When Audrey Hoffnung came as a very young bride to Mexico, she had stars in her eyes and, fortunately, a good sense of adventure and sportsmanship.
She was thrust into a country and a culture that she was completely unprepared for. Trying to meld into a German family that had emigrated to a Mexico with few supermarkets, highways, private telephones or English-speaking people sometimes seemed like a Herculean task. But she managed to not only survive, but to thrive.
Hoffnung is well known as the musical director (she had extensive musical training as a child and a young woman) of many professional and community theater productions in Mexico City, Guadalajara and at Lakeside. She was the initial force behind the Jalisco State Choir and formed countless successful singing groups. She is still musically active. She directs a Barbershop choir that she formed and has recently put together a “pop” music quintet, “The Lollipops,” that you’ll soon see and hear at various venues in the Lakeside area.
Her most recent book, “The Mexico I Remember,” is a series of verbal snapshots of middle-class life in mid-20th century Mexico. Her perceptions remain surprisingly those of a young, energetic and hopeful woman aching to experience all that there was. From her description of the cobblestone streets of Guadalajara to industrialized Monterrey and water shortages in Mexico City, Hoffnung tells her story with joy.
Here, Hoffnung talks with the Reporter’s Jeanne Chaussee about her early days in Mexico.
Your first home in Mexico was in Guadalajara. What was the city like in 1949?
Many of the main streets were still cobblestone, a lot like the ones in Ajijic. There was livestock roaming around all over the place: cows and horses. Of course, we were living near Los Arcos, which at that time marked the city limits. There were lots of little neighborhood stores but no supermarkets. We lived in Guadalajara for the first year we were married and then we moved to Mexico City.
Mexico City was already a sizable city at that time, but nothing like the 28 million who live there now.
There were two and a half million people then. It was manageable, though. I could find my way all around the city. I drove everywhere with no problem. I couldn’t do that any more. I actually sometimes get lost even in Guadalajara now. It’s changed so much.
*Restricted Article* - To view rest of this content, please login or register..
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
