Hola Clase!!
I've been looking through some of my old books and I came across one of my favorite collection of poetry. Epigramas by Ernesto Cardenal. He is one of my favorite poets and probably the most important living poet in Latin America today. He is from Nicaragua and was at one point a very contraversial figure, as he was(is) a priest and a revolutionary leader during the Sandinista Revolution. He was a leader in the Liberation Theology movement which itself was very contraversial. He is still alive and well in Nicaragua, about five years ago, he won a very prestigous award that celebrated the 100th birthday of the Great Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), an award for the best poet in Latin America.
I had the honor of meeting him once in Nicaragua. I bugged and bugged him, but I finally just waited outside his office to have him sign my book and take a picture with him. I hang that picture above my office still today. Enjoy one of his classic poems:
Al perderte yo a ti tú y yo hemos perdido:
Yo porque tú eras lo que yo más amaba
Y tú porque yo era el que te amaba más.
Pero de nosotros dos tú pierdes más que yo:
Porque yo podré amar a otras como te amaba a ti
Pero a ti no te amarán como te amaba yo.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
SPAN 2120 Extra Credit Capitulo 8
Present Perfect Subjuntive:
1. haya dicho
2. hayas decidido
3. hayan podido
4. haya aprendido
5. se haya ido
6. se hayan llevado
7. haya preferido
8. haya llovido
9. hayas venido
10. haya hecho
11. hayan puesto
12. haya estado
13. hayamos visto
14. hayais conocido
15. haya habido
1. Tengo miedo de que no haya visto mi carta.
2. Esperan que hayamos vuelto con nuestro papa.
3. Es posible que no hayan hecho lo que pedimos.
4. Les sorprende que no se haya puesto los zapatos.
5. Se alegran que no haya habido mucha confusion
6. Dudas que hayamos estado en la America Sur.
7. Importa que no se lo haya dicho.
8. Dudo que hayan podido comprar una casa.
9. Siente que no haya hecho la maleta.
10. Esperamos que haya nevado en las montanas.
1. haya dicho
2. hayas decidido
3. hayan podido
4. haya aprendido
5. se haya ido
6. se hayan llevado
7. haya preferido
8. haya llovido
9. hayas venido
10. haya hecho
11. hayan puesto
12. haya estado
13. hayamos visto
14. hayais conocido
15. haya habido
1. Tengo miedo de que no haya visto mi carta.
2. Esperan que hayamos vuelto con nuestro papa.
3. Es posible que no hayan hecho lo que pedimos.
4. Les sorprende que no se haya puesto los zapatos.
5. Se alegran que no haya habido mucha confusion
6. Dudas que hayamos estado en la America Sur.
7. Importa que no se lo haya dicho.
8. Dudo que hayan podido comprar una casa.
9. Siente que no haya hecho la maleta.
10. Esperamos que haya nevado en las montanas.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Swine Flu Fashion
The lastest fashion in Mexico City. Fashion will never take the back seat, even in times of chaos.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Como Agua Para Chocolate
The other day I came across a very famous book by Laura Esquivel Como agua para Chocolate (also a movie now). It is a wonderful story of love, magic and food. Three of the best things in life. I was curious to see how the title came about and to see if there was any history behind it. Here is what I found out.
The phrase comes from a very old Mexican saying, which bascially means when "a person is very mad". Many people in Mexico enjoy drinking chocolate. The phrase "like water for chocolate" comes rom the way this it is prepared. A pot of water is set on the stove and when it reaches the boiling point, pieces of chocolate are dropped in. Thus the Mexican expression is somewhat similar to English saying that someone has "reached the boiling point." As the story line of Como agua para chocolate revolves around both cooking and a family feud, the use of this saying as the title seems particularly appropiate.
The phrase comes from a very old Mexican saying, which bascially means when "a person is very mad". Many people in Mexico enjoy drinking chocolate. The phrase "like water for chocolate" comes rom the way this it is prepared. A pot of water is set on the stove and when it reaches the boiling point, pieces of chocolate are dropped in. Thus the Mexican expression is somewhat similar to English saying that someone has "reached the boiling point." As the story line of Como agua para chocolate revolves around both cooking and a family feud, the use of this saying as the title seems particularly appropiate.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Adivinanza
La primera persona que me escribe un email con la repuesta correcta gana mi libro: Detras del Biombo!!
Buena Suerte!
Oro no es
Plata no es
Abre la puerta
y sabras que es.
Que es?
hint: no es un metal :-)
Buena Suerte!
Oro no es
Plata no es
Abre la puerta
y sabras que es.
Que es?
hint: no es un metal :-)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Ojala
Since both classes are review the subjunctive, I thought it would be nice if I gave you a little history on a very common word associated with the subjunctive: ojala...
Modern speakers of Spanish use ojalá! The same way that English speakers say if only it were so or let's hope. The original phrase came from Arabic and means "May it be Allah's will that…" Like nearly all of the many words that Spanish acquired from Arabic, it entered the language as a result of the Muslim invasion that occurred in the year 711. For eight hundred years, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into Muslim and Christian enclaves, but they were not totally cut off from each other. Thus many Spanish (and English) words were originally Arabic words - espcially words used in science, math, medicine, agriculture and architecture. For example, both algodon and cotton come from the Arabic al qutn, and álgebra and algebra from al jabra. This even trickled down to when naming places, Guadalajara means "river of the rocks", the root guad means river in Arabic.
Modern speakers of Spanish use ojalá! The same way that English speakers say if only it were so or let's hope. The original phrase came from Arabic and means "May it be Allah's will that…" Like nearly all of the many words that Spanish acquired from Arabic, it entered the language as a result of the Muslim invasion that occurred in the year 711. For eight hundred years, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into Muslim and Christian enclaves, but they were not totally cut off from each other. Thus many Spanish (and English) words were originally Arabic words - espcially words used in science, math, medicine, agriculture and architecture. For example, both algodon and cotton come from the Arabic al qutn, and álgebra and algebra from al jabra. This even trickled down to when naming places, Guadalajara means "river of the rocks", the root guad means river in Arabic.
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