhGby7K_RuYRl1vBdrEAbcp5rYt6Awp5TpOmC-ErlEJdOLSrLfGn-4ozNHXo6x3xtoihj_8xEWD-8nmtGlhSqZcz3_gEHkA0cjsoE1kHWVmkQKNCFDWwAZgEupyObE/s1600/FotoFlexer_Photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In my 15 years in business and my
even more years of collecting, hundreds of thousands of pieces of arts and
crafts have passed through my hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These pieces are made from every material conceivable and come from all
the corners of Latin America: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from the
frigid south of Chile to the windswept<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
llanos</i> of Venezuela to the humid jungles of Belize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have pretty much seen everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of these items – upwards of 90% - have
no signatures and bear no mark of the person, village or co-operative
responsible for their creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
come to the customers as anonymous ambassadors of culture, time and place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In one of my first paid speaking
gigs back in 2008 I was called to talk on the nature of folk art, with a
specific emphasis on Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was
asked to give this lecture I had no idea what the level of interest in the
subject would be and was happy to walk in to 50 attentive people greeting
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nature of folk art is based in the “commonness”
of the items, I explained, and that the forces that create the art come up from
the traditions and folkways of the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unlike fine art, for the most part folk art is ephemeral and not made to
last, physically or otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
pieces and styles may or may not endure while the traditions and cultures behind
them continue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In American culture we’ve grown up
with the idea that a signed creation is a better creation and that if it’s a “name
brand” the quality of whatever we are buying is superior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t understood how this branding can
been applied to folk art, and the thinking seems as contradictory as having a
yoga competition, but I guess our culture will take ways of thinking towards
one thing and apply it to another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
past 20-30 years there has been a growing movement of collecting “masters of folk
art” and pieces with signatures and marks on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A clay market figure sold by a street vendor
in Oaxaca might not be of better quality than another, but we know that
anything made by the Aguilar sisters is superior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where does that come from?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some of this excitement or “demand”
has been created artificially by importers or stores that carry the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the exclusivity of “the masters” they
can jack up prices and have more sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started to figure this out on a trip to Peru
when I arrived at a town that was supposedly dominated by a crafter family
(with a common last name) that has been pumped up by a large importer in Texas.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The craftspeople in the town had not
even heard of this family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my
customers who claimed to collect pieces from these great Peruvian folk artists
was somewhat disappointed to hear this story (and was even more disappointed
when I did not return home laden with signed pieces).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To this day I have customers asking for name brands and I do
carry some pieces from well-known crafters and workshops partly because they
are appealing to me but mostly to cater to the wishes of the customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had many “label queens” walk through
my doors and I myself even fell under the spell of one of the Aguilar sisters,
the bright-eyed Guillermina, who was gracious enough to visit my store and
conduct full-house workshops in my back room back in 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, maybe I’m not even immune to being star struck,
to some degree (or dropping names?).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My own law of collecting has always been “collect what you
like.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always say that my business
came out of a “hobby that went berserk,” but as a businessman I do have to
cater to the desires and needs of the customers, which change over time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There has always been room for the label
queens but I am glad to say that my warehouse space is dominated by the unsung
heroes who busy themselves happily in their faraway workshops anonymously.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-10739805353289500262014-03-02T22:07:00.002-08:002014-03-02T22:15:34.573-08:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I Will Never Forget You:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Day I Received a Cease-and-Desist Letter
from the Frida Kahlo Attorneys</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgBShAkpCieUMmWFp84yjGC0gZX3pLf2aUOzZzPympbmwBy-57PDtDIiUT5lsPqqxtS_NJCbpn8DzrDZ5Ibd8b5hlLMjd_Wtzh-vCobSUn-TYc-viOVl-Y3wo_uDW3JmsSQecPnNe2IQ/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgBShAkpCieUMmWFp84yjGC0gZX3pLf2aUOzZzPympbmwBy-57PDtDIiUT5lsPqqxtS_NJCbpn8DzrDZ5Ibd8b5hlLMjd_Wtzh-vCobSUn-TYc-viOVl-Y3wo_uDW3JmsSQecPnNe2IQ/s1600/027.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Those
who are into Mexican art or Mexican culture, even those who have a vague
familiarity with Mexico, know something about Frida Kahlo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She painted scores of pictures of herself –
her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">autoretratos</i> - and her face is
unmistakable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People are divided on what
to think of her look with no middle ground:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>she was either one of the most beautiful women who ever lived, or, well,
the opposite of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the years Frida
has become an icon, and like so many famous people others have ascribed things
to her that weren’t really true or have co-opted her likeness for their own
purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to smile when I think
about, for example, when I was down in Brazil in 2009 and I saw a large colorful
banner of a unibrowed Frida staked out on the beach at Buzios to mark the place
where a Frida admiration society was supposed to have a meet-up (yes, I did go
up to them and ask).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frida’s image
appears everywhere, and as a dealer of arts and crafts I have trafficked in
Frida merchandise for 15 years, selling objects with her likeness on them
pretty much every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, for instance,
I sold a jewelry box with a decoupage of Frida on the lid of the box (being
shipped to Illinois, I believe) made by an anonymous crafter from Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know who makes a lot of the stuff
that I get in or purchase on my buying trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From the small villages to the folk art galleries in the larger cities
of Mexico, you can always find Frida’s familiar gaze staring right at you in
one form or another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the summer of 2010 I checked my eBay listings, which usually number to about
2,000, and I saw that a number of them were missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it was strange and was a little
concerned because eBay almost never gets hacked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t think too much of this until I pulled
up my Juno inbox and saw several emails that explained everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a few emails from eBay saying that
the missing items were pulled because of copyright violations and that I would
not have my fees refunded for these listings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were some other vague threats that eBay made and I was hit with a three
month “probationary period” that didn’t amount to much. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a little concerned that all of this was
happening to me without first having an explanation or without someone asking
me to elaborate on whatever issue they had with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I opened an email from an attorney which
explained everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I was
selling items that had copyrighted images of Frida Kahlo on them, and even
though I wasn’t actually creating these items I would be sued if I did not stop selling them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The attorney was
representing the elderly daughter of Nikolas Muray, a man who had taken volumes
of rich color photographs of Frida during the time he knew her in the 1930s and
1940s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A huge chunk of his
work comes from the time when Frida had her first solo show in New York in
1938.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The images from that shoot are
iconic and easily recognizable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sent an apologetic letter
to the attorneys and told them that I would comply with what they asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I further explained that I was not making any
of these crafts myself and that if they were going to try to crack down on
copyright infringement they would have a long haul ahead of them, as so many
people slap Frida’s face on everything from crosses to flower pots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also went a step further and told them that
since I do actually do a lot of the buying for my business myself and interact
with legions of crafters from around the hemisphere that I would be happy to
help out Muray’s estate and let people know they should stop using these
images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happened after this was quite
unexpected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
next email I received was from the photographer’s daughter who wanted to thank
me personally for doing the right thing and to spread the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lives in a small town in Utah and besides
Social Security she makes her living off of the royalties of her father’s
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her that I would do
everything I could do to help her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
sent a few volleys of friendly emails back and forth and she eventually sent me a
signed copy of a collection of her father’s photos and letters from Frida
titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Will Never Forget You:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frida Kahlo and Nikolas Muray</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I treasure the book not only because it was a
gift but because it represents to me how a potentially adversarial situation
can be turned around and changed to a win-win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I will end this post by keeping my
promise and by asking people who are using these images in their work to please
refrain from doing so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are many
Frida Kahlo images and paintings that are in the public domain and can be used in
crafts without violating copyright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is a woman in Utah who will really appreciate your honoring the legacy of her
father.</span>All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-84212393319142499512014-02-19T17:41:00.000-08:002014-02-19T17:41:23.882-08:00
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">THE LATTER DAYS OF THE LOTERIA?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THE END OF DON CLEMENTE?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkP5Ziljcd0ylvwDoeczixNDhb_5jwBUevbpevDUHI_fMl1-ObMBzzLdv42N4QP5c2-ZTXTDtZUYumLR8NLaSqn-Us6Qn96w96L3ZWtjwoDxU3-usAFbEcUwvchFG0Ds9fZ8KVcFwio1U/s1600/Loteria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkP5Ziljcd0ylvwDoeczixNDhb_5jwBUevbpevDUHI_fMl1-ObMBzzLdv42N4QP5c2-ZTXTDtZUYumLR8NLaSqn-Us6Qn96w96L3ZWtjwoDxU3-usAFbEcUwvchFG0Ds9fZ8KVcFwio1U/s1600/Loteria.jpg" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Don
Clemente, Buenos dias.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although
I’ve never met her, I have an image of María firmly in my mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She answers the phones at the sales office
for Don Clemente, the original mass producers of Mexico’s iconic Lotería game
whose presses have been running non-stop since 1887 cranking out millions of these
games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>María’s voice is smoky, almost
sultry, like a film star from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my head this receptionist is a combination
of María Felix, <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Isabela Corona, and <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dolores del Río (for those not acquainted
with these stars, they are definitely worth a look-up).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is usually quick to be professionally
cheerful, but over the past few months the lilt has been missing from that
raspy voice of hers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While María is quick
to point out that my company is probably the #1 seller of these picture bingo
games in the United States – and I do sell untold crates of these games – my orders
are not enough to stop a downward trend the company has seen in the past few
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Mexico and the rest of Latin
America go increasingly digital, it seems that interest in this once highly
popular game is diminishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lotería
is seen as an older person’s game and a relic from another time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s losing ground to the likes of Angry
Birds and Grand Theft Auto V.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I knew something was
going on when this company started cutting its product lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically, they have sold all sorts of
games from finely made decks of Spanish playing cards to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Serpientes y Escaleras , </i>which is similar to the Chutes and Ladders
game, but with more interesting pictures and situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve also sold party supplies like
confetti and streamers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Competition from
China and the easing of trade restrictions in Mexico have cut into a lot of Don
Clemente’s other businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
concerned about their core, though, which has been a staple in my business
since Day 1 and has represented an enduring fixture of Mexican popular culture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In a phonecall
before Christmas I promised María that we would put our heads together to come
up with some plans to revive the sagging sales of the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said that the future of the game might be
in the United States with an increasing Hispanic population and with many
Americans wanting to learn Spanish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really
couldn’t come up with many ideas other than to promote the game more through my
business which I have already been doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Should the company create a phone app?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An interactive multi-player internet game?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’m aware that
cultural trends ebb and flow and what is hot one year is not hot the next, but
when something that seems so entrenched in a culture is fading away, I can’t
help but feel kind of sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will
continue to sell these games as long as my customers want them, but I have a
feeling that one day soon I will call the Lotería sales office and the rich
voice of María will be replaced by a mechanical “this number is no longer in
service” message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-82403822733490226562014-02-09T16:56:00.003-08:002014-02-09T16:56:45.267-08:00
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">HOW I WILL
PICK TOPICS TO WRITE ABOUT FOR MY BLOG</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUyosLAZa75ztdunhqEuGI8PShM8IL-lcsKj1CQWYRHxq-na12Qj6rHnF5P72mA7usA0N5AACcAtTU78Q0MnWT3GM9XAYTqI_luNBnRs_5fbC6Yq47Mm5QlFO4wNzK3QTraiFyMDD8UY/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUyosLAZa75ztdunhqEuGI8PShM8IL-lcsKj1CQWYRHxq-na12Qj6rHnF5P72mA7usA0N5AACcAtTU78Q0MnWT3GM9XAYTqI_luNBnRs_5fbC6Yq47Mm5QlFO4wNzK3QTraiFyMDD8UY/s1600/009.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’ve figured out a way to make
myself get into the habit of writing for this blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To keep it interesting for both me and the
readers, I am going to pick my topics randomly, out of this painstakingly
painted fish-themed olla which was made in the town of Capula, just outside of
Morelia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took the time of writing
topics on small scraps of paper and will delve into the olla every other day or
so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought a lot about what I would
write about and the topics on the scraps of paper include possible
tales/descriptions of people, places, the crafts themselves, small business
as experienced by yours truly, and personal musings about adventures in Latin America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if this sort of methodology has
been used before but I patterned it after a chore jar or swear jar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In a few days, I will pick my first
scrap of paper and get to writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thanks for following along.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3236508898123750068.post-14256018399242342422014-02-06T21:15:00.001-08:002014-02-06T21:54:49.870-08:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">IT ALL STARTED WITH A LITTLE CLAY DEVIL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17uiJYvtaiSVzxu8KOL-I39UVN4_hcd5F7WZb-W2b08BfMQ_A-Xls-fVeLUjzsijOoN9BOhpeKpmpFyS1iFjWiDNT0qllovEihgBhd7FGBxxNzCyrDmkQexu9-L9g-Aiq0k8SV-4R9uE/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17uiJYvtaiSVzxu8KOL-I39UVN4_hcd5F7WZb-W2b08BfMQ_A-Xls-fVeLUjzsijOoN9BOhpeKpmpFyS1iFjWiDNT0qllovEihgBhd7FGBxxNzCyrDmkQexu9-L9g-Aiq0k8SV-4R9uE/s1600/004.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
figured that it would be appropriate to use my inaugural blog post to talk
about the second most frequently asked question people pose to me after,
“What’s your ethnicity?” (or some variation of that).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question is, “How did you ever get
started in the business of importing arts and crafts from Latin America?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a very good question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been importing handicrafts from all
points south since 1999 and it has been my sole source of income for 15
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hundreds of thousands of pieces
and millions of dollars, pesos, soles, reais, lempiras and quetzals have flowed
through me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get a nice discount at the
post office because I have mailed out close to 50,000 packages over the course
of my business (so far).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I
have to take a step back myself and wonder how I got to this point and what got
me started in this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to say that
it all began 25 years ago with a little clay devil from Ocumicho.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
1989 I spent a semester studying Spanish and Mexican culture at an institute in
Morelia, Michoacán, in Mexico’s colonial heart through The University of New
Mexico’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Conexiones</i> program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">centro</i> within walking distance of the magnificent cathedral and all
of the major historic sites where everything was made of the region’s hallmark <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cantera rosa</i> stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day I lived in Morelia I was surrounded
by colorful folk art and centuries of history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was a poor student and couldn’t afford much (well, we can forget about
the cool leather jacket I bought and the fake Rolex), but I was always drawn to
the handcrafted items which overflowed in the marketplaces and were offered by vendors who
would set up impromptu stalls in front of the massive stone buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a center of commerce for nearly half a
millennium now, Morelia has always drawn in people from surrounding villages to
trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At my disposal were some of the
finest pieces of arts and crafts anywhere in Mexico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first purchase was a little happy devil
playing a drum created by a vendor who hazarded the poor roads all the way from
the tiny Tarascan (Indian) town of Ocumicho in the western part of the state
(more on this town in a future blog).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The little devil cost me 5,000 pesos, which was the equivalent of about USD$1.82
back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I vowed that once I got done
with school and got my career going that I would buy more of these pieces and
amass a collection of Mexican folk art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had no idea when I bought that devil that it would lead to what I have
now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Christmas
1989 I was back in the States and when I went gift shopping up to Santa Fe with
my childhood friend Trent, we walked into a store that specialized in handicrafts
from around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was really
shocked to see that the store had pieces from Michoacán, and specifically,
Ocumicho.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was even more shocked to see
the prices on the pieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I paid
$1.82 for was selling in that shop for $10 to $12 apiece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my classes in finance they called this an
“arbitrage opportunity,” when you buy goods at a lower price than what you sell
them for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a great business
idea!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, but we have many ideas,
especially when we are young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished
up my Christmas shopping in The City Different and tucked away the thoughts of
arbitrage in the back of my head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
graduation I landed a job with a “big nameless, faceless American multinational
corporation” and was transferred back to Mexico, this time the country’s
monstrous capital, Mexico City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The job
was boring but it afforded me the weekends off to travel, with a three-day
weekend here and there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One long weekend
I took a bus back to Morelia and acquired more Ocumicho and other folk art
pieces because I now had the money to do so, and I could be more
discerning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hauled the take back to
the States but was soon transferred again to São Paulo, to work at the
company’s Brazilian headquarters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brazil
was another country with different art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I perused the marketplaces there just as I had done in Mexico, finding
many treasures offered directly by the artists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
worked for that “nameless faceless multinational” for a few more years before I
had made the decision to quit Corporate America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the idea to go back to school to get a
PhD in anthropology with a concentration in archaeology, which was a totally
different path I was traveling down with my career in international
finance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always thought the field of
archaeology to be my true passion (maybe even now?) and took the entrance
tests, took prep courses, volunteered on a dig in Central America, and did
everything I could to be accepted into a program somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried for almost 3 years to get into a
program but I had no luck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently,
there was a big glut of applicants at pretty much every school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I believe in being prepared, I did
have a “Plan B” and that plan was to open up a store to sell folk art not just
from Mexico, but from all over Latin America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Phoenix didn’t have a store like that (and hasn’t had one since I closed
down the physical store back in 2009), so I thought I would give it a go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing for an entrepreneur to do when he
reaches the edge of the cliff is to jump, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With credit cards and money I had banked, I
decided to try it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My store opened on
Central Avenue in Phoenix on September 16, 1999 with a web site to go along
with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still believe that I was
either the first one ever to have a site completely dedicated to selling Latin
American folk art on the internet or at least I am the longest lasting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so glad I got my start online so early
on, as there are tens of thousands of links and references to my business out
there and I was able to grow that part of my business as shopping on the web
grew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had my ups and downs and
trials and tribulations and all that over time, but 15 years – and 50,000 packages
- later I still own the business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I no
longer have the brick-and-mortar store, but my company, Sueños Latin American
Imports, has endured and has taken me to sunny San Diego where I have a small
warehouse and an office with a view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s
been a heck of an adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
learned and experienced a great deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have traveled to obscure places in the hunt for merchandise and have made many
friends along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to use
this blog to share what I have learned and experienced and to make the crafts I
sell come alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you will follow
alongside me and we can take the trip together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also do hope that you find what I have to say, well, interesting and
perhaps enriching.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
All Things Sueñoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17721799508066934757noreply@blogger.com5