The Wormlips Scrapbook

I signed up for a Spanish class! It’s offered through my local adult education program and though I didn’t have high hopes for it, the first two classes have turned out to be fun. The only problem is that it’s geared for people who know the reason for and conjugation of all the verb tenses, plus a shiteload of words. I’m not among those people, so half the time I have no idea what’s going on. But life has taught me to be good at pretending to understand what’s happening around me, so I’m getting by. It will be entertaining when it comes time for my class project: a 20-minute presentation about the topic of my choosing. I think I’ll do it in mime.

Back in mid-March I got an e-mail from my Guatemalan van-driving friend Cesár. He was one of the many who, during my visit a couple months ago, asked if I had an esposo and why not. In this note he wished me luck in amor and offered to find me a boyfriend in Guatemala, should I need one.

hola ginna como has estado, en verdad no crei que me enviaras la foto espero te encuentres muy bien gozando de mucha salud, y ya sabes que ya me tienes como un amigo tuyo aqui en guatemala. cuidate mucho y espero te vaya muy bien en el AMOR.

si no pues te prometo buscarte uno aqui en guate ja ja ja (broma). bueno pues hasta una oportunidad.

If you know me, you know I’m terrible about writing to my friends. If I don’t speak your language, I’m even worse. But taking this class has inspired me to reply. I drafted my response and last night my teacher corrected it. Boy, were there a lot of corrections. But here’s what I sent today.

Estimado Cesár,

Lo siento por no haber escrito antes. Es my difícil escribir porque me español no es muy avanzado y ya se me olvidó mucho de lo que aprendí en Guatemala hace trés meses.

Ahora tomo otra clase de español (y la maestra me corregió la gramatica de esta carta). Un día voy a poder hablar español un poquito mejor.

¿Cómo estás? ¿Y cómo está Daniel? Tienes más fotos de él para enviarme por correo electronico?

¿En Guatemala hay muchas noticias de los elecionnes en los Estados Unidos? Espero que Obama gane. ¿Te cae bien? ¿Quieres que te envie un botón que dice “Obama ‘08”?

Espero que todo vaya bien para ti. Mi saludos para Daniel, y también para Semuc Champey.

Saludos cariñosos,
Ginna

— Todavia no tengo un novio. Es posible que vas a necessitar buscarme un hombre guatemalteco. bromo bromo

After I sent it I realized I’d made a mistake and sent a follow-up:

“Ay, caramba. No es “bromo.” Es “broma.”

I don’t know what “bromo” is but I hope it isn’t bad.

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Did you know that the BBC does a big April Fools’ Day thing every year, planting spoof stories among the real ones? I didn’t. So a couple days ago, when I read the news headline about Nepal’s ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol during the upcoming elections, I wrote to Cheryl to express my sympathies. She e-mailed back, “It was an April fool joke.” Minutes later she wrote again: “Well, it WAS an April fool joke. Now it’s real.”

I wonder how much The Beeb spent on the story about the newly discovered species of penguins that flies south for the winter. The nature video featured Terry Jones narrating as the birds flew across polar ice caps and landed among toucans in the rainforest. Thanks for telling me about it, Lulu.

I generally prefer printed matter to online material, and next to my bed the stack of books continues to grow. I’m still reading 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, a fabulous writer. I have a hard time with histories, but he rewards my attention not only with original insights but subtle wit:

“The Taino Indians, Columbus reported after his first voyage, “firmly believed that I, with my ships and men, came from the heavens…” On Columbus’s later voyages, his crew happily accepted godhood—until the Taino began empirically testing their divinity by forcing their heads underwater for long periods to see if the Spanish were, as gods should be, immortal.”

Here are some of the other unfinished or altogether unread books in my bedside tower:

• Swann’s Way (Marcel Proust, two copies)
• Proust’s Way (Roger Shattuck)
• Basic Spanish Grammar
• Chekhov: Comic Stories (I don’t think they’re very funny)
• In Search of Myths & Heroes: Exploring Four Epic Legends of the World
• American Silence (by my ex-husband)
• Several books about Nepal and Tibet
• Don’t Make Me Think: Web Usability
• Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry (Scott Reynolds Nelson)
• The Heights of Macchu Picchu (Pablo Neruda)
• The Southern Ladies: From Pedestal to Politics, 1830–1930
• Shamans, Witches and Maya Priests
• May It Please the Court: Transcripts of 23 Live Recordings of Landmark Cases Argued Before the Supreme Court (Irons & Guitton)
• Martín Chambi: [Peru] Photographs 1920–1950
• Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
• Handwriting in America
• The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
• How the Other Half Lives (Jacob Riis)
• Murder in Shakespeare’s England
• Man Without a Country (Kurt Vonnegut)
• The Cloud-Spotter’s Guide (surprisingly delightful guide)
  
• To Save Her Life: Disappearance, Deliverance and the United States in Guatemala
• A Grief Observed (C. S. Lewis)
• Getting Beyond Beginner’s Spanish
• Close Range (Annie Proulx)
• The Art Therapy Sourcebook
• The Snow Leopard (Peter Matthiessen)
• Woman: An Intimate Geography
• South America on a Shoestring
• Color: A Natural History of the Palette

There’s even the occasional newage, self-helpy title mixed in there, including Field Guide to Dreams, The Living I-Ching, The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers, and Is It Me or My Meds. And some photography books. And…

I am genuinely interested: if you are reading this (and I doubt you are) would you please add a comment listing the books that are next to your bed? That would make me happy, to read that.

I’m feeling unloved now, so I’m going out to buy chocolate (and eat worms).

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Quote of the Day

Yes, Ezra. You’re tripoding, and Mommy’s very proud of you.

When you don’t see friends for a long time, sometimes they have entire babies when your back is turned. That’s what Lisa and Kevin did. Here they are, with their almost-two-year-old son, Ezra.

They arrived at my house bearing ingredients for a Very Sweet Concoction. I was still recovering from the drugs administered at yesterday’s medical procedure (why does Kaiser always give me snapshots of my innards?), which made me groggy and grumpy. Fortunately, in the presence of these silly people my mood became the source of generalized hilarity.

Here is Ezra with his new friend Stella, about whom he had mixed feelings.

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