On Sunday I met with my dance troupe friends for an Our Lady of Guadalupe reunion and planning session for this coming December. It's going to be an even bigger undertaking this year with practices starting in March ~ revving it up to full speed as we get closer. This year we're aiming to raise money to pay for new costumes to the tune of $450 for los hombres, and $250 for las mujers! Fundraisers consisting of selling authentic Mexican food after Masses. Hello, that's a lot of tamales! We'll see how this goes.
Also, new this year, we're planning to dance at couple other venues to bring publicity to our ministry - at the Latino festival and at the Germanfest. Fr. Gustavo saw other matachine dancers perform around a fire with torches and thought that would be a good idea for us too. Yii!!! It sounds like a very rigorous program, like the Olympics, that we'll be training for. Hopefully we can live up to our own expectations.
I spent a couple of hours with Rosetta today. All was good - the grammar is becoming natural as she only speaks in complete, correct sentences. It's really becoming a product of environment, as children of educated people speak well, and children of hillbillies speak hillbilly.
As I look back on this blog, I'm seeing large blocks of time with no entries. Mia culpa, mia culpa, but there is a fairly good reason. Remember how I wanted to get in shape so as not to collapse when dancing through the streets? Well, I've taken exercise to a new level, for me at any rate, and have been exercising almost daily at the YMCA. Good and bad. Good that I'm feeling stronger, healthier, and more tone, bad that I've actually gained weight, am developing this gluteus maximus, and don't have "free time" to pursue other interests. I will probably slow down after Spring Break or when my membership expires. In the meantime, I am a fighting kick boxer and body shopper, sporting muscles I didn't know existed anymore. And the batwings are receding, thank God.
A parting phrase from my calendar for Martes, Febrero 23, 2010: Riase todos los días. Laugh every day.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Memory Full
I don't know how many times my cell phone has told me that it's memory is full. My voicemail's memory is full. My email box's memory is full. My memory is full and it's time to delete something before I can cram more in. Thank goodness Rosetta gives me recall exercises when I log in, so the Spanish doesn't leak out accidentally.
At the moment, I am reading Julia Child's My Life in France, a delightful true account of the years she and her husband Paul spent in Europe; he working for the Foreign Service as a consul, she working on the famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She off-handedly recounts having to learn French, German and Norwegian in order to function in these foreign lands. Remarkable. This woman was in her 40's, and thought no more of picking up another language than she thought of picking up her fork. Why do most of us freeze at the thought of speaking anything other than our mother tongue? I'll tell you why ~ we don't have a reason. Joke: What do you call someone who can speak three languages? Tri-lingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? American.
I am amazed at her level of energy, to spend weeks on perfecting a recipe with various ingredients and techniques. My family gets one shot at my cooking, "Eat it or make something yourself, " is my version of bon appétit! Perhaps her tireless energy stems from the fact that she lived in beautiful France with beautiful shops full of the freshest of fish, fruit and cheeses (subsidised complements of the French government), and the fact she had no outside employment or children. Sure, she and her two "cookery-bookery" friends ran a cooking class called Les Trois Gourmandes, but other than that her time was her own to cook and write. Contrast that with your typical American woman who is juggling a job, a home (no servants), the kids and all their activities. I don't care who you are, if you have kids, your life is no longer your own. Cooking is a treat to be wedged in when possible, often augmented by Pizza Hut and McDonald's on the run.
Getting back to my recall activities, I revisited the Spanish Gringo, my old VCR tape. I picked up a few more gems from the crazy guy. There was a scene where he went around identifying his body parts. Tóquese la cabesa (touch the head), las piernas (legs), los brazos (arms), el codo (elbow). He also explained the most obvious thing I should have realized months ago. When your noun ends in an "o," it's a masculine word preceded by el; ending in an "a," means it's a feminine noun preceded by la. Also él with an accent mark means "he", and el without an accent mark means "the". People don't call me Captain Obvious for nothing!
Also very important for travellers - directions! It's one thing to say, "¿Dónde está el baño?", and entirely another to grasp their answer! For the directionally challenged, here goes: a la derecha (to the right), a la izquierda (to the left), arriba (up), adelante (straight ahead), abajo (down), enfrente (in front of), detrás (behind). And if you can't decipher their quick responses, just say, "Mas despacio por favor." (speak slower please).
At the moment, I am reading Julia Child's My Life in France, a delightful true account of the years she and her husband Paul spent in Europe; he working for the Foreign Service as a consul, she working on the famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She off-handedly recounts having to learn French, German and Norwegian in order to function in these foreign lands. Remarkable. This woman was in her 40's, and thought no more of picking up another language than she thought of picking up her fork. Why do most of us freeze at the thought of speaking anything other than our mother tongue? I'll tell you why ~ we don't have a reason. Joke: What do you call someone who can speak three languages? Tri-lingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? American.
I am amazed at her level of energy, to spend weeks on perfecting a recipe with various ingredients and techniques. My family gets one shot at my cooking, "Eat it or make something yourself, " is my version of bon appétit! Perhaps her tireless energy stems from the fact that she lived in beautiful France with beautiful shops full of the freshest of fish, fruit and cheeses (subsidised complements of the French government), and the fact she had no outside employment or children. Sure, she and her two "cookery-bookery" friends ran a cooking class called Les Trois Gourmandes, but other than that her time was her own to cook and write. Contrast that with your typical American woman who is juggling a job, a home (no servants), the kids and all their activities. I don't care who you are, if you have kids, your life is no longer your own. Cooking is a treat to be wedged in when possible, often augmented by Pizza Hut and McDonald's on the run.
Getting back to my recall activities, I revisited the Spanish Gringo, my old VCR tape. I picked up a few more gems from the crazy guy. There was a scene where he went around identifying his body parts. Tóquese la cabesa (touch the head), las piernas (legs), los brazos (arms), el codo (elbow). He also explained the most obvious thing I should have realized months ago. When your noun ends in an "o," it's a masculine word preceded by el; ending in an "a," means it's a feminine noun preceded by la. Also él with an accent mark means "he", and el without an accent mark means "the". People don't call me Captain Obvious for nothing!
Also very important for travellers - directions! It's one thing to say, "¿Dónde está el baño?", and entirely another to grasp their answer! For the directionally challenged, here goes: a la derecha (to the right), a la izquierda (to the left), arriba (up), adelante (straight ahead), abajo (down), enfrente (in front of), detrás (behind). And if you can't decipher their quick responses, just say, "Mas despacio por favor." (speak slower please).
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