Cynthia Renwick has had an interest in Latin culture since her first Spanish lessons as a child, and the adoption of her brother and sister from El Salvador in 1984. She is a Fulbright Scholar, a frequent traveler to Central America, an anthropologist and professional contract archaeologist, a fluent Spanish speaker, and a graduate from the Goucher College MFA in Creative Nonfiction program. In addition, she currently teaches Spanish and Language Arts at a middle school in Colorado, and spends summers in Central America leading teenagers on service learning and language immersion adventure trips for Global Works. She has a husband and daughter at home, and belongs to several local bluegrass bands in which she sings and plays stand-up bass and guitar.