Neither from Here nor There

The Harrowing Metamorphosis of a Shoeless Latino Peasant Who Journeyed North in Search of a Dream

By: Mauro H. Cruz Ph.D.

Narrated by: Raymond Feliz

This work is an autobiographical synopsis of an immigrant whose diasporic decision came crucially at a time of tribulation and despair amidst the civil war in El Salvador. In the special chapter, you will find the compelling story of a shoeless child who lived in one of the country's most depressed, conflicting areas.

Chapters 1 to 4 give you an account of the discovery of America. The ensuing genocidal obliteration of the Mesoamerican civilizations and indigenous cultures at the hands of the Spanish colonizers.

Chapters 5 to 13 show a brief narrative of the evolution of El Salvador from a peaceful autochthonous Maya enclave to a fully independent nation.

Chapters 14 to 16 presents, with mesmerizing accuracy, a series of events that probably helped shape my appreciation of life. Instill in me greater consciousness of my mortality and, therefore, my future in the USA. All these traumatic events, no doubt, have given me a new sense of purpose in life.

Chapters 17 to 22, I exposed different perceptions and analyses of life before and after in El Salvador and the United States.

Chapter 23 vividly describes the events leading to my becoming a US citizen.

Chapter 24 focused on the contradictory reverse cultural shock when I traveled to my native land.

Finally, in chapter 25, I formulate my honest feelings of love and patriotism toward America, its institutions, its Constitution, its Flag, and my faith in its promising democratic, republican future.

©2023 Mauro H. Cruz, Ph.D. (P)2025 Mauro H. Cruz, Ph.D.