Isabel Allende: Paula

I'd like to start off by thanking everyone for your passport advice because I really appreciate it. I received advice through comments on the blog, facebook and email. Now I have to take time to consider all this and I will let you know when I make a decision. I know I have to decide by the end of the month at the latest because if I am going to renew it here then I gotta get on it!


I went to the library yesterday to find some books on teaching English and right at the checkout counter they had a display of books by Chilean author Isabel Allende. I've heard of her a lot because she's one of the most famous Chilean authors and she is also related to the former president Salvador Allende whose government was taken over by the military dictatorship of Pinochet. A couple of months ago I checked out one of her newest books Island Beneath the Sea but the first chapter didn't even hold my interest so I figured I wasn't a fan of her writing. But yesterday I decided to give her another try and I got Paula and Inés of My Soul. I am so glad I did!

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I started Paula last night and am already halfway through- I can't put it down! My opinion has changed and I am now a fan of Isabel Allende's writing but I also think it is so fascinating because I'm learning about the history of the country and people I will be joining so soon. Paula is Isabel's autobiography written to her daughter, Paula, when she was in a coma due to an illness. Isabel wanted to make sure her daughter would have these memories and this knowledge when she woke up. So far I've read through the history of Isabel's grandparents, parents, her childhood and up to her early years of marriage. She has led an exciting life- sometimes exciting in a good way and sometimes not. 


I'm up to the year 1968 and looking forward to reading her account of the 1973 coup d'etat (in Spanish it is golpe de estado) and going into exile. And I don't mean "looking forward" in a sick and twisted kind of way but rather because I want to hear from someone who was there how it happened and how it could happen. I want to know this history of the country of Chile and I hope it can give me better understanding of the people- because this is their very recent past.


I'd rather finish reading the book before I say anything more on it so I'll just end with this: When I was checking out the books I wanted to tell the librarian, "I'm getting these because I'm moving to Chile! The author that you're showcasing is from there and that's my country!" I refrained myself but did you notice the personal pronoun I used?! I said my country and I wasn't thinking about the U-S- of A. I always surprise myself when I think like that about Chile, how I already imagine it in my mind as home. In a way I'm very happy about that fact because it is going to be home (or at least a home) for me.  But then that leads into thoughts about how I want to fit in there and adapt to the culture but at the same time stay who I am, which in a way my gringaness is a part (small or large) of who I am. So will Chile ever truly be home if I'm always a gringa and will never be a true chilena? Ahhh, but I will save expounding on all these thoughts for later posts for when I am actually in Chile. Only time will tell. For now I'm going to finish reading Isabel Allende's book about my country! Chau.


*Okay, one last closing thought. Isabel Allende lives in California and has for some years now. I wonder if she considers herself Chilean and American or just Chilean. Hmmm.