I like being a mother. For some people, it's so much work that it can be a burden. But it's not for me, maybe because I had my daughter, Valentina, later on in life, at 41.

My mother was devoted to helping people - with my father's money! - who had great voices but didn't have the financial means to study music. He and my mum gave away dozens of music scholarships, and my mum opened a school in town, introduced opera to children and created fantastic programmes.

My accent was horrible. In Mexico, nobody says, 'You speak English with a good accent.' You either speak English, or you don't: As long as you can communicate, no one cares.

I have a ranch, which is my favorite place in the world.

I proved to myself that if I believe in something and set my mind to it I could actually accomplish it.

I'm a country girl. I have to be in nature, so my daughter is exposed to it a lot.

If you look at any other group of people suffering injustice, women are always in the worst situation within that group.