I have few memories of Sewell itself, and most of them are more sensory than anything else. But I do remember that I had a suitemate in college whose mother used to be a nurse in Sewell,and she was engaged to George Meredith! (El mundo es un panuelo, como dicen.) I don't remember exactly when Meredith was there, so I'm hazy on the dates.
I remember the rock retaining wall in the back yard (if it could be called a yard), and how big sunflowers used to grow along that wall. I also remember Mom's pansies in the front. I remember that my first public singing gig was at school, when I was in kindergarten, I guess. I sang "Buffalo Gals" and Mrs. Jarrett was in the audience. I remember Miss Jury (right?). I remember Enriquito Hrdalo and Patsy Lahti, and Patsy's boxer, Duke. After we left Sewell, I used to write to Patsy and ask her how Duke was faring.
I remember Taffy and her puppies, especially a little male we called Tuffy. I remember our maids, especially Chelita. I remember sitting in the kitchen with the maids, listening to the novelas on the radio, eating garlicky white rice with a fried egg on top. I remember how Sondra used to lick the frosted metal railings along the steps outside and Mom would have to come running with hot water to free her tongue! I remember chasing down the steps to the movies on Saturday afternoons, to see Jungle Jim shorts. I remember spying chewed gum on the ground, and scooping it up and running home to wash it in the sink so we could pop it into our mouths! I remember imitating the big kids who were throwing rocks, and hitting a Chilean boy on the forehead. I was mortified when his forehead bled, and Mom made me apologize to him. I remember how creepy the downstairs of our house was for me; I hated going down there because there were spiders! I remember the maids' windowless room, dug cavelike into the side of the mountain.
I don't actually remember getting burned; my "memories" are really just reconstructions of what I've been told about what happened. But I do have sensory impressions of my recuperation, of lying in bed in a darkened room, feverish and restless, watching the dust motes in the sunrays escaping around the edges of the window shades. And I remember the smell of Vaseline, which I abhorred for years and years after that. Just a whiff of it could make me shudder.
I remember the Barrenos, the Frechettes, the Carpenters, the Lahtis, and Daddy's beloved Jigs. I remember squinting all the time because the sun was so bright on that mountainside, and I needed sunglasses even as a kid. I remember the pale, watery quality of the sun, when it shone, but I remember the snow much better, and how it would pile up outside the windows and the front door. I remember how one time we tunneled into the snow which had buried the front door and carried furniture and rugs into our "igloo" so we could play house out there. I remember the sound of the siren when the snow avalanched off the roofs and buried people on the paths below them, or so my memory dramatizes the event.
I remember Coya quite vividly because it had a lovely pool where my lifelong love of water and sunning was born and nurtured. But I also remember with horror the big, black, hairy spiders that used to crawl along the pool deck, attracted by the water.
Note: When our old woodstove was replaced by a shining new electric one, we all had to learn how to use it. Jamie was burned when she pushed a chair next to the stove and reached over a steaming kettle to turn off the buzzer. Her dress caught fire and the underside of her arm was badly burned by the steam. It was very serious and contrary to modern practices, she was treated and kept at home to recuperate.
Karen Taylor Holmngren Kaseberg's memories.
Connie Sunde's memories.
Memories of Living in Sewell, Chile.
Assorted Photos
For much more about Sewell, and Chile, please see Sewell, also known as El Teniente, Chile.