After the Earthquake: Juan’s Life
Juan was a construction helper. He lived in Armenia, but his parents were from the Antioquia region, who had fled because of the violence there. The mother of his children was called…
Category: Tempest, Earthquake, And Empire
Political Memory
Late in 1717 Dr. Joseph Surin, precentor of the Cathedral of Old Guatemala, carried out some calculations: had the mudslide that wiped the city on the 28th of August, feast day of Saint…
Environmental Stress and Rainmaking
When Europeans first attempted to settle in North America north of the Rio Grande, their confrontations with Indian cultures were marked by cosmic struggles over environmental…
“Bury the dead and feed the living”
“Bury the dead and feed the living.” These were the words attributed to Portugal’s pragmatic, all-powerful first minister, the Marquês de Pombal, as he contemplated the damage wrought by…
The Jesuit and the Jew
Such a Spectacle of Terror and Amazement, as well as the Desolation to Beholders, as perhaps had not been equalled from the Foundation of the World.” Thus an English merchant writing…
Scars
English + Español
I have a scar above my right eyebrow. It’s the product of a childhood accident at home that really didn’t have any serious consequences except for keeping me from my Sunday morning soccer…
