Categoría: Relatos

Una giornata tranquilla

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Tradotto da Monica Manicardi Si siede per riposare un attimo, è stata in piedi per dieci ore con due pause di dieci minuti per andare in bagno e mezz’ora per il pranzo. Il clima di novembre è molto freddo a New York, sono i giorni per vestirsi con tre cambi d’abito, con guanti spessi, due paia di calze e stivali da trattorista. Nemesia indossa sempre una cuffia e cappello per coprirsi dal freddo e dal sole. Il foulard che le copre il viso si usa tutto l’anno, l’aiuta un po’ con le scottature sulla pelle, d’estate per il caldo e…

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Il desiderio del venditore

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Tradotto da Monica Manicardi Accende il ferro da stiro e prepara un bicchiere d’acqua da spruzzare con le dita sui pantaloni. Fulgencio continua la tradizione di suo nonno materno, indossa camicie e pantaloni eleganti, di lana  e scarpe tipo mocassino. Sempre con il suo fazzoletto di stoffa ben stirato e piegato con cura tenuto nella tasca dietro i pantaloni. Indossa la stessa cintura di pelle da quarant’anni. Siccome ha il cambio pronto, va a fare il bagno con l’acqua fredda del barile, ma prima lava i vestiti del giorno prima e li lascia asciugare. Strofina i calcagni con le pietre pomici…

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Tana’s Sandals

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Translated by Katrina Hassan She observes her cracked fingertips because of so much cleaning chemical use. Her hands, used to working the land, have now cleaned restaurants and shopping centres for twenty four years. Originally from Camotán. Chiquimula, Guatemala, Tana left her traditional indigenous clothes behind and started wearing jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes. She belongs to the Maya Ch’orti people. Tana and another 15 girls from her community left together. Her village became a dry corridor, after decades of being fertile land that nourished the crops. There wasn’t any water nor food and this obligated Tana and many others…

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The Shade Under the Achiote Tree

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Translated by Katrina Hassan When Candido was 7 years old, he emigrated to the capital with five of his cousins. His uncle took them there so they could work and help with household expenses. At dawn they would sell orange juice, atol and bread with beans near Bolivar avenue. During the day they worked at a carwash. At night they would sell corn and christophenes near the Aguilar Batres street and the ring road. They took advantage of the end of the day foot traffic from the nearby University of San Carlos. Candido is originally from Nahualá, Sololá, Guatemala. He…

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Flower Petals

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Translated by Katrina Hassan Capitalino sits under a lilac tree while he waits for the next car to come out of the automatic carwash. His job is to dry the cars with a damp towel. It is barely three in the afternoon. He works twelve hours a day from seven in the morning to seven at night, Monday through Sunday. He was been doing this for twenty one years. The smell of lilacs in spring makes him travel through time, even though it is not a flower native to La Magdalena, Chalchuapa, Santa Ana, El Salvador. The smell transports him…

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Daylight Hours

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Translated by Katrina Hassan Cayetana turns on the stove and starts heating up the food she will put in containers for her lunch. It is four in the morning. She fills up five 1.5 liter plastic bottles of water that she will drink during her working day. She puts tortillas in her lunchbox that have been heated, wrapped in aluminium and then enclosed in plastic bags. She checks everything is there, the container of rice, beans, scrambled eggs and the tortillas. She puts her knee pads on, double pants, double sweaters, a jacket and her Caterpillar type boots. in her…

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The Furrow and the Daily Wage

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Translated by Katrina Hassan Rosa tries to reposition the nylon bag full of oranges that she carries on her back. She is barely able to take a step because the bag weighs fifty pounds. She is short in stature and the bag is half her size. The pain in her back makes her walk hunched over. Rosa has been working in the same job for sixteen years ever since she came to California from Xicotepec, Puebla, Mexico. She barely speaks Spanish. English even less, she know only very few words. Rosa is an indigenous Otomi. She speaks mountain Otomi, one…

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