Jubilant Journeys

Connie Spenuzza

Description

Stow away with international award-winning author Connie Spenuzza, MSEd, as she chronicles a dreamer and a pragmatist's soulful journey around the world. Married in 1979, Connie and Peter shared wanderlust and immense curiosity, a determination to chart the course of their own lives, and the motivation to prove the naysayers and gatekeepers wrong. Follow the Spenuzza family, armed with genealogical facts and family legends, as they begin their quixotic search for a specific ancestor, the scribe aboard the famed Pinta in 1492. Experience the ambrosial scent of melted chocolate wafting from a tiny confectionary in the Basque country of Spain and discover the magic of travel serendipity that led Spenuzza and her family on a quest across oceans and time-from the modern Wonders of the World back to those of antiquity.Spenuzza will take you on an exhilarating fifty-year odyssey across 125 countries, where she saw her youthful exuberance mature into a quest for the spiritual depths of the inner world. With the finesse of an eccentric goldsmith, Spenuzza solders her experiences with a suspicious shaman from Chichen Itza, Mexico, to the Andean Earth Mother of Machu Picchu, and links them to the engravings of the sixteenth-century German artist Albrecht Durer. Decade after decade, follow their gold thread as it extends from Byblos of antiquity to the mosque of the booksellers in Marrakesh to the stone apsaras of Angkor Wat. Bask in the radiant glow of wanderlust serendipity that the Spenuzzas have captured in the bottle of their hearts.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Mysticism

Informations

• Publié par: Libros Publishing LLC
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780998703145
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

The events and conversations in this book have been set down to the best of the author’s ability, although some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. This is a work of creative nonfiction. Some parts have been fictionalized in varying degrees, for various purposes.

Copyright ©Connie Spenuzza, MSEd, 2018 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2018965357 Spenuzza, Connie.

Jubilant Journeys:A memoir/Connie Spenuzza, MSEd ISBN: Hardcover 9780998703114

Published by Libros Publishing 24040 Camino del Avion #A225 Monarch Beach, CA 92629 U.S.A.

Printed in the United States of America

Book Designed by Karrie Ross: www.KarrieRoss.com Author’s Photograph: Lisa Renee Baker Illustrations: iStock by Getty Images

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyright materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

For Peter, in honor of our fortieth wedding anniversary.

For Pete and Devin, may God bless your marriage.

With love for JayPaul, Loreal, Lana and Roman.

NOVELS BY THIS AUTHOR UNDER THE PEN NAME: CECILIA VELÁSTEGUI

LUCÍA ZARATE PARISIAN PROMISES MISSING IN MACHU PICCHU TRACES OF BLISS GATHERING THE INDIGO MAIDENS

En Español

VESTIGIOS DE DICHA CONVOCANDO A LAS DONCELLAS DEL INDIGO

Bilingual Children’s Fables

OLINGUITO SPEAKS UP Olinguito alza la voz LALO LOVES TO HELP A Lalo le encanta ayudar THE HOWL OF THE MISSION OWL El ulular de la lechuza

Chapter One: Two:

Contents

Inauspicious Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Enchanted Caravan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

WANDERLUST SERENDIPITY Three: Wanderlust Serendipity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Four: Cemeteries, Catacombs, and Polishing Bones . . 43 Five: The Sands of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

WONDERS OF THE WORLD Six: RedSailed Junk Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Seven: The Art of Communicating Any Way You Can . 81 Eight: It’s a Jungle Out There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Nine: TheBrujoIs Everywhere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Ten: The Andean Earth Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Eleven: Rushdy Abaza. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Twelve: Stones Speak the Truth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

SACRED PLACES Thirteen: Spiritual Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Fourteen: Holy Oil and Holy Smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Fifteen: Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

vi

tConnie Spenuzzat

SPLENDOR Sixteen: Majestic Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Seventeen: The Arts Par Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Eighteen: Lofty Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Nineteen: Opulence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Twenty: What Matters Is How Well You Live. . . . . . 225

READING GROUP GUIDE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 ABOUT THE AUTHOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

tJubilant Journeyst

Translation of Latin text on end paper banner: “It is how well you live that matters, not how long.”

C H A P T E R O N E

Inauspicious Beginnings

I f only our globetrotting dreams had a benevolent beginning, like a rainbow pointing us toward jubilant journeys yet to come. Then, our wanderlust would have reflected a colorful arc of optimism and curiosity about faraway Shangrilas. Instead, as though we were making a classic odyssey of yore, we faced obstacles even before we set sail. Fifty years later, we should be talking about the aus picious start to a life filled with journeys abroad. But rather than admit that our wanderlust began with a thunder stroke of malice, we bury our heads in the sand and avoid hum bling questions. On June 23, 1962, my path in life had not yet intersected with my husband’s path. That was the day when a bolt of lightning stunned Peter Spenuzza. It was a stormy encounter in the shape of a vicious kick in the gut from a California cop—and it changed everything.

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