Summary

In “Exploration,” Engle describes how she and her family explore the island in an uncle’s car. Still, Engle envies the children who ride horses and drive oxcarts even though her mother describes those families as poverty-stricken.

In “Traveling to My Mother’s Hometown,” Engle writes that she and her family are traveling to Trinidad de Cuba, where her parents met. It is at this farm where her mother grew up that Engle believes she will turn into her real self.

In “Quiet Times,” in Trinidad de Cuba, Engle feels as if she is home. The war has not touched that part of the country. Engle remembers the feel of the cool tiles on her feet, but her relatives scold her for not wearing shoes. Her mother tells her that worms can enter the body through the soles...