Abuelita, or grama as I called her in my Spanglish, prepared: tamales dulces, sweet, of pineapple and strawberry chiles rellenos, filled with raisins, meat, nuts, and topped with salsa agria, sour cream, and queso, cheese flan paella, rice with seafood. On the day of los Reyes Magos, the three wise men, our shoes were filled with pesetas, coins. We celebrated “las posadas,” the twelve days of Christmas with a rosca, bread in the forma of a cake, large and redondo, round, with a plastic bebe, baby, Jesus baked within. Birthdays, we sang “Las Mananitas,” “The Little Mornings,” instead of Happy Birthday, just as Celaya recalls in Caramelo. Like Celaya, when spoken to in Spanish, I replied in English. Reading Caramelo has awakened within me senses, memories, experiences that have been dormant, or as Celaya, according to Gonzales, repressed for many years.Īs a child, raised by my mami, Tita (Cristina Ellen), and my abuelita, Cristi (Maria Cristina), Spanish was the only language spoken at home. Though I am aware that this is not a creative writing assignment, I cannot help but, at the very least, mention my personal experience as a first generation Mexican-American as it was fundamentally influential to my choice to read Sandra Cisneros’s novel as well as my overall understanding and analysis of Caramelo. Translation in Sandra Cisneros’s Caramelo According to Bill Johnson Gonzales Analysis
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