By Ed Piper
The Cardoso Martinez era of La Jolla High boys golf began two weeks ago. Santiago "Santi" Cardoso Martinez, a junior, and his younger brother, Eugenio Cardoso Martinez, entered the school--in Santi's situation, transferred--and began starring on the golf links as soon as this Spring season began.
To date, the younger brother, Eugenio--who didn't immediately comprehend my questions, albeit they were fired at him as he warmed up on the putting green at San Diego Country Club Thursday, March 12, before teeing off in the Saints Invitational--has been the number-one for Coach Christie Quinn's squad.
Asked what I call him, he replied, "Eugenio", enunciating the name clearly with the Spanish pronunciation. I lived for 14 months in Mexico City in another life right out of college, teaching language arts and journalism at a small, private secondary school (22 students), so having gained a teaching credential in that "world language" (as the term is now), I felt I had a little advantage in interacting with the brothers. I had never met them before Thursday, but I had seen their scores, and was interested in observing them.
It was hot. Eugenio said he preferred the heat over cold and rain. Definitely.
Earlier, only a short time before, I had met Santi (Santiago means James in English) as he practicing on the driving range, then joined his threesome to hear the ground rules for the tournament from the St. Augustine coach.
At this point, Santi is much more adept in English than his younger brother. I asked him if he was from Mexico City, and he said yes. But then, in the brief conversation before he teed off at 1:20 p.m. or so, he clarified that his family was from Queretaro, three hours from Mexico City.
Riding the bus to and from Mexico City (54-hour bus ride) three or so round-trips, I knew that Queretaro City (the capital of Queretaro state) was where vendors sold "caramelo" (caramel syrup) in jars to travelers as we passed through the city.
"Is it safe for you in Queretaro?" I asked Santi, not beating around the bush on the present "security" questions prevailing in Mexico. "Yes, it's the third safest city," he answered, citing an opinion poll that I didn't know of.
No comments:
Post a Comment