alcoholics anonymous - Vieques Events

june / july vieques events
garlic weed
The Wonder Herb
by: The Green Man®
Scott D. Appell
A Mini-Series: Medicinal Plants of Vieques
*It should be noted that the plants in this series
are utilized by curanderos/curanderas (traditional
herbal homeopaths), local midwives and
spiritual healers and may not be recommended
by liscensed physicians.
>> A common roadside weed on
Vieques, garlic weed, called anamú in
Spanish, is a veritable pharmacological
powerhouse free for the harvesting. A
native of the tropical Americas and the
Caribbean, it is known botanically as
Petiveria alliacea. It grows up to 3-feet
tall and bears opposite, dark-green leaves
and thin, terminal spikes of tiny white
flowers. Its species name refers to the
garlic-like odor the foliage and roots emit
when crushed, hence the English common
name.
On Vieques, steam-heated leaves
are employed as a hot compress to heal
stubborn absesses. Women use a tea
as an emmenagogue to facilitate a late
menses. It is also employed as an abortificient
and is not to be experimented
with lacking supervision of a homeopathic
healer. It is used, along with
other herbs to make a bath for feverish
children. Anamú tea is also drunk to
alleviate of various types of pain.
Laboratory research reveals that garlic
weed contains a broad range of antileukemic,
anti-tumorous, and anti-cancerous
elements as well as compounds
that destroy numerous types of bacteria,
viruses and fungi. It has also been clinically
documented to have hypoglycemic
properties: decreasing blood sugar levels
more than 60% one hour after being
consumed. In Cuba, it has been used for
years as a herbal aid for diabetes. And
indeed, you can find anamú capsules for
sale at Morales in Monte Santo!
Avoid harvesting garlic weed from the
roadside because plants absorb the toxic
vehicular emmisions.
by: José Carrasquillo
Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago: Indispensable Summer Reading
imprescindible Lectura para el Verano
>> En 1993, el primer libro de Esmeralda Santiago,
Cuando era Puertorriqueña – un libro de memorias
basado en historias de la infancia de su carácter personal,
se convirtió en el “mejor vendido” internacionalmente,
convirtiendo a la Sra. Santiago en el centro de atención
del mundo literario. Fue aclamada como “una nueva voz,
llena de pasión y autoridad,” por el Mundo del Libro
del Washington Post. Se segundo libro y primera novel,
el Sueño de América, publicado en 1996 y traducido a 6
idiomas, demostraba la prosa lírica de la Sra. Santiago y
sus extraordinarios dones como narradora. América, la
protagonista, fue una viequense que vivía en La Esperanza
y trabajaba en La Casa del Francés. En un viaje quijotesco
de auto-descubrimiento y armada con nada más que la
autodeterminación, América rompe un patrón generacional
de abusos y huye de la isla en busca de una mejor vida.
A pesar de que la historia tiene cierto parecido a la obra
maestra de René Márquez, La Carreta, la novela constaba
con un inmenso sentido de lugar y circunstancias. (Esmeralda
Santiago pasó tiempo en Vieques investigando y
escribiendo el primer borrador). Desde 1996, ha escrito
dos memorias adicionales: Almost a Woman (1999) y
The Turkish Lover (2004). Para aquellos que han
admirado su trabajo, la espera de su
segunda novela finalmente ha culminado.
Conquistadora, publicada el año
pasado por Knopf, se ha convertido
en una de las novelas con las mejores
críticas del año. La novela de Santiago
es una épica de gran alcance histórico
que detalla la vida, muchas veces
insoportable, de los trabajadores en la
industria de la caña de azúcar en Puerto
Rico durante el siglo XIX. Una vez más,
es la compleja protagonista de la escritora
y su afán de vencer a pesar de todos los
obstáculos, lo que hace de esta novela una
extraordinaria. Apenas siendo una niña
que crecía en España, Ana Cubillas estaba
obsesionada con los diarios de un antepasado,
un conquistador que viajó con Ponce
de León a Puerto Rico. Su sentido de aventura es contagioso
y pronto convence a los hermanos gemelos Ramón
e Inocente a viajar a través del océano a Puerto Rico y
reclamar una herencia: una remota plantación de caña de
azúcar (Hacienda Los Gemelos) en la parte sur de Puerto
Rico. Una vez en Puerto Rico, Ana disfruta los retos de
administrar una plantación de caña de azúcar en una
tierra indómita. Enfrentó cada nueva calamidad (muerte
de los seres queridos, devastador huracán, epidemia de
cólera que devastó a la isla) con valiente determinación,
pero cuando la guerra civil estalla en los Estados Unidos,
Ana encuentra su vida amenazada por las mismas personas
sobre las cuales sus riquezas fueron forjadas: los esclavos.
Sus historias inolvidables van a la par con la lucha de Ana
por salvar su tierra y cumplir su destino. Al igual que la
obra clásica de 1940, Tiempo Muerto de Méndez Ballester,
Conquistadora se adentra en la historia de la industria
de la caña de azúcar, con una narración que es a la vez
seductora e instructiva. Meticulosamente investigada,
Conquistadora es un brillante ejemplo de la novela puertorriqueña
actual. Santiago se coloca, merecidamente, en
la primea fila de las extraordinarias escritoras de América
Latina, que incluyen a Rosario Ferré (Puerto Rico) e
Isabel Allende (Chile). Conquistadora es una novela que
debe ser leída por aquellos que buscan un verano lleno de
pasión y aventura.
>> In 1993 Esmeralda Santiago first book, When I was
Puerto Rican—a memoir comprised of personal childhood
stories became an international best-seller ushering Ms.
Santiago into the world’s literary spotlight. She was hailed
as “a welcome new voice, full of passion and authority,”
by the Washington Post Book World. Her second book
and first novel, America’s Dream, published in 1996 and
translated into 6 languages, showcased Ms. Santiago’s lyrical
prose and extraordinary gifts as a storyteller. America,
the protagonist, was a Viequense living in Esperanza who
worked at La Casa del Frances. In a quixotic journey
of self-discovery and armed with nothing but selfdetermination,
America valiantly breaks a generational
cycle of abuse and flees the island in search of a better life
state side. Although the story had a passing resemblance
to Rene Marquez theatrical masterpiece La Carreta (The
Oxcart), the novel was aided immensely by a sense of
place and given circumstances. (Esmeralda Santiago spent
time in Vieques researching and writing a first draft.)
Since 1996, she has written two other memoirs: Almost a
Woman (1999) and The Turkish Lover (2004). For those
of us that have admired her work, the wait for that elusive
second novel has finally come to an
end. Conquistadora, published last
year by Knopf, has become one of the
best reviewed novels of the year. Santiago’s
sophomore novel is a powerful
historical epic detailing the often
excruciating life of those working in
Puerto Rico’s sugarcane industry in
the XIX century. And once again, it
is the writer’s complex protagonist
and her quest to succeed against
all odds what makes this novel an
extraordinary one. As a young girl
growing up in Spain, Ana Cubillas
is obsessed by the diaries of an
ancestor—a conquistador that
traveled with the likes of Ponce
de Leon to Puerto Rico. Her
sense of adventure is contagious and soon she convinces
twin brothers Ramon and Inocente to travel across the
ocean to Puerto Rico and claim an inherited asset: a
remote sugar plantation (Hacienda Los Gemelos) in the
southern part of Puerto Rico. At 18 she marries Ramon,
and in 1844, she sails with the brothers across the ocean.
Once in Puerto Rico, Ana relishes the challenges of running
a sugar plantation in an untamable land. She faces
each new calamity (death of loved ones, a devastating
hurricane, a cholera epidemic that decimates the island)
with valiant determination, but when the civil war breaks
out in the United States, Ana finds her life threatened
by the very people on whose backs her wealth has been
built: slaves. Their unforgettable stories run parallel to
Ana’s quest to save her land and fulfill her destiny. Like
the 1940’s classic play, Tiempo Muerto (Dead Time) by
Mendez Ballester, Conquistadora delves into the history
of our sugarcane industry with a narrative that is both
seductive and instructive. Meticulously researched, Conquistadora
is a shimmering example of the Puerto Rican
novel today. It deservedly places Santiago in the front row
of extraordinary women writers from Latin America that
includes Rosario Ferre (also from Puerto Rico) and Isabel
Allende (Chile). Conquistadora is a must for those seeking
a summer novel full of passion and adventure.
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