From Freeway Blogger.
February, 2005
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Cpl. Jesus Suarez
February 28, 2005 by elenamary
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John Kerry and Elenamary
February 27, 2005 by elenamary
Sitting in a tree, first comes love, then comes disappointment
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Welcome
February 26, 2005 by elenamary
I just got home from studying and writing letters at a coffee shop. My friend Alex pulled up to the house to drop me off and at the same time a van was pulling into the driveway. I knew immediately when I saw the van that it was going to be Mexicanos needing some kind of help. My friend asked before letting out of the car if I wanted to wait or if I would be okay. Of course I would, I told him. They are probably here because they need some kind of help. I was a bit wrong, they weren’t Mexicanos, rather they were Ecuadorians.
They were looking for my mother. She had invited them to stay at our house for the night. They came to Columbus to work at a festival and sell their wares, they had planned on driving back to Cleveland tonight (a 3hour drive) and returning to Columbus in the morning. Unfortunately, they hadn’t sold anything. My mom thought they were too tired and too broke for gas money to be driving back to Cleveland. So, right now they are downstairs in the guest bedroom. I am used to this.
Part of me wonders if this is a recent immigrant Latino kind of thing. The same kind of thing as CindyLu coming home and finding “skinny middle-aged Mexican man in the patio tearing it apart”. It isn’t just me coming home to find a group of Mexican men cleaning the gutters for my mother. It is the phone ringing late in the night because someone has been arrested and no one speaks English so they call our family. It is coming home to find my mother’s white suburban friends dropping of bags of clothing on the front porch because my mom called for emergency clothing for a large family.
It was, when I was younger, being told I couldn’t sleep in my bed tonight because a homeless person was in it. And this extends past the poor or the recent immigrant. My dad somehow met and invited a young group of male university British soccer players to spend a month at our house. Or finding a large group of dirty punk kids that are touring with their band spread all over the living room floor.
Our house is messy, smells like dogs and cats but I love it here. Anyone is welcome, and there is always someone new around.
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The Hispanic Way Quiz
February 25, 2005 by elenamary
Remember my rant about the book “The Hispanic Way” for my class titled Spanish in Ohio?
I think our quizzes over the reading are just as fun as the book!
Below are sample questions, from the quizzes our instructor made.Cuando los hispanos refieren a una “fiesta”, hablan de ________ (When the Hispanics refer to a “party” they are talking about___)
a. un grupo de amigos que reúnen para comer (getting together with a group of friends to eat)
b. una celebración para honorar algo importante (a celebration to honor something important)
c. una cena de comida auténtica (a dinner with authentic food).I don’t know the correct answer, I guessed “A” and got it wrong.
Los hispanos normalmente se comportan de una manera bien educada, a causa de siempre pensar en _____.
(The Hispanics normally behave in an educated way because they always think in_____/a. el que dirán (what they’ll say)
b. el que darán (what they’ll give)
c. el que harán (what they’ll do)I don’t know the correct answer; I guessed “C” and got it wrong. And if you are wondering why it is so poorly worded in my English translation it is because it is very poorly worded in the Spanish.
Varias veces los temas de conversación entre los hispanohablantes pueden consistir en la polÃÂtica, los deportes, y _____.
Many times the topics of conversation between Spanish speakers can consist of politics, sports and _____.
a. la cocina (kitchen/cooking) b. la religión (religion) c. la música (music)I don’t know the correct answer; I guessed “C” and got it wrong.
V/F Parecida a la cultura americana, durante una fiesta/reunión informal en la casa de una amiga es común congregar a la cocina.
T/F Similar to American culture, during a party/informal gathering at the house of a friend it is common to congregate in the kitchen.I put False down for this one and got it right! The reason I note it though is that book and our teacher refer to Spanish-speakers and people of Latin America as interchangeable terms and they are not. So in this question are Latinos in the United States not part of “American culture” and if they aren’t why are we being tested on something (as with all these questions) that has nothing to do with Spanish speakers in Ohio?
V/F Los hispano-hablantes tienen el costumbre de elaborar bastante cuando hablan.
T/F Spanish speakers have a custom of elaborating a lot when they talk.I put true down and got it right. Because remember “Hispanics tend to be verbose and to get sidetracked, often elaborating on topics extraneous to the subject at hand. ” pg 101
Category Latinos, Ohio | Tags: Latinos in Ohio,Latinos in the Midwest | No Comments
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Sperm
February 24, 2005 by elenamary
A couple years ago my friend Ernesto and I were up late watching some kind of educational-cable-channel and their special titled “SEX”. The only thing I remember learning from that program is that men produce three types of sperm. Did you know that? I find it very cool.
There is a sperm that is a blocker (I don’t remember the scientifc names). The blocker swims up to the egg wraps itself around the egg and only lets in sperm from the same man that it came from.
Another sperm is the attacker. The attacker fights off sperm from other men. What is really amazing is that when a man has been away from his partner or believes his partner to be cheating he seems to produce more attacker sperm.
The third sperm is the fertilizing sperm, whose only job is to find that egg and get in. You can read more about sperm here.
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how to learn
February 23, 2005 by elenamary
My father told me that the best way to learn a language was to have a beautiful person whisper it in your ear. So, while *trying* to Samba this evening, I wondered what is the best way to learn to dance?
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