Out strides Pepito, cocking his head and hopping down to the tabletop. He looks sleek and well-fed, his eyes bright like glass beads…

The señora sets steaming bowls of champurrada in front of us. I peer at the brown, viscous surface, taking in the rich smell of cornmeal and chocolate…

Interrupting my musings, a young Mexican girl of about eleven rounds the corner, pressing herself into the space next to me…

When the negotiations were complete, an attendant drove up in our Ford Fiesta—bright purple, my favorite color. A good omen, we decided…

As Gary and I walk along the trail high on the side of the dry yellow hills of Oaxaca, I hear a dog barking in the valley below. I dismiss it, as we are well out of reach…