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But the truth was that I didn’t want to stop
and talk to Manuel Gustavo. What would I have
said to him now, when I hadn’t been able to talk central text
to him thirty years ago? “It’s good to see you
again, Mangú,” I shouted. I waved good-bye as /
my husband pulled ahead. In my side mirror, I
watched as he signaled, then disappeared into Julia Alvarez
the long line of traffic behind us.
“Who was that?” my husband wanted to know.
I went on to tell my husband the story of 40
that summer: the presentation; Utcho and
Betty; my worldly-wise friend Dilita; Eladio,
who looked like a flamenco dancer; the sere-
nades; the big double bed Dilita and I slept in
with a mosquito net tied to the four posts. And
of course, I told him the story of my romance
with Manuel Gustavo. Gaby D’Alessandro
And, as I spoke, that old yearning came
back. What would my life have been like if I had This illustration by Dominican artist Gaby
stayed in my native country? D’Alessandro accompanied an article called
The truth was I couldn’t even imagine “The Pursuit of Happiness,” which proposes
myself as someone other than the person I looking at Gross National Happiness as a
had become in English, a woman who writes better measure of progress than Gross National
Product.
books in the language of Emily Dickinson Describe the tone of this illustration and
and Walt Whitman, and also of the rude explain how D’Alessandro uses color, light,
shopper in the grocery store and of the boys and other visual elements to create this tone.
throwing stones in the schoolyard, their lan- Why might this image also be appropriate as
guage, which is now my language. A woman an illustration for this narrative, especially
considering the way that Alvarez starts and
who has joined her life with the life of a man finishes her piece?
who grew up on a farm in Nebraska, whose
great-grandparents came over from Germany
and discouraged their own children from
speaking German because of the antipathy had ordered Spanish-language tapes a while
that erupted in their new country towards back from the Foreign Service Institute so that
anything German with the outbreak of World he could keep up with my family in the capital.
War I. A woman who is now looking for land in Recently, he had dusted them off and started
the Dominican Republic with her husband, so listening to them to prepare himself for our
that they can begin to spend some time in the land hunt. I had decided to join him in these
land she came from. lessons, in part to encourage him, but also
When we took the turnoff into the moun- because I wanted to regain the language that
tains, we rolled up our windows so we could would allow me to feel at home again in my
easily hear the cassette player. My husband native country.

Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample. 183
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.

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