ONE summer I was with my friend Hector at Victoria Station in England. I had been doing research for a month at the University of Stirling in Scotland when Henry rang me up and asked if I wanted to visit him during the long weekend. He was taking postgraduate studies at the University of Sussex, and I had told him that I wanted to see Brighton.

The train passed by the old buildings of London, with their sloping roofs and thick walls darkened by soot. Then it was rolling countryside, the green just beginning to show that early summer. One of the things that I learned during my stay in the United Kingdom was to look at the landscapes. I would allow my eyes to take in the sight of sheep, hills and clouds to notice the quality of light that changes with the passing of the day.