A very young Grandpa
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Chapter XI: About volcanoes and their ashes
Las Flores Market, Xela, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
In most of Central America, including Nicaragua, the word tata refers to the father, the grandfather or is commonly used to signify an old man. In that case, my father’s tata was my Grandfather Jairo. Yet to me, he was simply Grandfather, and he was quite young at that, having married at barely sixteen.
Before I was born, Grandfather already owned a plane. It was a small Cessna, and he used it, among other things, to fumigate the cotton fields near León. He dusted the cotton crops in our families’ plantations, but additionally, for a price, he took care of our neighbors’ crops too. He liked to live well, so he charged accordingly; still everyone was happy and never complained. Besides dusting the crops, he had different business ventures all over Nicaragua.
Naturally, he took advantage of the plane, flying quickly from one spot to the other. Consequently, he was free to roam the country, as he conducted his business, unlike most other lesser mortal souls, limited by either time and distances or perhaps both.
In the land of volcanoes’ Chapters Purchase the book