You might say I'm a Latin lover because I'm a Latin woman. No kidding. Bet I got your attention. Anyway, I was born in Granada, Nicaragua many moons ago. I have four sisters and a brother. Coming from a third world country has allowed me to know two cultures intimately. The first time I came to the United States I was three years old. I fell in love with this country immediately because it helped me and nurtured me with love and medical attention as no other country could or would. My parents were faced with the daunting responsibility of looking for the best medical care to help with the polio that had struck me in 1942. I was not aware of all the sacrifices they made for me until many years later. They had to bring me to the US and leave me in the Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. for two years- from 3 years old to 5 years old. They had to repeat it twice, when I was 9 years old and when I was 13 years old. I learned English and forgot it twice until I finally remained bilingual at 11 years old.

I've lived in many places in my life because I've suffered from wanderlust. I have traveled to places like China where I taught English to Chinese College students at the Huazong University during the summer of 1981 with a team from Temple University. What a great opportunity that was. China had recently opened its doors to the rest of the world and seeing an American was such a novelty that huge crowds would surround us when we walked the streets to go shopping at the Chinese Friendship Stores. This was over twenty years ago and people who've been there recently tell me it's very different today. There are more cars and their uniform white shirts and blue pants or skirts they all wore are almost gone. The western influence is seen everywhere. I've also lived in New Orleans, San Francisco, San Antonio, Texas and of course, where I have lived since 1970, my beloved Pennsylvania. I fell in love with the four seasons in this area.

My passion for my beloved Macintosh began in 1984. I was married to a computer systems analyst and his knowledge of the field intrigued me. I'm a lifelong learner and I always want to learn about things I don't understand. Around this time the Philadelphia School System, where I taught for 27 years, was beginning to introduce personal computers in the classroom. I was the mentor for mentally gifted students and the opportunity to attend a workshop to learn how to program in Basic gave me my first taste of computer technology and a first hand experience with it. At the end of the course we were given an Apple IIe to take back to our classroom in order to teach the mentally gifted students what we had learned. My life long interest in computer science continues to this day. I have not stopped learning and wanting to know more and more. I simply love working on my new 800 MHz TiBook and my G4 Dual/1 GHz computers. I have replaced my love for diamonds, gold, and traveling to buying Macintosh computers and digital gadgets to play with. I'm enjoying the digital era we're in and want all the technological toys I can afford.

Another important part of my life is MLMUG. Anita Webb, who was the first MLMUG Member of the Month, introduced me to it. I will be indebted to her for the rest of my life for doing so. I was so excited about being part of this group that I came by myself the first time. I got lost, of course, but finally got there and joined right away. I was already retired and afraid of losing all my computer knowledge with my new life style. Well, I didn't need to fear anything like that. What I learned was that finally I really had the TIME to play to my heart's content with anything I wanted, especially with new computer gadgets and software I had not had time to learn before retirement. All the techies gurus in the group keep my skills sharp, my knowledge current and my curiosity unwavering.

I'm also a breast cancer survivor. And how did I do? Well it took resolve, grit, an unbending attitude plus my human spirit to fight it. Just the mention of the C-word conjured up fear unknown to me before and suddenly I was reminded forcefully, abruptly, joltingly, of what really matters. The game of life takes priority doesn't it after you've come face to face with your own mortality. I'm convinced now that life is NOT a dress rehearsal. Now I really LIVE.

Life has been grand. I have a daughter Gabrielle and three grand children: Joseph, Mike and Gabi. Wow, I don't feel that old. They're all Mac users.

— Maria Arguello

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