36 hours in SMA

I thought both of these articles gave a pretty apt rundown of musts while in SMA.  If you ever decide to come down, check them out to get you started.

36 hours in SMA

Weekend in SMA

Weird

I've spent my sabbatical more excited fantasizing about future plans than speaking and learning Spanish.
But at least I have been speaking and learning Spanish, and taking all sorts of cooking classes to boot!!

It would seem that the dwindling interest has led to the dwindling posts. . . at least there are photos over at flickr!

Second to last Sunday. . .

Been having a blast with Dad, but I'll tell you a little secret: I'm ready to come home.

Three weeks would've been perfect I think - five was definitely too many.

Don't ask about my test, I didn't take it last week - wish me luck for tomorrow instead!

Gabe is coming to teach us how to make enchiladas soon (even though I already make a pretty damn good enchilada if I do say so myself).

Wish me luck. . .

I have a test tomorrow!
We finished the first book today, so I have a test tomorrow, and then we'll work on the next book after that.  I think it's going to take me at least a week to figure out this whole "le turns into se when followed by lo because we can't say le lo, that's just silly, and if there is a reflexive verb or a reflexive verb with an infinitive, then you add the le and the indirect object to the end of the infinitive but not if there is a con or a de. . . . . " so it's just as well.
Good lord.  Let's be honest, I hardly understand the concept of indirect objects and reflexive infinitive verbs in English.  Half the time I'm like, "the what?"  It doesn't help that this is all in Spanish.

In other news, atole!

In other other news, my dad should be here in about 2 hours!!!!

More learnings. . .

When one arrives to school in the morning, if one is eating, say, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich they made the day before and have been carrying around in their bag ever since that is all smooshed and misshapen, and sits down with a group of Mexicans, it is rude not to offer some.  They'll say no (no one wants a bite of your half eaten mangled sandwich, which you probably already knew which is why you didn't offer it), but it's rude.  I DID NOT KNOW and then I felt like an ass when my teacher told me they were all exchanging looks.  * sigh *
Now I know.  And now you know.  And that's half the battle.

The B&B dream?  Seriously going to take a village. . . if you're interested in partnerships and you're a quiet, easy going multi-millionaire, or you happen to have a large plot of land in say, the Alexander Valley, please contact me.  But, if when it comes to fruition, it is going to be FREAKING AWESOME.

Oh, the things I'm learning. . .

I'm excited to say that more often than not these days, when I think of something I want to say, and double check it with google translate - I'm right.  If only I could be that quick when speaking!  Some of these concepts are still kicking my ass - today was pretty tough.  But, we're almost done with the first book, and will hopefully start book three by Thursday (since book two is just review of book one).  I am no longer sad that I am in the beginner's class, because even though I am quite confident I could hold my own with the other conversation group, being a beginner means I'm still getting my own private 1:1 instruction for the price of group instruction.  And I certainly won't say no to that.  Although; let's be honest - there is only so much for my teacher and I to talk about every day for two hours.  Especially when my grammar class is also filled with at least an hour of chit chat since I was burning through the book too quickly (that's my guess anyway; that and the fact that I really do need the most practice in speaking).  Perhaps conversation with more people would actually be beneficial. . . . and to that end, some nice young guy walked up next to me on the street today and started chatting with me.  Turns out he went to high school in Michigan of all places, and his English is quite good.  Another person for me to practice with!  We exchanged email addresses, though perhaps when he finds out how very old I am (since I'm guessing he's quite young) he doesn't head for the hills!  He made some comment about wanting people his age to speak English with, versus some of the older people he knows. .  .
I am also a bit chest puffed that I get complimented on my accent quite frequently (see aforementioned young man and my teachers), since I'm typically quite shy about speaking because I think I'm pronouncing things wrong.  Everyone wants to know why I don't sound norteamericana when I speak.  I say it's because my grandfather was from Chihuahua (is that where he's from?!  Dad?  Mom?!)  I thought I remembered that from a family tree thing, but who knows if I'm right, he's from somewhere down here. . . in any case, I'm more comfortable saying that rather than, "Um, I don't know.  My parents listened to a lot of Linda Ronstadt when I was growing up?"  Maybe it was just growing up in California?  Who knows.
I'm learning plenty of Mexican culture as well (see other posts) and today I learned to play the card game Conquian!  I'm addicted already, so be prepared for Conquian and tequila nights (per Blanca's suggestion).
And the cooking!!!  Oh, the cooking.  If you like to cook I'm hoping you're keeping tabs on my other blog because every time I learn something I post it there.  (stay tuned for the chiles rellenos recipe from today)
So far milanesas (breaded cutlets of meat), arroz verde (but that is easily translated into arroz blanco, arroz amarillo, y arroz rojo), salsa verde, salsa de aguacates, chiles rellenos, and this Sunday, Dad and I will learn to make enchiladas from a new friend down here that is starting up his own "learn to cook authentic Mexican dishes in your own home" type business.  Don't worry girls, I'll try to bring him to SF some day.  ;)

More things I've learned

Spaghetti - here you cook up your spaghetti all regular like, but while it's cooking, you fry up your tomatoes, onions and garlic; then when the spaghetti is ready you mix it all together, dump it in a baking dish, add crema or queso if you so desire, and then bake it.  Spag bol it is not.
home tour

Skeeter Syndrome
 
Chiles Rellenos and Chiles en Nogada

Wedding traditions - when you're asked to be in a Mexican wedding, it may not just mean having to buy a dress and matching shoes or rent a tux; in some instances, you're actually helping to fund the wedding!
Who Pays for Wedding
Both families are involved in planning the wedding and help with all the expenses.
Sponsors of the wedding, such as parents, grandparents, godparents other relatives and friends as well as the bridesmaids and groomsmen, provide money for the wedding costs, or pay for something specific for the ceremony or the party which follows. In the Mexican tradition the wedding bridesmaids and groomsmen are paired and each pair is considered for a different role in the wedding ceremony.
One pair provide the bouquet for the bride. Another furnishes the Lazo which is a special symbolic rosary used to show the unification of the couple during the ceremony. Yet another pair brings the 13 silver or gold coins - Arras - in a special basket or box for the ceremony and if there are only 3 pairs, they also provide the kneeling pillows for the bride and groom to kneel upon during the wedding mass.

Slang - you know the standard "See you later, alligator," sentiment and its paired response of "After awhile, crocodile."  In Mexico, they have: "?Que pasa calabaza?" and "Nada limonada."
Other slang, "Si mon" for totally (or maybe we prefer hell yes?), and "naranjas" as slang for maybe, "No way Jose."

Mexican animals - if a rooster crows during the day (not the early morning) the weather is going to change - and the little bastards are RIGHT (It is thought that birds, and other animals, react negatively to a decrease in atmospheric pressure; it makes them restless. A restless rooster tends to crow more.)
Burros can also predict weather changes, and they're smarter than you; hence the story and associated children's rhyme to help them remember their vowels: !a e i o u, el burrito sabe mas que tu!

Evolution of a bug bite

Pinche mosquitos

And that's all I have to say about that.

El Lunes

 Best.  Churro.  EVAR.

Today was a good day in class.  After a bit of encouragement from my darling friend Karen, I decided to just go for it and be my normal chatty self and just blab away to my teacher today.  Of course, I had to do some prep work and I'm glad I did.  I knew they'd ask what I did this weekend, so I wrote it out in English on Sunday night and then translated it so I could be confident that I was doing it correctly.
I might be using the first book, but I feel like I might be doing better than I thought.  Felipa said the same thing as Elvira pretty much - that I learn very quickly and that I don't have a "North American" accent when I speak.  Felipa said she thought I must've grown up listening to Spanish.  Maybe it's just in the blood.  ;o)  In any case, it's great encouragement and I was game to speak a bit more to strangers after class as well.

In addition, I'm starting to feel like a bit more of a local now.  After class today I headed for a carnitas place (had to check it out before Dad gets here!).  I stopped and picked up Atencion on the way (since I know exactly where to find the guy now and how much it is), then found the carnitas place, Apolo XI.  I asked for a quarter kilo, with a little bit of fat, and got some salsa verde as well.  He gave me a sample as I was waiting and it was so good.  Not nearly as shredded as we Romos make it, but good.  Then I headed for Mercado Ignacio Ramirez to my "usual" stand.  I got a couple of limes and some grapes (you can buy half bags of grapes!  Well, whatever quantity you want really. . . ).  Then on my way to pick up tortillas I passed by the churro lady.  Why not?  I thought.  OMG you guys.  You have not had a churro until you have had one of these churros.  I mean, they're okay at home, but this was like, some black voodoo churro magic.  Maybe they fry them in unicorn fat, I have no idea, but they are WAY better than what we have at home, even though they weren't hot.  I headed for the tortilleria and asked for only 5 tortillas and headed home.  On the way, I stopped at a market close to home to get una Coca Cola Light y un Squirt (yes, Squirt!).  I have big tinto de verano plans, even though I'm not in Spain.  The tortilla shop I went to today had much better tortillas than the first one I visited in my opinion - these ones were much softer - probably because they were still warm out of la maquina.

M

My spoils: fresh corn tortillas, churros, limes, carnitas, salsa verde, Coca Cola Light, and Atencion.

I love that I can buy whatever quantity I want - something I learned today.  Because many people are poor, they buy the older fruits & vegetables (you know, the old beat up ones that are probably going to get tossed), or they ask if they can 5 pesos worth of something instead of a full amount or package.
AND - now I feel like a jerk because I did not get ripped off for my aguacate this weekend.  I asked my teacher today how much they were and she said 8-10 pesos.  She also told me that it's worth while to walk around to the different puestas (I think that was the word she used? - stands basically) and ask how much things are since different people may charge slightly less.  It is a total faux pas to bargain for fruits & vegetables - you can ask for less of something if it's in quantity, but that's it!
And, as for bargaining for other stuff (jewelry, pottery, etc.) - she said a little bit of bargaining is okay, but not to do that "What?!  That's way too expensive!  Bah!" kind of thing.  They give you a price, you say, "Oh, that's expensive" or "I don't have that much" and they ask what you think, you give them a price and they either say yes, no or counter again.  Then you take it, or you say thank you and walk away.  And don't go back every day trying to bargain again and again - either on the same item or on different things.  They don't care if you don't buy, but they don't want to be insulted!

I'm off for pizza tonight with Dina.  Hoping to be able to speak a bit more Spanish while I'm out - take advantage of the new confident streak.

Oh, on Sunday I took the house and garden tour hosted by the library.  It's all Yanks, mostly retired ones, but it's a decent thing to do to get to see some of the nicer homes.  Oddly enough, sometimes the family is just kicking it while you're cruising through their home, bedroom, kitchen, office - looking at photos, etc.  Then you're like - Oh hi.  Thanks for letting us all come traipsing through your home. . . .
The photos and video are posted on flickr - complete with American background chatter.