tongue tied?

May 19, 2008

A wise old man said to me today “teneeeahkeeeyalerrropwerrto” - or something along those lines. When I was riding home on the bus an hour ago, I spotted him with his cane and so I offered him my seat. He said “no.” He explained that it’s harder for him to get back up than it is to continue standing. And then he started to talk to me (in his old, crunchy voice) about being a wee lad in the time of Spain’s dictatorship under Franco.  I wish I could have understood him, but I didn’t. So I just nodded and smiled when he smiled. 

To get to my point, Castellano (Spain Spanish) began in the 16^th century. Before then, Latin was still on the scene.  When I traveled to Toledo yesterday (yes I did it!), I saw that most of the architecture and art was in Latin (if not Latin, then in Arabic). I don’t know about you – but for me, it’s crazy to see that Spanish (along with the other love languages) is the result of Latin.  Check this astrological blanket out that hangs in Toledo’s museum! It is from the 15^th century, very pretty, and in Latin.

I started my internship today for PHOTOS&NOTICIAS. It’s about a 40-minute bus ride/metro ride. I was talking to a coworker about the differences emerging between Latin American Spanish and Castellano Spanish. I predict that within 120 years they will be separate languages.  Why, you ask? Well, I feel like the vocabulary of these two areas of the world are diverging. It makes sense that in Mexico you can call a computer a “computadora” and to rent a movie you can say “rentar”. I mean the original Spaniards did not have these things, so the people of Mexico have adapted US words to be part of their own speech.  However, in Spain, it’s different because they have been inventing their own words to keep up with technology and new things. You say “ordenador” for computer and “alquilar” for the infinitive “to rent”. This is hard to explain and I might be wrong, but hey it’s a HYPOTHESIS.

 Besides exploring Toledo and uploading the bullfight photos on my flickr page, I’ve been reading Albert Camus’ “RESISTANCE, REBELLION, AND DEATH”. It’s a good traveling-Europe read. It consists of essays relevant to WW2. Camus gives his political perspective of the war without losing his poetic, humanitarian flair that is noticeable in his novels.  

He specifically criticizes the inhumane actions of Nazism in Germany and the dictatorship in Spain – so I guess it is strange that I’m reading it now while I’m hanging out in Spain with my French and my German friend who are learning Spanish as well.  Ah yes, paz does prevail. 

inter-rational relations