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I went to the mines at a really early, early age. My first memories, almost, are of the mines – which were . . . for me as a child it was fun, it was a lot of adventure, it was awesome going into the mines; going down into the different levels. There's a mine – Siglo Veinte – which is one of the biggest, in terms of dropping down, down, down, down, further into the earth.
We were mostly in the tin mining areas, and although, to this day, by popular culture, women aren't supposed to go into the mines – they were supposed to bring bad luck – there were always exceptions. We went in. But the landscape itself is really barren – really dry and barren. Even people's skins are cracked from the dryness, and the malnutrition and everything. So, my environment at that age was just really poverty, barrenness – in a way a sense of hopelessness.
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Childhood in the Forest
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Feb. '99 Journal