Berkeley, California

Berkeley, California is Maya’s hometown where her grandparents raise her. Berkeley is a notoriously liberal and hippie community, which metaphorically resonates with the fact that Maya is raised by her Chilean immigrant grandmother and African-American grandfather and educated in alternative learning environments with little structure and individual learning paces. Growing up in a city makes Maya more independent than she would be in smaller community, and allows her the anonymity she needs to cut class and succumb to drinking and drug use without any authority figures noticing. It is the fast-paced, noisy and stressful counterpoint to Maya’s exile in Chiloé.

Chiloé

Chiloé is an archipelago along the coast of Chile, where Maya goes to escape the authorities and gangsters who might be hunting her because of her knowledge about Brandon Leeman’s counterfeiting brother. Maya lives in a small village with Manuel Arias, where everyone...