More Spanish

K and I had a fun Spanish class this morning. ¡Que chistoso! Is that even right? Anyway, we are both thoroughly confused by reflexive verbs. Bañarse. Arreglarse. Whatever-se. K thought "Dumbo" in a practice sentence was a Spanish word she didn't know (instead of the Disney elephant). Pronounced "Doom-boh", it kept making us laugh. At one point K said this: "Dumbo es un verbo reflexivo." It was kinda a you-had-to-be-there moment, but man how it made me laugh.

Cubby, now 17 months old, says two Spanish words consistently: "Agua" (water) and "listo" (ready). Even when you ask him if he wants his water in English, he'll nod and say "Agua." Or when you ask him if he's ready to eat, he'll say "Listo." (It comes out more like "deeh-doh," so it pretty much breaks your heart from cuteness.) The other day he picked up the lid to Chutes and Ladders and put it on his head, then began calling out "Paaan! Paaaan!" with a very self-satisfied, smiling face. I was very confused. Our housekeeper/nanny Evah laughed and explained that she had taught him that because there is a man who sells bread ("pan") in her neighborhood, balancing his whole lot on a board on his head. Cubby is our own little Mexican pan salesman.

Spanish

I just got back from Spanish. I love my Spanish tutor! Her name is Gaby, and she is the greatest. Today we (I do the twice-weekly sessions with K, wife of N's A-100 classmate) reviewed imperfect and preterite verb tenses. I really enjoy the challenge of learning language, and especially like trying to talk like I do in English in a new language. Today K said a woman had "verduras" eyes, instead of "verde" (green). Gaby stopped her and said that "verduras" means "vegetables" - oh how we laughed. K was like, "Well that's what I was trying to say - her eyes are vegetables to me." I told them about how I tried to order "buses" on my salad a few weeks ago. I kept asking for "camiones" for my salad and the waitress just looked at me very confused. Finally I said the word "seafood" (mariscos) and she said, "Aaaah! Camarones!"

Camarones = Shrimp

Camiones = Buses

(Camiones = Buses in Mexico at least. It means "trucks" in the rest of Latin America, just to keep me guessing. I figured this out when Esme (our MWF housekeeper) told me she rode the "camion" to our house. I imagined her riding in the back of a packed pick-up truck and told her I didn't think that was safe. Joke's on Señora Gringa!).

This is a picture of the room moms from Birdie's class. This was actually at her class "posada" in December. When I tried to order transportation on my entré, I was at the January "convivencia" with this same crowd of lovely, patient women. (A "convivencia" is another get-together of some sort, the exact definition of which continues to elude me. We've got desayunos (breakfasts), almuerzos (lunches), posadas, fiestas, siestas, and now convivencias.

So far they all seem pretty similar, mas o menos a piñata.)

Speaking of Spanish, we just had SKY satellite installed day before yesterday. So now after 6 months of watching DVDs and streaming Netflix, we can watch Mexican TV! We're not sure if the expense is worth it, but it'll be nice to have options -- and to be able to watch TV in Spanish. Just yesterday for the girls' TV time I turned on Nick Jr and "Ni Hao Kailan" was on...in Spanish. I stupidly fiddled with the remote trying to change it to English, but the girls yelled at me to stop interrupting the show with pop-up boxes. So I left it like it was, and the girls just watched in their normal vegetative state. TV is TV, even in a different language :). But soon Birdie was asking Deevie if she understood and totally began translating. Holy Cow. It's amazing to me to see them soak this stuff up without even trying. For example, Birdie was telling our housekeeper Evah that she had made a card that Evah was looking at. "Yo hice esto," Birdie said. I almost died. That's the preterite tense! I JUST LEARNED THAT!

Yesterday

Yes, we're still alive and well. Just not documenting very well. Christmas! N's parents' and brother's visit! Goodness.

For now, here is a picture I took yesterday of Birdie and Deevie waiting for their ride to school. They say one of the biggest advantages of FS life is sibling closeness -- since no other person in the world understands better what you're going through. I like to think about that.

I especially like to think about it when they're fighting like gatos y perros. :)