Go Papi!

Okay, David Ortiz goes to the Very Good column. No, make that the OhmyGod! column. Go you band of idiots, go!


(Reuters Photo)

11:17:57 PM      trackback [] 

Maté por fin

Finally we managed to get together for Spanish practice this morning with las Argentinas, Sandra and Adriana. My Spanish wasn’t quite as bad as I’d anticipated, though not great. I did spend some time last night browsing my Spanish verbs book and I prepared some things I could discuss, like the Che Guevara movie I saw this weekend, Diarios de motocicleta. Che was Argentine and studied medicine at the university in Buenos Aires, which is where the movie and the journey begins (and where Sandra and Adriana are from). Adriana’s husband Fernando, who was home for lunch, expressed his amusement that you can go anywhere in the world – South Africa, Italy – and see people holding up signs depicting Che. He explained that “Che” is what other Latin Americans nickname Argentines because of the way they pronounce the ll or y sound, which I actually learned from the movie. Also in the movie are scenes of Che and his friend sharing maté with people in various locales throughout South America; at one point they show Che requesting sugar, which I believe is the preference among Argentines, at least those from Buenos Aires.

Over the summer when we didn’t see them, Adriana and Fernando built a handsome patio off the deck in their small backyard. But the pièce de resistance (find me the Spanish equivalent por favor) was the parrillada, or outdoor barbecue, that Fernando built (it looks similar to this). As we admired his handiwork, he offered to grill for us when we come back next Monday for lunch, con vino. I think I’d better block off the afternoon.

1:35:30 PM      trackback []