I was born in Barcelona and named after the patron saint of the city, Saint Eulalia, virgin and martyr. Because English-speakers have trouble saying my name, after moving to the U.S. I shortened it to “Lali.” Until age sixteen, I was the only child of my parents and of the entire extended family.
In Barcelona, I lived in an apartment in the Art Nouveau section of the city, went to a school run by German nuns, studied solfeggio, and began playing the violin.
When I was ten, we moved to Ecuador, where I was taught by nuns from Spain, learned to speak with an Ecuadorean accent, and had a number of exotic pets and strange adventures. Four years later, I arrived in Birmingham, Alabama with my mother and father. None of us spoke English.
Survived high school (taught by American nuns). Got B.A. in French and Biology, Ph.D. in Romance Languages (French and Spanish). Gave up the Church and the violin, got married, had two daughters, taught at a liberal arts college in Maryland. Also grew veggies, made bread, kept chickens, milked goats, and wrote for newspapers and magazines. Got bored with teaching, took up running, went into higher ed administration, moved to DC, was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) . Abandoned career, started painting and sculpting and learning to live in a totally different way.
Moved to Vermont, where I live with my spouse, three dogs, twelve hens and assorted passing wildlife. I hope that, with time, the serenity of this pastoral landscape will soak into my soul, and transform it.
Update (long overdue): in 2014, we moved to a cottage in a continuing care residential community, close to the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain. Gave up hens and vegetable gardening in favor of wild birds, one red dog (Bisou), and a gray cat (Telemann). The search for serenity continues.