Defining my Mom is rather easy: refined, sophisticated, cultured, elegant, talented, strong-willed... okay, easy but time consuming.
Though she was an only child, she had lots of family. Her father, Juan Rivero Torres, was one of eighteen children born to one of Bolivia's wealthiest merchant and landowning families. Unlike all but one of his siblings, he made something of himself, graduating first in his class from the Zurich Polytechnic (Albert Einstein's school, one of the best science, math, and engineering schools in the world) and becoming one of the country's top civil engineers. When the revolution came, he was able to provide for his family. Unfortunately, shortly before completing the massive project to connect Bolivia and Brazil by rail, he contracted a tropical disease and died.
My grandmother was no stranger to hardship. When she was still a child, her father, who was president of Bolivia at the time, divorced his mother and cast her out, along with his female children (he kept the boys). They lived from the generosity of relatives and what the boys could provide on the side. While her sisters married, my Grandma chose to earn a living; she became the first woman in Bolivia to work in banking. Years later, her strong will and good sense with money helped her deal with my grandfather's death; she opened a shop and taught painting on the side (she was quite talented).
She gave my Mom the same culture and education she had received as a child (some of which she tried to pass on to me, as she was my primary caregiver for most of my childhood). My Mom and Grandma were inseparable until her death in 1987.
Although she resides in the US, she spends a lot of time in Bolivia, catching up with her (abundant) family and friends (who still call her Gogy Rivero), and taking care of "El Castillo" -- her ancestral home. Below is a random assortment of pictures I happened to have handy and a movie I put together on YouTube. Maybe some day I'll go through my old albums and get a representative sampling, but for now this will have to do.
This page was last updated on 01/10/10 .
Mom at 16, on her way to a party. A year later she was named "Reina de los Juegos Florales" (queen of our premiere beauty contest) but my Grandma refused to let her serve.
Mom & Dad on their first unofficial date at the Juegos Florales. Since Mom couldn't serve, her friend took my Mom's place and Mom took her friend's boyfriend -- Dad!
Needless to say, they married a few years later, after she graduated from law school and Dad from medical school. In good Catholic fashion, my older brother was born ten months later (yes, ten, I've seen the certificates).
Another party pic; in this one she was around 28.
This is a video compilation I put together as a Christmas present for her, showcasing El Castillo when she hosted the Group of Rio Economic Summit that drew the heads of state of 23 European and Latin American countries, plus pics of her family (us). Windows Media Video (WMV) format, 10.7MB, 12min 47sec.
My mom's home, "El Castillo de San Pedro", a Cochabamba landmark, built by her ancestors.
Another view of El Castillo, this from San Pedro hill.
Google Earth recently updated the quality of its aerial photographs of Cochabamba (El Castillo outlined in red)
A closer view of El Castillo and surrounding area. Almost everything is developed now.
Yeah, I know the quality ain't great, but there you have it. Jan '08
Juan Javier, Mom, Alf, and Francisco, Apr '09
This is a little video I put together as a Christmas gift for my Mom. It includes video produced by my amazing cousin Marlene Fernandez del Granado and her awesome husband, Scott Bartlett, covering the 1996 Group of Rio and European Union summit that opened at Mom's home, El Castillo de San Pedro, in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Personal website of Alfonso del Granado and Silvia del Granado (Alfonso F. del Granado and Silvia Moreno). Webpage of Marķa de la Gloria Rivero del Granado (who are also known as Gogy Rivero to her friends). If this paragraph seems weird, it's because it's intended to help web indexing site searches (such as Google and Yahoo!).
Maria de la Gloria Rivero de del Granado
