Luna en Londres

Posted on 24 June 1999 by ana

Luna “was” good at keeping in touch. It was thanks to her and her letters and Paula kept informed about their doings, even though these were not as varied as Luna’s or indeed those of herself. None of them seemed to be changing jobs as often as she was. Only Luna seemed to go from photography school to a badly paid job, to a better paid job, to the union to fight her own sacking.

Jose for his part continued to work for Emaus, same as Josu, and Fede, Mentxu, Salva and Ara and all the others continued with their volunteering in Fair Trade, each in their own organisations.

Paula was proud to manage to continue to be part of that in as much a way as she could. It was ironic that the person who was more and more distancing herself from all that was the only one who came to London for such a long visit.
Three days after the conversation with the Pole, Luna came to stay for three months. Paula was gutted that she could not offer some free space, even on the floor in her room. The rules were that she could have a visit for as long as three nights, hiring a mattress to put in her room for three pounds a night. But Paula’s room, being the cheapest of the range, could not even fit a mattress on the floor that the bed and the wardrobe left free in her room. They decided to request a room for the two of them. Paula upgraded to a much bigger room and Luna enjoyed an affordable rent. It was not ideal but they were the best months Paula spent in that hostel-for-women.

————–
castellano
————–

Luna ‘sí’ era buena para mantenerse en contacto. Fue gracias a ella y a su cartas que Paula se mantuvo informada de lo que les pasaba, aunque no fuera tan variados como Luna ni como los de Paula. Ninguno de ellos parecía estar cambiando puestos de trabajo tan a menudo como lo estaba Paula. Sólo la Luna parecía ir de la escuela de fotografía a un trabajo mal pagado, a uno mejor remunerado, y de ahí al sindicato para luchar contra su propio despido.

José por su parte siguió trabajando para Emaus, igual que Josu, y Fede, Mentxu y Ara, Salva y todos los demás continuaron con su voluntariado en comercio justo, cada uno en su respectiva organización.

Paula estaba orgullosa de poder seguir siendo parte de todo esto en tanto que pudo. Resultaba irónico que la persona que se fue distanciando más de todo esto fue la única que fue a Londres para una visita tan larga.

Tres días después de la conversación con el chico polaco, Luna llegó para quedarse durante tres meses. A Paula le habría gustado ofrecerle un espacio gratis, aunque hubiera sido en el suelo de su habitación. Las reglas eran que ella podría tener una visita durante tres noches, alquilar un colchón para poner en su habitación por tres libras la noche. Pero la habitación de Paula, siendo la más barata de la gama, no podría ni encajar un colchón en el suelo que la cama y el armario dejaban libres en su habitación. Decidieron solicitar un espacio para las dos. Paula se mudó a una sala mucho más grande y Luna disfrutó de un alquiler asequible, dos en una. No era ideal, pero fueron los mejores meses que Paula pasó en aquel albergue para mujeres.

Two jobs for a bit

Posted on 24 March 1999 by ana

Paula found it difficult to tell the shop manager that she could no longer work on Thursdays. She had been working only on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, for four pounds fifty an hour. This was less then what “the british government considered enough for an adult to live on”, according to the benefits literature. Without considering rent. Yet Paula’s boss sounded surprised she had managed to find another job.
“Oh. So you can not take Thursdays off to come here?”
Paula could not know if he was joking. This was a serious job, paying well above what “the British government considered enough for an adult to live on” plus her rent. There was no way Paula would prioritise the shop that was not giving her enough to live on. It would not be long before Paula would leave the job in the shop altogether. Working seven days a week, with not a single day off, was all right while she paid off the arrears of her rent, but once that was done, Paula decided to take a weekly rest as normal people did. She would miss the contact with the shop that she continued to believe to be related to fair trade, but at least she managed to keep in touch with Lisa. They even had dinner together some times, and Lisa introduced her to some of her own friends. Paula admitted to herself – not to Lisa, though – that she was not interested in Lisa’s friends that much. She could not understand her English friends, and the Spanish ones would eventually leave London. Paula had learnt as much. Maria had stayed long enough; longer than all the other friends she had introduced to Paula. But she too had left. As had done the students who had allowed Paula to use the internet in their university. Paula learnt to have friends who would eventually leave and was not keen to have that many of them.
Of course it was different with Luna. She had known her from before London. That was as good as knowing some one from a previous life. And Tilda.

Jobless

Posted on 25 June 1998 by ana

She was not paying enough attention to detail, the assistant manager had said. And that in the five years he had spent in that restaurant as an assistant manager, he had learnt to know when a waitress had some prospect of a career or no prospect, and unfortunately Paula didn’t had one; not after two warnings anyway. What career it was, Paula wondered, in a working place where the furthest any one could get would be an assistant manager and then general manager, and where both jobs seemed to be reserved for native English speakers.
She had arranged to meet with Lisa that evening. Lisa had casual jobs too, but it was far easier to see her than it was to see any of her other friends who were still working in coffee shops, even if they were assistant managers, as Maria now said she was.
Lisa took Paula to a place with live music. She was a Londoner, Paula thought, so she would not all the coolest places with the best music. As they entered, Paula saw the “barmaid wanted” poster outside. “Request an application form at the bar”, said the poster. Paula offered to buy the drinks on the first round.
“Can I have two half pints of cider and a job application form please?”

follow the 73

Posted on 12 May 1998 by ana

Paula tried yet the last one of the Spanish restaurants she saw in the neighbourhood. It was a huge establishment. The whole building; not just the ground floor with the rest of the building occupied by living space. This public house had four floors dedicated to the business. Bar on the ground floor, a restaurant on the first floor, and dance floors beyond that.
“I’m sorry, but no, we do not have any vacancies at the moment. How are you doing otherwise?”
Paula was not used to being asked questions about her life. She had not been asked any questions at all by pub managers, actually. A week gone through a complete lack of conversation makes even the most reserved person want to talk to strangers.
“I am OK. I would love to change houses too, but that is not something I will contemplate without having a job first.”
“Are you checking out the Loot?”
“What is that?”
“How long have you been in London? Not long, have you?”
“No, just arrived a few days ago.”
“Right. I see you have an A to Z. Next thing to get used to is the Loot. It is a newspaper you buy in small shops that sell magazines and papers. It comes out a few times a week and has listings of rooms to let and some jobs too.”
Paula made a mental note.

“For now though, have you checked out La Finca?”
“No. What is it?”
“It is a Spanish pub, similar to this one. You should ask there. There may have vacancies there.”
“Where is it?”
“In Stoke Newington.”
Paula’s face must have shown that the name said nothing to her.
“Ok, just get on the seventy three. You get it just outside here. Just ask the conductor to let you off in Stoke Newington, there is only one stop on the main road though. You will not miss it.”
“Ok. Thanks for all.”
“Not a problem.”
Paula got out of the restaurant and headed to the bus stop. Then she realised the bus ride would cost one pound. She did not have a pound. She decided to walk on the direction of the bus route.

Zapatista music

Posted on 28 November 1997 by ana

en castellano más abajo

It was difficult for Paula to arrive at the shop on time. It had always been difficult to arrive early to class, and now it was not going to be too different.

Luna and Paula opened the shop at ten o’clock in the morning every day, from Monday to Saturday. They only worked Sunday during the weeks that it took them to extract all the trash from the previous tenants, to condition the walls, to paint them and to furnish the shop with shelves where to exhibit the objects. Also they had to re-condition the toilet room and Jose was pleasantly surprised that they managed to put cement in the stone wash-basin to solve the problem of the cracks themselves. Although they had to do the cement thing once the shop had already been inaugurated.
Most of the volunteers from the Parish came to the inauguration of the shop. Some of them insisted to Salva that he should bless the shop, as he was the priest. Other volunteers begged and begged. Salva said the shop had been blessed already, but Paula doubted this. In the end Salva did a half-hearted gesture of blessing. Paula was not too pleased about this and thought this showed Salva’s disinterest for the shop and thought the half-blessing was also half felt and done only out of political correctness on his part, to not look too rude in front of the parishioners. Luna did not like the blessing either but she appreciated the gesture of not wanting to impose his religious authority on the shop by ostentatiously blessing it and knew that he only half-blessed it to avoid hurting the parishioners’ feelings.

The daily routine consisted of cleaning the glass of the shop window, on the inside and on the outside, sweeping and mopping the shop floor before opening, and up to the portion of sidewalk that was along the door and shop windows.

All this to the sound of the music that they themselves provided.
Paula learned of memory all the songs of those tapes of “Extremo Duro” and “Celtas Cortos”, plus another tape with Zapatista songs that Luna had also bought.

“Why this fixation with the Zapatistas?”
“They contribute many new things.”
“For example? ”
“They don’t want martyrs. It is not possible to fight once one is dead, or in prison. So the goal is not the struggle up to the death. The target is to be still alive, and free, to be able to keep on fighting.”
” Aha. ”
“And they do not want the power. All the revolutions have consisted of changing whom it was in the power, a president for another, a king for a dictator. When taking the power turns into the target, the initial target gets lost, so for it not to turn into a revolution any more that it does not change anything, to take the power cannot be a target. ”
“Ah. And then which is the target?”
” That the community should decide what she wants for her herself. And that the Government should accept those decisions. But that the community, in this case the indigenous community of Chiapas, is who is in charge. ”
“Ah. And that’s why is Marcos is sub-comandante and not Commandante?”
“I do not know.”

castellano

A Paula le costaba llegar a la tienda puntualmente. Siempre le había costado llegar pronto a clase, y ahora no iba a ser demasiado diferente.

Luna y Paula abrían la tienda a las diez de la mañana todos los días, de lunes a sábado. Solo trabajaron los domingos durante las semanas que les llevó sacar toda la basura de los inquilinos anteriores, acondicionar las paredes, pintarlas y amueblar la tienda con estanterías donde exponer los objetos. También tuvieron que re-acondicionar el baño y Jose quedó gratamente sorprendido de que lograran poner cemento en el lavabo de piedra para solucionar el problema de las grietas ellas solas. Aunque lo del cemento en el lavabo tuvieron que hacerlo una vez que la tienda ya se había inaugurado.

Casi todas las voluntarias de la parroquia vinieron a la inauguración de la tienda. Alguans de ellas insitieron a Salva para que bendijera la tienda, puesto que era el cura. Otras le rogaron y rogaron. Salva dijo que la tienda ya había sido bendecida, pero Paula lo dudó. Al final Salva hizo una bendición a medias. A Paula esto no le gustó demasiado y pensó que esto mostraba que Salva no estaba demasiado interesado en la tienda y pensó que la media-bendición fue también solamente sentida a la mitad, y realizada solo por corrección por su parte, para no parecer demasiado maleducado delante de las parroquianas. A Luna tampoco le gustó la bendición pero agradeció el gesto de no querer imponer su autoridad religiosa en la tienda bendiciéndola ostentosamente y supo que solo la medio bendijo para evitar herir los sentimientos de las parroquianas.

La rutina diaria consistía en limpiar los cristales del escaparate, por dentro y por fuera, barrer y fregar la tienda antes de abrir, y hasta la porción de acera que quedaba junto a la puerta y escaparates.

Todo esto al son de la música que ellas mismas proveían. Paula se aprendió de memoria todas las canciones de aquellas cintas de Extremo Duro y Celtas Cortos, más una de canciones zapatistas que también había comprado Luna.

“Por qué esta fijación con los zapatistas?”
“Aportan muchas cosas nuevas.”
“Por ejemplo?”
“No quieren mártires. No se puede luchar una vez que se está muerto, o en la cárcel. Así que la meta no es la lucha hasta la muerte. El objetivo es seguir vivo, y libre, para poder seguir luchando.”
“Aha.”
“Y no quieren el poder. Todas las revoluciones han consistido en cambiar a quien estaba en el poder, un presidente por otro, un rey por un dictador. Cuando tomar el poder se convierte en el objetivo, se pierde el objetivo inicial, así que para que no se convierta en una revolución más que no cambia nada, no puede ser tomar el poder un objetivo.”
“Ah. Y entonces cual es?”
“Que la comunidad decida lo que quiere para ella misma. Y que el gobierno acepte esas decisiones. Pero que la comunidad, en este caso los indígenas de Chiapas, sea quien mande.”
“Ah. Y por eso Marcos es sub-comandante y no comandante?”
“No se.”

Old Part Shop

Posted on 02 November 1996 by ana

en castellano más abajo

The Old Part was also the main shopping centre in the city. That was why it was so important to have a shop there, to help get the fair trade ideas and products out there.

Paula advanced among the shopping crowd with some difficulty. Families spending the day out in the mild cold were not in a hurry, while individuals just wanting to reach their chosen shop, or the bar where they would meet their acquaintances, were in a hurry. But the crowds and the narrowness of the pedestrianised streets meant that every one could only advance a very small step at a time.

Paula arrived at the fair trade shop run by mainly one volunteer late, but that did not matter much. The shop was empty and the shop keeper was very much easy going. He acknowledged her with a smile, in silence but already welcoming the first customer of the afternoon.

The shop could not be more different from the car park that pretended to be a shop. This one was almost as small as a corridor, with crammed shelves against the walls, and a small desk pretending to be a counter, behind which was the shop keeper who was now looking at Paula with a kind of grin that could be a smile.

“Hi, I’m Paula. I have come to volunteer”.
“Ah yes, I now recognise you. You were in the big shop, weren’t you, the other day?”
“yes, but I don’t remember you”
“I’m Josu.”
“Hi”
Josu stood up and came out of the counter. He was wearing a green apron that seemed truly horrible to Paula. Then he produced a green apron, identical to the one he was wearing, and said:
“Volunteers here need to wear this”
Paula was horrified, and slightly upset that this had not been notified to her. But then, an apron should not be a reason not to volunteer.
“Can I not wear it?”
“Errmm. Not.” Josu was now only half smiling. “Well, it was kind of decided, by all volunteers.”
“But I don’t remember any one wearing that in the big shop”
“Ah. Different shops, different customs”
“Do you “really” want me to wear that?” Paula tried to conceal her disgust.
“Yes. Please.”
“What could I do to not have to wear that, and still volunteer here?”
“You would have to buy one of those t-shirts with the shop logo and wear it”
Paula looked at the t-shirt he meant. It was grey as the cheap sports t-shirts she had been made to wear in primary school, with the name of the shop in it and a simple colour drawing on the front. It depicted an Earth Globe, but it was cut in the middle, so the Northern and the Southern hemispheres were separated. In between them, there were various people from different races. They were standing on the southern hemisphere and they were holding the northern hemisphere between them. She thought it was a good metaphore.
She was not sure if he was joking or not about the need to purchase it but she was determined to not wear the apron, and the t-shirt was not that bad at all. As she removed the t-shirt from the hanger and placed it on the counter, Josu’s smile told her that he was indeed joking , or at least amused about the whole situation.

Paula paid for the t-shirt, removed her jacket, put her new t-shirt on top of the one she was wearing, looked at herself in the mirror and then up to Josu:

“So. What do I need to do now”?
“We can give out leaflets outside”
Josu took a stack of green small papers from the desk and gave half of them to Paula. They were about Fair Trade and the shop.
After about half an hour giving out leaflets that seemed never to end, Paula asked:
“Is this all we do?”
“No. The next time you give out a leaflet, you need to get the person to come into the shop, and spend at least five thousand pesetas”.
Paula had half-believed he was serious roughly until half his sentence, then she smiled and so did he. There had been no customers since opening that day.
“Is it always like this?”
“Some times we get people.”
A man Paula had given a leaflet a few minutes earlier came back and entered the shop. Josu followed – not a good idea to leave the shop unattended with a potential customer inside. The man browsed around and left. Paula and Josu continued to give out leaflets, occasionally coming inside the shop to sit down and have a rest.

They were in one of those breaks when Jose and Luna arrived for a visit.
“How is it going?”
Josu shrugged.
“As usual.”
Then they looked at Paula and asked her about her first day as a volunteer there. Josu grinned:
“She preferred to buy the t-shirt than wear the apron.”
Luna nodded and smiled: “It ‘is’ horrible, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Paula smiled back. “Are you coming to stay?”
“No, just visiting”, answered Jose. “We were in the flat, now I’m leaving.”
“We are doing up our flat to move in together.” Luna explained. “It’s just a few streets away.”
Luna and Jose exchanged a quick kiss before he left. Then she asked Paula about her background, her story. She wanted to know what brought her to fair trade.
“I’ve always been a Christian, I was raised a Christian”
“So did I”, said Luna smiling. “But now I’m an atheist. And so are you, aren’t you, Josu?”
“Yep. Always been one.”
“Then last year I got confirmation.” Luna smiled and Paula thought she should explain: “It means to say, now I want to be a Christian, not just because I was raised one, but now it’s my decision. And in the parish one condition is to get involved in some volunteering, to put it into practice, you know. And most of the people I know from the parish are in this too.”

Paula wanted to know how came then that these atheists had got involved in what was very much a parish project, but she didn’t feel confident enough. In any case, while she was thinking of this, Luna snapped:

“Josu is single, and he’s looking for a boyfriend. Are you looking for a girlfriend, or a boyfriend?” Josu’s face showed only slight embarrassment behind his usual grin but Paula was left speechless for a few seconds. Then she recovered:

“I am single and not looking for anything, but if I was, I would be looking for a boyfriend. But I’m ok like this.”

castellano

La Vieja Parte era también el centro comercial principal en la ciudad. Por eso era tan importante tener una tienda allí, ayudar a meter las ideas comerciales justas y productos ahí.

Paula avanzó entre la muchedumbre de gente de compras con cierta dificultad. Las familias pasando el día en el frío pero soportable día suave no tenían prisa, mientras que los individuos que sólo quieren alcanzar su tienda elegida, o el bar donde encontrar a sus conocidos, sí tenían. Pero las muchedumbres y la estrechez de las calles peatonalizadas significaron que nadie podría avanzar más de un muy pequeño paso cada vez.

Paula llegó tarde a la tienda de comercio justo dirigida por principalmente un voluntario, pero esto no importó mucho. La tienda estaba vacía y el encargado de la tienda era muy tranquilo. La reconoció con una sonrisa, en el silencio, pero ya celebrando al primer cliente de la tarde.

La tienda no podía ser más diferente del parking que quería ser una tienda. Era casi tan pequeña como un pasillo, con estantes contra las paredes abarrotados, y una pequeña mesa haciendo de mostrador, detrás del cual el encargado de la tienda miraba ahora a Paula con una especie de mueca que podría ser una sonrisa.

“Hola, soy Paula. He venido para ofrecerme de voluntaria”.
“Ah sí, ahora te reconozco. ¿Estaba en la tienda grande, no, el otro día?”
“Sí, pero no sé, no te recuerdo.”
“Soy Josu.”
“Hola.”
Josu se levantó y salió del mostrador. Él llevaba puesto un delantal verde que pareció realmente horrible a Paula. Entonces él sacó un delantal verde, idéntico al que que él llevaba puesto, y dijo:
“Los voluntarios aquí tienen que llevar puesto esto.”
Paula fue horrorizada, y ligeramente molesta porque nadie le había dicho nada de esto. Pero bueno, un delantal no debería ser una razón para no ser voluntario.
¿“Puedo no llevarlo puesto?”
“Errmm. No.” Josu estaba ahora sólo medio sonriendo. “Bien, se ha decidido, por todos los voluntarios.”
“Pero no recuerdo que nadie lo usara en la tienda grande”
“Ah. Tiendas diferentes, costumbres diferentes.”
¿“”Realmente” quieres que lleve puesto esto? ”Paula trató de ocultar su repugnancia.
“Sí. Por favor. ”
¿“Qué podría yo hacer no para tener que llevar puesto esto, y todavía ofrecerme aquí?”
“tendrías que comprar una de esas camisetas con el logotipo de la tienda y llevarla puesta”

Paula miró la camiseta que quería decir. Era gris como las camisetas deportivas baratas que a ella le habían hecho ponerse en la escuela primaria, con el nombre de la tienda en ella y un simple dibujo en la parte frontal. Mostraba un Globo de la Tierra, pero estaba cortado por el medio, entonces los hemisferios del Norte y del Sur estaban separados. En medio de ellos, había varias personas de razas diferentes. Ellos estaban de pie sobre el hemisferio del sur y sostenían el hemisferio norte entre ellos. Ella pensó que era una buena metáfora.

Ella no estaba segura si él bromeara o no sobre la necesidad de comprarlo pero estaba decidida a no llevar el delantal, y la camiseta no estaba tan mal en absoluto. Cuando ella quitó la camiseta de la percha y lo colocó en el contador, la sonrisa de Josu le dijo que efectivamente estaba bromeando, o al menos que la situación entera le divirtió.

Paula pago para la camiseta, se quitó su chaqueta, se puso su nueva camiseta encima de la que ella llevaba puesta, se miró en el espejo y luego a Josu:
“Bien. ¿Qué tengo que hacer ahora”?
“Podemos repartir folletos fuera”
Josu tomó una pila de pequeños papeles verdes del escritorio y dio la mitad de ellos a Paula. Eran sobre el Comercio Justo y la tienda.
Después de aproximadamente media hora repartir folletos que parecieron terminarse nunca, Paula preguntó:
¿“Es todo lo que hacemos?”
“No. La próxima vez que regalas un folleto, tienes que conseguir que la persona entre en la tienda, y gaste por lo menos cinco mil pesetas”.
Paula había medio creído que él iba en serio aproximadamente hasta la mitad de su frase, y entonces ella sonrió y él también . No hubo ningunos clientes desde la apertura ese día.
“Es siempre así?”
“Algunas veces entra gente.”
Un hombre Paula había dado un prospecto unos minutos antes volvió y entró en la tienda. Josu le siguió – no una idea buena de dejar la tienda desatendida con un cliente potencial dentro. El hombre hojeó alrededor y se marchó.
Paula y Joshua siguieron a repartir folletos, entrando en ocasiones dentro de la tienda para sentarse y descansar.

Ellos estaban en una de aquellos descansos cuando Jose y Luna llegaron para una visita.
“¿qué tal?”
Josu se encogió de hombros.
“Como de costumbre.”
Entonces ellos miraron a Paula y le preguntaron sobre su primer día como un voluntario allí. Josu sonrió abiertamente:
“Ella prefirió comprar la camiseta que ponerse el delantal.”
Luna asintió y sonrió: “‘ ¿es’ horrible, verdad?”
“Sí.” Paula sonrió también. ¿“Venis para quedaros?”
“No, sólo visitando”, contestó Jose. “Estábamos en el apartamento, ahora me marcho.”
“Arreglamos una buhardilla para vivir en ella juntos.” Luna explicó. “está sólo a unas pocas calles de aqui.”
El Luna y Jose intercambiaron un beso rápido antes de que él se marchara. Entonces ella preguntó a Paula sobre su historia. Ella quiso saber lo que le trajo al comercio justo.
“Siempre he sido un cristiano, creci siendo cristiano ”
“yo tambien”, dijo Luna sonriendo. “Pero ahora soy atea. ¿Y tu también, no Josu? ”
“Sí. Siempre lo he sido.”
“Entonces el año pasado me confirme.” El Luna sonrió y Paula pensó que ella debería explicar: “”que significa decir, ahora quiero ser cristiano, no sólo porque así me han educado, sino que ahora es mi decisión. Y en la parroquia una condición es participar en algún voluntariado, para ponerla en práctica, ya sabes. Y la mayor parte de la gente que conozco de la parroquia está en esto también.”
Paula quería saber cómo llegaron estos ateos a lo que era muy mucho un proyecto de la parroquia, pero no se sintió bastante confidente En cualquier caso, mientras que ella estaba pensando en esto, Luna espetó:

“Josu está solo, busca a un novio. Y tu Estás buscando una novia o un novio?”
La cara de Josu mostró vergüenza sólo leve detrás de su sonrisa habitual pero pero Paula se quedó sin habla durante unos segundos. Luego ella se recuperó:
““Estoy sola y no busca nada, pero buscara, estaría buscando un novio. “Pero estoy bien así”.

Zapatist uprising view from the Parish

Posted on 28 January 1994 by ana

The corridor was so dark it felt like it was in the basement. It was only when entering one of the rooms to the right that the huge windows facing the street could be seen. Still, strangely, the rooms were mostly colder than the corridor. At least when empty.
Paula mostly knew those rooms full of people, though. Especially right after her confirmation, although people began to stop coming to the meetings until it was just about five of them from the group of thirty that had started. Except when it was just two of them.
“What was it we were supposed to talk about today?” Asked Ara.
“I don’t know. I can’t take away from my mind what is happening in Mexico.”
“Yes, there seems to be quite big unrest, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” Paula expected a bit more of an analysis.
“I’m baffled and overwhelmed by so much information, I can’t quite make sense of it.”
“Well, the telly is good for showing people with big guns and their faces covered. I have read the paper a bit and I am beginning to understand.
“And what do you make of it?”
“Ok, it seems they are upraising against something similar to what the European Economic Community is to here. They have the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, or something like that. Which seems to have roughly the same objectives as the EEC here.”
Paula looked at Ara and saw that she was following.
“With the difference that the only countries that benefit from it are the United States and Canada, and the only country that ends up losing is Mexico. So I kind of agree with what they are doing. They are already the poorest of the three and the other two are taking advantage. I’m not sure about taking up arms, the violence and stuff, but I do support the reasons why they are doing it.”
“Thanks for that. Good to hear about the reasons behind it, no one seems to be talking about that.”
“So I’d rather talk about that, than whatever we had on schedule, when the rest of the people arrive. Like, where do we stand in all this, as Christians.”
“You may have to repeat all that to them too.”
“I don’t mind. It helps me put my own thoughts in order too.”

Paula

a book

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