New Church
I am still making my way through the Spanish grammar review. Is there a peace settling in there? In 2008, when I returned from my univerity studies in Ecuador (of course in Spanish, Silly) to the institutionalized racism of the dominant Texas hispanic, my emotional reactions were harsh. In Texas, wrong color people are often attacked for understanding, much less speaking Spanish, even if Spanish is their only language. I was saistically entertained in watching wrong-color immigrants defend their right to use the only language they could speak. In the 9 years since my return, I have found myself close to declaring war on allowing free reign of the Spanish language in my mind or ears. It has made for some fierce inner turmoil. It is hard to unlearn what has already been learned. Why am I being punished for having learned a language? When did understanding become a crime?
But I am not in hispanic dominated Texas any more. Of course there is an hispanic presence here (where is there not?) but it isnae anywhere near a majority presence as it is in so many places. So far as I have noted, local populations arenae equal to producing the street gangs who enforce the harshest sanctions against wrong color people understanding or using their "secret" language. This round of grammar review feels free --or at least freer-- of the chaotic hispanic politics of Texas.
The local hispanic population doesnae appear equal to producing street gangs, but it is equal to producing Spanish church services. One of the 3 local Catholic churches has a Sunday mass in Spanish at 1:00. Think I'll check it out. Prayers in progress.
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I can hook you up with my son if you want. He's becoming a version of a Spanish grammar nazi.
I'm not sure if it's the last vestiges of his Asperger-like beginning. Learning English almost as though it was a second language. Or if he's just being a 17 year old boy...but...he becomes animated at the sound of his sister's not quite perfect Spanish. (It could also be payback for her being better at math than him, even though she's 2 years younger...)
That said, he's working on being a cultural slob about it...(I suspect an unintended influence of his high school Spanish teacher who's teaching the Spain version of Spanish.
In any case, did you know that you can listen to Smash-Bros (video game) tournaments online real time, in Spanish?
He may not know the Spanish word for a maple tree, but he can tell you all of Picachu's moves in 3 languages. (English, Spanish, and Japanese).
You just gave me my first introduction to Smash-Bros, Patti, but a quick surf tells me you can also catch it in French, German and Italian. The world is getting smaller every day. I am utterly intrigued at how easy the internet makes it to surf from one language to another on a single subject.
I, too, wonder if my own linguistic obsessions were born during the effort to jump problems in my early speech development. I was approaching adolescence before I was comfortable with my first human language. I was and remain utterly convinced I could speak Nature languages just fine.
Dialect wars are an ongoing bane of the Spanish language. During my university studies, I once had the joy of watching a professor stand a student in front of the class while he attacked him for his coastal accent and mannerisms. The university was in the Andes Mountains. The student's coastal home was about 50 miles away. Girl howdy, I kept my "gringo" accent silent during the attack. The student dropped out that very day. That travesty continues throughout the Spanish speaking world. Honduran Spanish is belittled in Mexico and ditto for a grandchild returning to their ancestral home country. It makes for very messy politics which infect even beginner Spanish classes. Hope you can guide your son past the institutionalized prejudice that the differences in the dialects are worth fighting over.
When I first went up to my ex's family's camp (about 40 minutes from his parents' house in Western PA), we met Russ. Russ grew up about 20 minutes from there...in another direction.
I will never forget his first comment when he learned my ex's hometown. "I knew you didn't grow up around here."
PFFT So what did that make me? Since I grew up 90 minutes away? Did that make people from Ohio aliens?
That said, I do actually get it. When it's a small, small town, you know everyone within 5 years of you at school. Who the smart kids were, the dumb ones. The ones who's parents were beating them at night. So you know why they grew up to be alcoholics. And you probably have known your whole life the person that they hit and kill drunk driving (this is true stuff from my ex's hometown). You know when you see that car in front of that house...what that means.
When my MIL died, and my FIL started dating within 3 months...we first heard about it a hundred miles away from a childhood friend of my ex. My ex's older brother had gotten drunk and high with Jennifer's ex. For a time...this was NOT a happy situation.
I (figuratively) smacked my ex down hard and reminded him of all that his parents had done for us, and that he was going to be GOOD to her. She might be around for a month, or a lifetime, but told him that his dad would NEVER forget our first reaction to her...so to behave himself. (She's still around, and very good for my ex-FIL, they're only 15 years different in ages.)
And you guys were even studying the same brand of English in school. . . Add in a cultural prejudice that you are speaking unforgivably different dialects and. . . Viva la revolucion!
This morning's grammar review wasnae so peaceful. The bi-lingual head chatter was back at intense volumes. Politics do that to me. . . I understand politics best when I translate them to my "first" languages: The clicks, clucks and neighs of barnyard chatter.
The return of the head chatter has me tempted to forgo the Spanish mass for one of the English masses, but. . . Listening for the Quiet Voice.
My son's friend's family is Greek Orthodox...complete with services in Greek...
Made it to the mass. The priest was sick enough that he should probably have stayed in bed. He was having problems staying on his feet, much less speaking clearly.
Still, I am glad I went. I really would like to make my peace wit the linguistic conflict in my head. Is there a 12 Step program for that? At least an app for that?