Tortillas Duras: Ni Para Frijoles Alcanza. While the story takes place in Los Angeles, far from the tomato and strawberry fields in Florida, the characters are the same. The struggles and dreams of the men are the same. And now there is an abridged translation for those of us who read English much better than we do Spanish. And even though time has passed from the first printing of Tortillas Duras, the immigration situation has not improved. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, it has worsened. Along with the constant struggle to make enough money to take care of their families, the immigrants now fear the political ugliness that too often results in families being broken apart, with the deportation of a parent. Most often their crime is driving without a license. Even though in most states they are no longer allowed to get one! I encourage readers to sit down with this book and take a journey. Imagine yourself in a foreign country where you know no one, do not speak the language and have no currency, save the desire to make a better living than you did in your home country. Then think of the city of Los Angeles - huge, divided, busy and unfriendly. That is the beginning of a new life for Tururu, Yes-Yes, Coras and so many other Mexicans that we come to know in Too broke for Beans. From the illiterate father hoping to be able to send money home to his struggling family on the rancho to the newly degreed sociologist with his diploma now living in a truck on blocks - they all seek day work, a place to be able to sleep and eat, no more. Better things will come after that, they believe. Too much pain was part of getting here, to return is to admit defeat and question your manhood. Cry at the beauty of small gestures of brotherhood that the poorest give to each other. To quote the book: "The poor have no choice; they pay in prayers, and they never forget a single person who helped them out when they were in need. They pray for them every single day, to a multitude of different saints so as not to overwhelm any one saint with too many prayers; because the poor pray to so many people that one saint could not possibly help them all. So they pray to many saints, more and more as time goes by; and if they run out, why, they just invent new ones. After all, a saint is a saint." Read, suffer and understand more than you did. To quote again: "In this country, they think anybody with dark skin is a slacker, a drunk, a criminal, and an opportunist. Yeah, that's what they call us: in other words, a threat, and a burden to society. Everything that goes wrong gets blamed on us. Our own children are too ashamed to speak Spanish, as if that was a crime, let alone to be called "Mexican"..." But mostly, learn what hope means and why they keep crossing the border. America. The beautiful. Really?
About the Author: I want to write this in first person, because I'm proud to declare: I am an immigrant, college-educated, a diplomat, a writer, and passionate about immigration. Immigrants are not statistics, we are human beings! I've been an immigrant since 1969. It was thanks to my parents' effort and determination that I arrived at the city of Pacoima, California, where i completed my early years of schooling in the San Fernando valley public school system. I completed my university degree at the Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico (UNAM), in Mexico City, graduating with a degree in International Relations in 1982. I went back to my home up north in 1984 and, after multiple applications, I was hired as an unpaid volunteer at the Mexican Consulate General in Los Angeles, California, assisting in their Protection Department. A few years later, my effort paid off and i was awarded a small salary; then, in 1994, I became a official member of the Mexican Foreign Service. Not long after, in 1995, I was transferred to Orlando, Florida, as part of the first group of government officials that would inaugurate the first Mexican Consular Representation in the city. I spent 7 years as Deputy Consul. In 2002, my experience landed me in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, where i served as Deputy Consul Consul Incharge at the Mexican Consulate, located in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In 2005, I was transferred to Delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Morelia, Michoacan (Mexico), to work in the Protection Department. From 2008 to 2014, I returned to the United States to work in the Mexican Consulate General of San Antonio, Texas, as Consul of Community Affairs. Currently, I reside in Austin, Texas, assisting fellow paisanos who walk through the doors of the Mexican Consulate. I've written 4 books: - Tortillas Duras: Ni Pa Friijoles Alcanza, translated as(Hard Tortillas: Too Broke for Beans) - Ta de la Tostada: La Vida Allá en el Norte - Por Si las Moscas, Paisano. - Y se los llevo la chin... And I've led conferences at over 60 universities in Mexico, the U.S., and Ecuador., with novel recipient Rigoberta Menchu and international voices in immigration issues as Padre Solalinde and the Patronas. I've also produced a Radionovela: Tortillas Duras: Ni Pa Frijoles Alcanza. And, recently, I worked as a producer and actor on the impactful documentary "American Dream".