Well I’ve learned some Spanish this year in spite of myself. Tonto means idiot. Silencio means PLEASE BE QUIET RIGHT NOW. Hasta la vista means hurry the view, I believe.
On our summer vacation, we did the following:
Spanish.
More Spanish.
A whole lotta Spanish.
We did Spanish till our eyes crossed. We learned the names for many animals and colours; we practiced rolling our rrrrrrs. About the best thing about it was that, since we’re out in the California desert, it was good to stay inside during the day, dropping our h’ s and hiding out from the brutal, baking sun. And when we’d finished, in the cool of the day, we’d go swimming, plunging into the turquoise water and letting the conjugations of the verb hacer just float right away, which, yes, meant we had to learn them again the next day. At night when I lay in bed, I would hear Spanish words and intonations floating through my mind, without understanding them. (Don’t panic: this happened to me when I was first learning French too.)
On Wednesday, we finished the last exam. We posted it to France. And then we went straight on to see the new Indiana Jones movie, then took the kids out for ice-cream. We’re on vacation! (blah blah except for Arabic blah blah mutter)
Last night, I had the first of what I’m sure will be many CNED nightmares, but at least on waking I knew it was but the stuff of which dreams are made–all in my head.
So, you want to know, what did I think of the new Indy movie? It rather reminded me of the newer 3 Star Wars movie–more emphasis on special effects than on plot. The acting was sometimes stilted. Parts of it were downright silly and made absolutely no sense, such as why the red ants were eating some people but then just magically vanished when it was time to move on to something else. Also, I wondered how present-day South Americans would feel to learn that their great architectural past was provided by aliens, not by their ancestors. Teensy bit racist, anyone? But in spite of its flaws, it was still a fun movie. I’d give it a C, if I still gave out grades, which I don’t since I’m on vacation now (see above).
Yesterday, the grandparents took us all to the San Diego Zoo, which would like you to know that it is world-famous and more than just a zoo, also a research and breeding facility. It was a great, but exhausting, day. The weather was perfect; sunny but not too hot, with a refreshing breeze. We tramped all over, saw lots of animals, and took lots of pictures. Including some of camels! These were a different kind of camel though; they had 2 humps and hanks of hair hanging off them.
I’m not going to post any more of Donn’s until I figure out how to add a watermark, as I’m tired of finding pictures stolen from my blog popping up unattributed on other people’s sites. In an attempt to show you some of mine, I have spent over an hour now deleting and reloading software and sizing pictures and trying to upload them, but wordpress is apparently having issues. I will try again tomorrow.
Today, we are preparing for tomorrow, which is the family celebration of my in-law’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. It’s low-key, a fun family barbecue and swimming party (how red can we get? Any guesses?), and then for their actual anniversary, in August, we’re sending them on a little cruise, just the two of them. It’s what they wanted: no big parties, nothing too formal. Ok by me, although I’ve already let Donn and the kids know that if we make it that far, I want the big party and I want to get a new dress and shoes out of it.
10 comments
June 13, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Kelly @ Love Well
Parque zoológico de San Diego?!?
Those are my old stomping grounds, baby. Glad you enjoyed yourself. The zoo is amazing — even if all the animals start to look, um, similar after a while. (“Oh look, honey! The 87th variety of antelope!”)
Loved the Arabic mutter by the way. Isn’t that much tougher than Spanish/French/English?
June 14, 2008 at 12:00 am
Michelle at Scribbit
Andrew speaks it fluently and over the years I’ve picked up important phrases he’s taught me. Like “mi esposo est mui guapo” (and I’m probably spelling that wrong as I’ve only said it). Then I know “que barbaridad!” But actually if he’s speaking slowly with someone in pretty basic conversation I can keep up with the basic gist of the dialog. 16 years of marriage pays off I guess.
June 14, 2008 at 2:34 am
Caffienated Cowgirl
I learned Spanish in school. I used it professionally for a while, then let it slip…but now that I am living in Germany, and trying to learn German, I find myself remembering more and more Spanish – so odd!
And yes…demand the party and dress…that many years warrants a special occasion 🙂
June 14, 2008 at 7:37 pm
LIB
The ice cream and movie were well deserved! Have lots of fun!!
June 15, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Slouching Mom
You did it! Congratulations!
And…did you think Harrison was too old to play the lead, or no?
June 16, 2008 at 9:40 am
Shalee
Tortilla, pollo, chili rellano, espinaca!
That’s the extent of my Spanish. I took French. I can mostly remember the food terms there too.
Congrats on finishing the work and finding ways to enjoy your vacation. The movie was an adventure, I’ll give it that. Not too far out when you compare all the ghosts/spirits and rapidly-aging people as in the previous ones.
Happy Anniversary to Donn’s folks. 50 is a reason to be mighty proud!
June 16, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Wacky Mommy
Happy 50th to Donn’s folks! My kids can understand a little Spanish, since we hear it some in our neighborhood. Steve and I can (almost) speak enough to get by — almost. Like Caffeinated Cowgirl, I didn’t find myself going naturally to Spanish until I started learning German and knew I couldn’t go to English!
My German-Spanish mix is something else. Did not help me one bit in Portugal when the Chinese waiter asked me for my order. My first frantic thought was, Is he expecting me to answer in Chinese? Help?
Good for you guys for going for it with the languages. See you soon!
June 18, 2008 at 8:46 am
Pieces
Ah, we just saw the Indiana Jones movie on father’s day. I didn’t see the ant thing because I had my eyes closed and my ears plugged and was humming a little song. How is it possible they could make a movie with so little plot? And there was none of the solving-the-mystery thing–they just knew exactly what to do and where to go. I guess they read the script.
June 18, 2008 at 10:17 am
planetnomad
WM and CC: When we first moved to Mauritania and I started learning Hassiniya, I found my college French suddenly appearing in my brain! Now, sometimes when I mean to speak French, a Hassiniya word will come out. I like to say I’m fluent in Franglainiya, which is a combo of all 3. Apparently our brain stores all “foreign words” in the same area and just comes out with words at random! Lucky us, having brains like this.
Kelly: Yes, arabic is much much tougher. Spanish and French and English are all somewhat related (esp Sp and Fr), and of course use the same alphabet. I am still so very confused by the Arabic alphabet.
SM: Harrison’s age didn’t bother me, because the love-interest (Karen Allen) was the same age. I thought they handled the age thing rather well, actually, with Shia LeBeouf playing the son. It was much better than those Woody Allen flicks where the woman is 30 years (or more) younger!
November 23, 2008 at 1:51 am
pancho
I speak Spanish fluently and never confuse it with English; I can switch back and forth easily. I also know a little French, not much. So when I try to speak French, invariably Quechua comes out. Quechua is an Indian language from South America that I do not speak but heard for a few years. I guess my synapses can only handle Spanish and English.