This is the story of an African American couple and their experiences while living in an all white American expatriate community in Mexico, near Ensenada Baja Clifornia, Norte. The book coverssome of the highlights of their 7 year residency.
Foreword
Kent Anderson, PhD
For centuries, people have left their homes and familiar surroundings in search of "the other." This is a term long used by anthropologists to describe the urge in so many people to seek and experience "the exotic." Many humans seem willing to depart from a common culture, extended family and native tongue to enter a very different and unfamiliar setting.
What you are about to read in BAJA DIARIES are the experiences of "the other" by George Puckett and his wife, Tina. In 1994, they embarked on a great adventure, leaving behind the United States of America, many friends and family, to settle in a beautiful enclave near the Pacific Ocean in the Mexican city of Ensenada in Baja California.
The episodic nature of BAJA DIARIES reveals the high accomplishments of the Pucketts, their dashed hopes, and, ultimately, tragedy. The reader will learn about the many characters the Pucketts met during their stay, some saintly and some unsavory. A large portion of their experience details the religious infighting among the Americans they encountered in Ensenada.
After several years in "paradise," George and Tina were overwhelmed by systematic Mexican skulduggery in the form of dubious real estate dealings (and double-dealings!) and the brutally pernicious behavior on the part of law enforcement. At the same time as their taste of "the other" was coming to a nasty climax, they were beset with a tragedy of unbelievable circumstance.
I invite you to experience these strangely unsettling years of George and Tina Puckett.
Excerpt
There are many places that people call Paradise, the Fiji Islands, Hawaii, the Bahamas and other places. Ours was Mexico, Baja California Norte. We lived south of Ensenada on Punta Estero in a two story house overlooking the mighty Pacific Ocean. We could see Pelicans diving for their dinner. We could see Dolphins playing beyond the breakers. We could see Whales as they made their journey south in the winter to spawn in warmer waters.
"It was the best of times and the worst of times."
I know, I borrowed that from another writer. I believe it was Charles Dickens in the opening of one of his stories. In retrospect, this is the way I feel.
This is the story of Our Paradise Found and Our Paradise Lost.
It is a bitter sweet story told many times in many languages in many places around the world.
It was a time of joy and a time of pain. Because of the tragedy that occurred there, some people died and some hung on for years but their eventual deaths could still be attributed to the tragedy.
There are not adequate words to tell the true story but I will try and I will be joined by others who lived through these terrible yet beautiful times.
These are my Diaries along with my wife, Argentina.
After a long awaited weekend visitation caused by false allegations of sexual abuse, Glen got to see his children for the first time in over two months. He promised them that they would never be apart again and then they disappeared.
She never felt safe at home as a young girl, and didn't understand why when she finally escaped she wasn't safe in the big wide world either ...effectively jumping out of the frying pan into the fire!
