WEBVTT

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Guyamés is surrounded
by lush green hills,

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where the last of the Taino
Indians lived before they were

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wiped out by the Spaniards
in the 16th century.

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Its houses spill into one
another without order or logic

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as if huddled together
for protection.

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The streets are
narrow and cleave

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to the uneven terrain
like ribbons of red mud.

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Many are named for
the Taino Indians--

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Calle Guajira, Calle
Urayoan, Calle Guaqimini.

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On top of a nearby hill
overlooking the town like

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a huge white fowl spreading
its wings sits a cathedral,

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one of the oldest
buildings in Guyamés.

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The climate is unusually
humid and falls

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in pellets that melt before
they reach the ground.

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The frequent rains as well
as the tranquil atmosphere

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bring out the vivid
colors of the landscape,

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the limpid blue of the sky, the
soft moss green of the hills,

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the hard beveled green
of the sugar cane fields.

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Perhaps for this reason, a
romantic imagination and acute

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aesthetic sensibility and a deep
love of nature are common among

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the inhabitants of Guyamés.

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Almost every room at Emajaguas
has its own skylight.

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Skylights were a
way of saving money.

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One didn't have
to turn on a light

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except when it
began to get dark.

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But they also gave the
rooms a special atmosphere.

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There is a dreamlike quality
to a room with a skylight.

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It eliminates the
passing shadows

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of the world outside,
the swish of headlights

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on the road, the street
lights coming on at dusk.

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A room with a skylight gives
one a sense of security.

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Nothing bad can happen there.

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There's no reason to be afraid
of what the future may bring.

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The skylights of
Emajaguas were always

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located in strategic places,
over the dining room table,

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for example, or above the
bathtub where sunlight fell

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directly on the naked body.

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At the Sacred Heart
in La Concordia,

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the nuns taught us that looking
at yourself in the mirror

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without clothes on
was a cardinal sin.

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Girls were supposed to be
ignorant of their bodies,

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the little bushes
of hair beginning

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to sprout in unexpected
nooks, the bulbs pushing out

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in flat places, and all kinds
of fluids beginning to run.

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Modesty was an important part
of being a decent person.

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Thanks to Emajaguas, I
always laughed at all that.

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I love to stand in the
bathtub under the skylight

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without a stitch on.

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By the time I turned 12, I
knew my body's secret places

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by heart, a nest of
downy fleas growing

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there, a delicate pink
halo appearing there.

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I grew up liking the way the
creamy curve of my breast

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melted into my belly and
when I bent my elbow how

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the hidden part of
my underarm resembled

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a freshly baked loaf of bread.

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At Emajaguas, I could caress
and touch myself at will.

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Exposed to the light
of day, my body

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was innocent and had
a life of its own.

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Shame and sin meant
nothing to me.

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I was 13 when I
discovered the answer

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to the age-old enigma of how
we arrived in this world.

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One morning at recess,
one of my girlfriends

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came over excitedly
to where I was sitting

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with a group of other students.

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She said she wanted
to tell us a secret,

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so we rallied around
her in the school yard.

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I found out where
babies really come from,

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Maria Concepcion said.

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They don't come from Paris
on the wings of Jesusito

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at all like the nuns say.

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And then she proceeded to
describe the biological process

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of copulation and birth,
leaving out none of the details.

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A naked man and a woman in
bed kissing and caressing,

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the man putting his pee pee
in the woman's third hole.

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Was there a third hole?

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I wasn't aware there
was one until then.

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It's between the asshole
and the piss hole,

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you nitwit, Maria Concepcion
whispered pinching my arm.

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And that was the hole the baby
came out of nine months later.

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I was shocked.

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It was Friday, and
that afternoon, we

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left to Emajaguas where we
would spend the weekend.

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As soon as we arrived, I
went to my mother's room

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to ask if Maria Concepcion
had said was true.

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Mother was taking a shower, and
as I knocked on the bathroom

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door, she didn't turn off the
water but over the shower's din

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asked me what I wanted.

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I opened the door a crack
and poked my head in.

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I could see mother's shadow.

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She was standing naked
behind the shower

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curtain, the skylight,
a rectangle of light

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above her head, and steam
was coming out from the top.

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Mother, is it true
that babies are

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born only after a man puts
his pee pee inside a woman

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and pisses on her and nine
months later the baby comes out

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a third hole that only
women have, I shouted.

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And silence followed
during which

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the shower's din became a roar.

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Yes, dear, it's true,
mother answered,

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and please close
the bathroom door

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because I'm getting a draft.

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[LAUGHTER]

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There was not much communication
between mothers and daughters

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at that time.

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Fortunately, the
world has changed.

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