Doris Mellen, left, with Diane Carpenter. Photo by Patricia Hamilton.
My parents discovered Álamos in 1955. Mother chose to stay, my father went on down to Puerta Vallarta. In 1958 when my eldest son, Kenneth, was 13 years old, he went to Alamos with my mother, who owned a house on the one-way street up to the plaza. He stayed and went to the public school there. However, he was teased so much that my mother removed him to the Catholic School where he got along just fine.
He says he became very popular with the other kids when he started bringing baseballs to Alamos. He also admits to falling in love with the mayor’s daughter? At thirteen!
Yes, I can give you more information on Álamos. Has it changed? There are cars bumper to bumper on the streets now. It is not as easy to walk now with all that traffic. In the beginning, when I first came, the natives didn’t have cars. Now they do.
Originally the street in front of my house was all cobblestones, a couple of years ago, they removed them and put down regular tile. This is much easier to walk on—a big improvement.
I have always done a lot of writing. Starting in the 1990’s I wrote stage plays, asked the Americans to be actors. Both men and women did, and we had a lot of fun.
The plays were staged in the theater up on the Plaza. My friend Elizabeth Dale was the director, she was experienced in that.
The reason I keep returning to Álamos is because there is no stress as there is in the U.S. Besides I love my neighbors, most of whom are natives of Mexico.
Vaya Con Dios,
Doris Mellen
Women of Alamos, Sonora, Mexico 