Son Diferentes!

(Just realizing a few things might not be clear- Both G's sister and his mom are named Madeline (well I think technically one is Madelina and the other Madeline), but they are both Made for short and in this post I'm referring to his mom. Paola or Pao is his other sister, and Luifer is short for Luis Fernando, her husband)

Last night I packed up all my paper crafting supplies and lugged them up the 5 flights to Paola's apartment. (That makes it sound like she's in the same building... we drove there first!) We made lots of little things for Lucy's baby shower, cutting out these sweet little poem things with my fancy edged scissors and punching out shapes in the scrap paper for confetti. We also made little stand up gift tag sized cards with embossed baby stamps to scatter around the tables for decoration. We also tied pink and purple bows on to diaper pins. We were able to do all this because V's room was open for Made and Manuel to watch Pura Sangre, their favorite telenovella. I learned fairly early on that no matter where we are or who we are visiting, we have to leave at about quarter to nine so we can get back in time for it! Poor Manuel was starting to look fairly miserable at about ten minutes to nine, as I'm sure he didn't want to interrupt but really wanted to see his show, and his daughter had to convince him that no, REALLY, he would NOT be kicking his grandson out of his bedroom, the boys actually DO all sleep in the same room at night because it's the one with the air conditioning. So that bought us a whole hour more to craft. :-)

Luifer made us little personal pizzas for dinner. Made had made me a little personal pizza the night before. So of course Luifer several times tried to get me to tell him: "Which one is better!!???" To which I always tactfully replied, "Son diferentes!" (They're different!) Both had onions, tomato and cheese. His had more tomato sauce, green peppers and it was on white bread, and Made's didn't really have sauce at all I think, and it had zucchini and stuff. Both were tasty! It was also the 4th time in 5 days I'd had pizza! We went out with the kids on Saturday, on Sunday there was a mix-up with our order of vegetable rice that we brought to the beach house - it turned out to be chicken - so I had a granola bar at the moment and then we stopped for pizza on the way home. Monday night wasn't pizza but then Tuesday and Wednesday were. Whoo hoo! Good thing I LOVE pizza!

So crafting and pizza, it was a fun night. Then to top it all off, I had a big breakthrough Skype (instant messenger) conversation about Spanish with G when I got home, which I will share with you below. The lessons he's referring to are is my Rocket Spanish grammar book that I finally printed out, after years of only ever listening to the mp3's.

G: have you studied from the lessons?

h: yep I did a few today

G: oh nice

h: it's really helpful

G: cool
G: learning a lot?

h: I told my mom that I recommended she read it around the same time as doing the lessons
h: because I think it would have helped me more

G: ah

h: it's ok, I wouldn't have known

G: yeah

h: and now it's kind of just re-enforcing things that I've learned here in the past weeks

G: that's true

h: that now when I read "this is a word they use all the time in Spanish"

G: ohh right

h: I am able to say "oh yeah, that's right, I DO hear it all the time"

G: recognize words

h: whereas if I'd done it before coming here, I would think "what? I've never heard that word before! You must be joking!"

G: oooff

h: and it's also repeating a few times how one shouldn't expect that there would be a word for word translation of everything.

G: oh yeah

h: which I'm finally starting to understand that concept on more than just an intellectual level
h: it was a pretty hard one for me to accept!!!

G: somethings cant be translated
G: oooff

h: although I think I knew it intuitively a little somehow
h: that there was something "different" about Spanish besides just the words
h: more about the way the ideas are used

G: huh

h: I'm still kind of figuring it out...

G: yeah, by being there

h: but now that I know it's true I think I can accept and absorb it better

G: helps to understand that

h: rather than resist it and keep searching for the exact translation'

G: por fin!! (finally)

h: because I think before I thought that the reason i didn't understand was because I didn't have the vocabulary

G: haha

h: but now I'm seeing that I was resisting the "meaning", or trying to understand why the literal translation was so "strange"

G: yeah

h: like, hrmm... trying to think of an example...
h: like, everything here is "que lindo!!"

G: yeah

h: which is like, "how pretty" literally, right?

G: yup

h: but it's used for EVERYTHING

G: yeap

h: and I wouldn't use that in English all the time

G: in a sarcastic way too

h: sure
h: or like, here, it's seems that people use "suavecito" when food is really tasty.
h: which is like "smooth" right?

G: yup

h: and I would NEVER say in English "man, this pizza crust is soooo smooth!"
h: that would sound so strange!

G: hahaha

h: so anyway that concept of learning the meaning, rather than the translation is a really good one to comprehend

G: yeah, and you gain that in full immersion

h: right
h: and I've been beating myself up because I understand the meanings of things, but I can't translate, and I can't USE the words myself. but now I'm thinking that understanding the meaning is just an important first step

G: yup
G: very good
G: like "me voy" (I go/I'm going, but no necessarily right at this moment)

h: big breakthrough (whew)

G: (applause)


I also had a conversation with G's mom, while doing the above mentioned lessons, about how words are different in different countries or even regions of the same country. I was saying how my mom and I have the same problem, where we listened to the mp3 lessons and thought, "ok, I've GOT THIS! I'm so ready to go to a Spanish speaking country!" But then, right away in the first conversations you have, they say (in Spanish of course) "What's up?" or "What's been happening?" or any other of 5 or more greetings I don't understand, instead of the "How are you?" that we learned from the lesson. I've learned that smiling and saying "Bien" is pretty much always an appropriate response. :-D Made told me that there's a different word for "boy" in lots of countries, I explained to her about the whole "pop/soda/coke" thing, and how if I tell the cashier I don't want a "bag" they put my groceries in a plastic bag, but if I tell them I don't want a "sack" they give my one box of cereal to me un-bagged. And the British/US differences: boot/trunk, jumper/sweater.

It's a lot to take in, but I think it's going to make the learning a little easier!

My Mind Finds Answers While I Sleep

(A poem-ish expression of sorts relating to my experiences in the twice weekly "Club de Conversacion". Half the time we talk in English and half the time we talk in Spanish so everyone can practice the language they are learning. We meet with a new group every time, so the questions they ask are pretty much always the similar getting-to-know-you type ones.)


My mind finds answers while I sleep
and I wake up the next morning
knowing how to reply to the questions the brown-eyed boys and the bronze-skinned girls asked me the day before
But Lord only knows if I'll ever see them again, and by that time they won't care
If they even did at the moment they asked me

Do you like my city? Do you like the food? Why did you come? What do you think of the people? Why are you learning Spanish? What was your impression of my country before you came here? What do you think about your president? Do you like it cold or hot?

It's a test of sorts I think
to see if they can accept this outsider
I hope, I think I pass

Your city is very different from my little town, but I love it. I'm vegetarian. ("ahhhh!" they all exclaim in a mixture of understanding, wonder and incredulousness) but I love your patacones, arepas y arroz con coco. I came because my husband was born here and I want to learn his language. The people are AMAZING - happy, relaxed, with huge generous hearts and you know how to have fun. I want to be able to speak to my in-laws and my future children. Before I came here all I knew was this was the country of coffee and drugs, and I thought you ate tacos and salsa like Mexicans, but know I know differently. (I don't tell them I *hate* to talk about politics, but I do make a disgusted and embarrassed face at the sound of my president's name.) The ice and snow is pretty to look at but horrible to drive in, and I hate putting on and taking off all the cold weather clothes, so whenever I feel a little hot here I remember how cold it is back home right now and I'm happy.

My questions feel foolish and simple - Do you have siblings? What are you studying? Do you like English? Have you lived here your whole life? What do you do for fun? Do you have pets?

Many of them are studying things I don't understand, like mechanical engineering, and they are only taking English because it's required. Only a few have ever left their country and they know places like Miami and New York. For fun it's usually dancing, movies, TV or sometimes the internet. Siblings and pets vary, as to be expected, but most don't have more than 3 brothers and sisters. Sometimes I think they look embarrassed to admit they haven't traveled and they don't really like to study English much, but that could just be my interpretation.

It's hard, but little by little the answers and questions come out of my mouth easier.

I can't remember their names (there is always at least one Jose), but now when I walk through the campus, there are a few more faces I recognize. And some of them meet my glance and smile or wave, and those are the ones that let me know, at least for them, I passed the test.

"I Would Say Van Gogh is Emo"

Probably the best thing I heard all day. In conversation club. Totally made my day, so true.