One does, after all, take on many of the givens of a society when one takes on its language.

One does, after all, take on many of the givens of a society when one takes on its language.

The most that somebody in Mexico City will get paid for a job in construction is 100 pesos a day.

The best translators slip into the glove of a text and then turn it inside out into another language, and the whole thing comes out looking like a brand-new glove again. I'm completely in awe of this skill, since I happen to be both bilingual and a writer, but nevertheless a lousy translator.

What I wonder is what would happen in California, say, if all the Mexicans left from one day to the next?

For the kids, who in their lives have never known the slightest power, delinquency is a way of looking for power.

There is no point to samba if it doesn't make you smile.