Junot Diaz won the Pulitzer Prize!!

Felicidades, Junot!!

The photo is from a reading given by Junot at the Montclair Public Library back in December, hosted by Watchung Booksellers.

Amazing reading, really interesting man, and an incredible book .... check out "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," if you haven't already.

Fortunately, the Pulitzer Prize committee did!

Does he spit in the bath? (and more from a medical Spanish phrase book ...)

Phrase books are a funny thing. They have to anticipate situations and then provide just the right sentence to address that situation.

Sometimes I'm just surprised at the situations that the authors of the book have anticipated.

I posted a while back about the book, "Hindi Made Easy," that my family had somehow acquired when we lived in New Delhi when I was a child. The book was one that had been given to British soldiers during the original occupation of India ... and included phrases that soon became famous in our household: "Let us set fire to the village", and "That man is a horse thief."

Shocking as it was, that book offered a glimpse into another era, and the attitudes of that time.

I wasn't prepared to be quite so surprised when I bought a Spanish medical phrase book for my friend, who is entering a new phase of her life and starting medical school next week. She wanted to be able to connect with her future patients, since she will be living, studying and working in a community where Spanish is prevalent.

But a few sentences in the book did jump out at me, and made me wonder what kinds of situations the authors were anticipating ...

Ellos rezan mucho. - They pray a lot.

Me gusta ver el cielo. - I like to see the sky.

No puede oler la medicina. - He can't smell the medicine.

El no patea la puerta. - He doesn't kick the door.

El escupe en el baño. - He spits in the bath.

Surprisingly (to me), my friend didn't think some of these were so unusual. "I could see that coming up in a psych evaluation," she noted.

And she's right - these aren't phrases that I would normally use, but perhaps they will come in handy for her. And if they do, she will be prepared ....

Friends vs. Latin Friends

I didn't write this, but I certainly have experienced it. And my life is so much richer for it!

FRIENDS VS. LATIN FRIENDS

FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
LATIN FRIENDS: Are the reason you have food.

FRIENDS: Will say "hello."
LATIN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
LATIN FRIENDS: Call your parents mom and dad.

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
LATIN FRIENDS: Cry with you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
LATIN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking,laughing and just being together.

FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
LATIN FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
LATIN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
LATIN FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' ass that left you.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
LATIN FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
LATIN FRIENDS: Are for life.

Bilingual babies

This is what my friend's bilingual six-year-old asked, when she heard about a new baby cousin in the family:

"Salió en inglés o en español?"

("Did the baby come out in English or in Spanish?")

Salud, amor y pesetas

¡Salud!



Un grupo de amigos, un vinito ....

Best friends and a good wine .... is there any better combination? Latin cultures have known this forever.

So it's no wonder that there are so many different ways to toast with friends in Spanish.

The simplest and most direct:

¡Salud!


But few are satisfied with that. So it is often expanded to:

¡Salud, amor y pesetas!


Good, but still not good enough. Sure, health, love and money are important, but you need something more ... and everyone has their own favorite variation of this theme:

Salud, amor y pesetas, y tiempo para gozarlos

Salud, amor y pesetas, y tiempo para gastarlos

Salud, amor y pesetas, y tiempo para gustarlos

Salud, amor y pesetas, y tiempo para disfrutarlos

(And by the way, how come that never got updated to Salud, amor y pesos, or Salud, amor y bolívares, or Salud, amor y colones?)

But my favorite bríndises are the ones I learned in college from a dear Venezuelan friend (and by the way, one constant in my life seems to be incredibly wonderful Venezuelan friends ... I'm going to have to blog some other time on what is either the amazing Venezuelan national character, or my amazing luck in finding such wonderful friends). But back to my point .... the toasts:

Pa' arriba
Pa' abajo
Pa'l centro
Pa' dentro!

.... and this treasure ....

Manjar de dioses,
Dulce tormento,
¿Qué haces afuera?
¡Vámonos pa' dentro!


Recently I wrote to my college friend and told him that I still remembered the toasts he taught me, more than 25 years later.

His response:

Estiro el brazo,
Empino el codo,
Y de un solo golpe,
Me lo tomo todo!!


Good friendships last forever, and that is certainly something to toast to.

Anyone else have a favorite bríndis to share? Add them to our comments .... and ¡salud!

Becoming a citizen

I went with my friend Liz yesterday to watch her take her oath of
citizenship. Even though she probably would have become a US citizen at
some point anyway, she actually didn't have much of a choice. She's a
teacher here, and if you apply for a teaching license in New Jersey,
you must sign this statement: "I realize that if I do not become a
United States citizen within the next five years, the New Jersey State
Board of Examiners may revoke any license issued to me." So to keep her
job, she had to become a citizen.

Her appointment was for 8:00 am at INS in Newark, so we got there
early. Four and a half hours later, she was a citizen -- literally the
very last one to receive her papers on a very long day, when she had
been one of the first to arrive. (There is no concept of "first come,
first served" at INS, I guess.)

Interestingly enough, here is what you do NOT do when you become a
citizen:

1. Recite the pledge of allegiance

2. Sing the national anthem



Here is what you DO do:

1. Recite the oath below

2. Watch a video of Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" (and sing
along if you want to)


The Oath of Citizenship


"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national
importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God. In acknowledgement whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature."


Were any of you US citizens aware that we are supposed to be bearing
arms on behalf of the United States when required by law, and
performing noncombatant service and "work of national importance under
civilian direction when required by law?" I certainly wasn't. Or maybe
only naturalized citizens are required to do this??

You also get to watch a video of George Bush saying "God bless you and
God bless America." (So much for separation of church and state.) At
least we had an immigration official with a sense of humor, because he
said, "After the President speaks for two minutes, the screen will go
black. Don't forget to clap."

I also expected an inspiring speech, but basically all we got was a
reminder to register to vote, and a warning that you are now stuck in
the United States because the government took your green card, and you
don't have a passport, so don't plan on going anywhere (even for a
family emergency) until you get your passport ... which, by the way,
takes 4-6 weeks.

Despite the delays and the bureaucracy, though, I will say that every
single person we came into contact with there was extremely nice,
polite, pleasant and helpful. That was a probably the nicest surprise
of the day. I guess Tuesdays must be "oath of citizenship" day, so
there aren't any major problems or arguments going on, and there is a
nice energy to the place (or there would be, if you didn't have to wait
four and a half hours - which, by the way, apparently is "short,"
according to one of the workers there).

So, all in all, a lesson in democracy and bureaucracy. And now Liz can
do two things: vote, and keep her job as a teacher.

More Trino

Well, between this post, the previous one, and the one before that, I have a trinity of Trinidades ....

I have been looking for an article about Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. that would do justice to his work -- not just his poetry, but his dedication to teaching poetry, especially to the young and/or disaffected or marginalized. I found this wonderful piece in the Denver Post.

"Trino's" poems gave color to life

By Claire Martin
Denver Post Staff Writer

August 5, 2006



Trinidad Sánchez Jr. wrote popular poems and worked with young offenders and prison inmates.

Chicano poet and activist Trinidad "Trino" V. Sanchez Jr., who died July 30 at age 63 in San Antonio, was renowned for the hip, socially astute writing that galvanized audiences in venues including the Taza Cafe he owned with his wife near downtown Denver.

Sanchez's seminal "Why Am I So Brown?" and other popular, provocative poems inspired younger generations of poets. The poem's title is a question asked by a Chicana elementary schoolgirl in one of Sanchez's writing classes. She was among countless children who knew Sanchez through artist-in-residence programs and other venues.

The poem is his response to her query. An excerpt: "Understand ... brown/ is not a color ... it is: a state of being/a very human texture/alive and full of song."

"When I think about Trino's legacy, I think about all the children and young people he taught," said Maurice Ka, a Denver poet and spoken-word artist who performs as El Negro.

Sanchez was the ninth of 10 children born in Pontiac, Mich., to poet and pool hall owner Trinidad Sanchez Sr., and Sofia Sanchez. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, he yearned for hugs and encouragement from his father, who rarely displayed affection.

Trinidad Sanchez Sr. spent 12-hour days running his pool hall. At home, he holed up with his manual typewriter, writing poems. When Trinidad Jr. left home at age 19, his father wrote "To Trino," a poem that began:

"When you feel lonesome and blue,
Count all the stars in the sky.
It is the times we think of you
Since the day you said 'Good-bye."'

At the time, Trinidad Sanchez Jr. dismissed the poem. He left home and eventually joined a Jesuit monastery in Detroit, where he worked with young offenders and prison inmates. He had a special affinity for Chicanos and African-Americans, many of whom had discordant relationships with their own fathers.

When he was 39, Sanchez reread "To Trino." The final lines leapt out at him - "Don't fear the storm, in the brink/Or the high winds in the night/It is Papa, who took a drink/And wanted to hug you tight."

Sanchez finally recognized the poem as the expression of the love his father never expressed aloud or with hugs. He included "To Trino" in "Poems by Father and Son," his 1991 anthology of his own work, and his father's.

By then, he was writing poems too, many of them published in journals and anthologies. After 27 years as a Jesuit monk, he left the order but remained active in prison ministry. Sanchez used poetry as a medium for emotionally constrained men and included writing in his men's workshops and community outreach groups.

He became a schoolteacher. He led creative writing classes in Michigan and Texas and worked with the developmentally disabled as well as conventional students.

Between the late 1990s and 2003, when Sanchez lived in Denver, he worked with young fathers through Family Star's Montessori and Early Head Start and other programs. Social services workers from Colorado to New York knew Sanchez as an exceptionally successful mentor for disaffected young fathers.

He led workshops urging them to express their love for their children. In a 2000 Denver Post article, Sanchez lamented that of Family Star's 75 fathers, only 38 were listed as an involved parent.

Sanchez proved more artist than businessman. Cafe Taza, the Platte Street coffee shop designed to showcase spoken-word performances, closed in 2003, about a year after Sanchez and his wife, Regina Chavez y Sanchez, opened it.

Young poets and spoken-word artists sympathized. Their support for Sanchez continued after he and his wife moved back to San Antonio, shortly afterward.

When Sanchez suffered two strokes last month, Colorado poets and performance artists promptly rallied to hold fundraisers to pay for daunting hospital bills. It was one way, Ka said, to repay the man who was mentor and confidant for so many.

Along with poet Day Acoli and other Sanchez admirers, Ka is organizing a memorial tribute this weekend at the Aurora Black Arts Festival, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Organizers named the festival marketplace after the poet and established a community altar where mourners can leave candles, letters, poems and other ephemera.

Survivors include wife Regina Chavez y Sanchez of San Antonio.

The Death of a Peaceful Warrior

I'm in shock ... I just got back from a week-long trip to Costa Rica (more on that later) to find that Trinidad Sanchez, Jr., the wonderful poet I met in San Antonio two months ago, has passed away from a stroke.

The funeral is today in San Antonio, and additional memorial services are also being arranged. Many are benefits to help his family with expenses, because he did not have medical insurance. Please consider sending a donation in honor of Trino and all that he brought to us.

For more information, click here.

And in the meantime, take a moment to listen, and to celebrate Trino's life and poetry.

This is America - We Speak All Languages Here

I'm a pretty tolerant person, and as a Gemini (see below), one of my problems is that I can understand and even identify with both sides of almost any issue.

So it takes a lot to p•ss me off.

One of the things that will do it, though, is when someone disrespects someone I care about.

Another is when someone disrespects something I love – and in particular, other languages and cultures.

The other day, someone did both.

One of my closest friends, who is from Venezuela, was at her own son's birthday party. As she was gathering the kids together for a picture, she counted off before taking the photo, "Uno, dos, tres . . ."

Then it happened. Another mother there turned to her and said, "What's that? In America, we speak English."

If anyone doubts what the effects of all the anti-immigrant and pro-"official language" (read: monolingualism) rhetoric will be, there you have it. Intolerance, ignorance and idiocy.

We won't get very far in a global economy - or in the political influence that our country so desperately wants to spread - as a monolingual and xenophobic nation. We need to celebrate and support all languages and cultures, because that is really what makes "America" unique. And that is where our future economic and political power lies.

We can become the country that can interact with all other countries, because we have a cadre of linguistically proficient and culturally aware leaders, who can carry out complex business and political negotiations in all languages and cultures, not just one.

Rather than saying, "This is America - we speak English here," our new cry should be:

This is America. We speak ALL languages here.

Art de la Soul

Wow, Kathy Cano Murillo has done it again!

Check out her new book, Art de la Soul and ENJOY!



I first discovered Kathy by accident a few years ago; I saw the book La Casa Loca and just fell in love with it, and all the projects in it. Then I discovered her website, Crafty Chica and fell in love with that, too.... and in fact it was through her fabulous Loca Links that I discovered my unbelievably wonderful coach, Nancy Marmolejo of Comadre Coaching ... which has in turn led to the birth of my creative venture, Chispa Productions.... a series of very fortunate events.

Now Kathy's new book, Art de la Soul, is out, and I want to make every project in it! And even if I can't make all the projects, I will just spend hours soaking up all the wonderful color and sabor that are just bursting from this book.

Do yourself a favor and check it out!!

And here's a link to La Casa Loca, which I also highly recommend! Go out and get loc@!

Amor Mio

What better way to celebrate El Día del Amor y de la Amistad, El Día de Los Enamorados, y El Día de San Valentín, than with these beautiful stamps! In fact, buy them for every day of the year!

They are a new treat available from my favorite artist, María Sánchez of Sandía Fria. My walls are rapidly filling up with María's beautiful artwork – it is truly artwork to make your soul smile! Check out María's blog frequently to see her latest pieces ... although I probably shouldn't be telling you this, since now I'll have more competition in bidding for her pieces on eBay!

¡Buenas noticias! More Rubén Flores ...

Just got this buena noticia from Richard Barone, who produced Rubén Flores' "The Latin American Songbook at Joe's Pub!

Dear Ruth,
Thank you for your wonderful and insightful comments on last night's show,
"Rubén Flores: The Latin American Songbook" at Joe's Pub. It is a very special show that I am thrilled to be part of. I just wanted to let you know that it is not a once-a-year event, but we are developing various installments to be played at different times throughout the upcoming year. We plan to return to Joe's Pub on February 15 with Latin love songs. We will let you know as soon as the date is confirmed.
Please stay in touch, and come see us again!
All my best wishes for a happy and healthy new year,
Richard Barone
Producer/Director - "Rubén Flores: The Latin American Songbook"

This is fabulous news for me; I loved the original show and will definitely be looking forward to the future installments! And by the way, check out Richard Barone's own site, he's clearly a very talented guy in his own right. He must have a Latin soul ...

If you are wondering why I'm so loca about this guy and his performance, just click here to listen.

So, nos vemos at Joe's Pub el 15 de febrero! Click here for more info and tix.

PS, just realized that this is actually the night after I see Tom Jones in concert (don't laugh, especially if you've never heard the song "Sex Bomb", or his version of "Mama Told Me Not To Come"), so it'll be a busy week for me .... I would have gotten tix to Franco De Vita that week, too (on a double bill with Aventura), except that he's playing on the same night as Tom Jones, and I already had the Tom Jones tix. Ricky Martin is also in town that week, by the way. A busy month for Latin music – but never enough for me.

Las arepas – ¿caraqueñas o maracuchas?

¡Qué ricas!

Last night I had a group of friends over ..... mostly Spanish teachers (we teachers need to party!!) and some other friends, from the US, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador, Cuba, Italy, Canada (French), Belgium ... and probably a few more places I'm not remembering. I love bringing people together to celebrate all of our stories.

My two Venezuelan friends, Liz Sandra and Gilde, brought the ingredients to make arepas, a truly delicious side dish typical of Venezuela. Made with a base of corn meal, they can be rounded and white (al estilo caraqueño), or flatter and yellow, colored with achiote (al estilo maracucho)


Arepas

Little did I know we were in for a chapter of the long-running but light-hearted feud between the caraqueños and the maracuchos! Gilde is from Caracas, and Liz is from Maracaibo.

Liz and Gilde both showed up with the main ingredient, a cornmeal flour called Harina Pan...


Harina Pan


...and their Tosty Arepas:


Tosty Arepas


La maracucha, Liz was also packing her achiote seeds to add color y sabor. The seeds are heated in oil until they release their color, then the oil is drained and added to the masa.

To make the masa for the arepas, you mix the Harina Pan with water and salt. Liz explained that there are heated discussions about the best way to do this – in some places you put the flour down first and then add the water; in others, you start with a bowl of water and add the Harina Pan into that. You mix and mix until you have a smooth masa.

La caraqueña, Gilde, kept her masa blanca, while Liz added the achiote-colored oil to give her masa a rich yellow glow.

Then to the preparation – two different cities, two different ways. Both started by breaking off a large chunk of masa and rolling it into a ball. But that's where the similarity ended. Liz flattened out each ball of dough and placed it on a hot iron griddle (my Mexican comal that I bought after my trip to Oaxaca). She toasted the disks on the griddle until they were browned, and then put them in the oven to finish cooking. The true test of whether she did it right? If they puffed up while in the oven. They did!! And they were delicious. (And by the way, she never used her Tosty Arepas!)


Arepas maracuchas

Gilde took her balls of dough and put them directly onto the Tosty Arepas. This is the coolest appliance! (I think it's going to be on my Christmas list ...) To add some more flavor, she took the pan drippings from the roast pork that had just come out of the oven and greased the Tosty Arepas with that. Close the lid of the Tosty Arepas, click it, let it cook through one cycle for soft arepas or two cycles for ones with a crispier outside, and they're done!


Arepas caraqueñas

There was no contest – there were two clear winners, both la arepa caraqueña and la arepa maracucha. Both were absolutely delicious, and were finished up so quickly that a second round of masa had to be made.

Now, the next morning, I'm wishing I had some for breakfast ..... they are often eaten for breakfast in Venezuela, and I can see why; I would eat them at every meal! .... Hmm, there's still some Harina Pan downstairs ...

LatinaLista and Sequoia Gateway

If you're already a regular reader of LatinaLista, a blog on "anything and everything, from a Latina perspective," written by journalist and public radio commentator Marisa Treviño, you know how great it is. If you're not familiar with it, click on over there right away! I read this every day, and I always learn something new.

LatinaLista's latest posting is on a wonderful program in California called Sequoia Gateway, which helps young Latinos in central California to develop both soccer and academic skills, with an eye toward college scholarships. I happen to have a personal connection with this program, since my former college roommate is the proud stepmom and stepmom-in-law to Amalia and Marvin Lopez, the founders and directors of the program. What a fabulous organization! I am always thrilled to learn about people like Amalia and Marvin, who are really making a difference in their communities.

Check out LatinaLista and learn all about Sequoia Gateway!

Las tres mamacitas

Las tres mamacitas 

My Three Muthas partners -- Martha and Nikki -- and I just launched our line of T-shirts for moms -- they're fun and funky shirts that say it all so moms don't have to.... Go to your room, Because I said so, What's the magic word, I need a time out..... A favorite at our first big sale this past weekend was the simple, yet universal, help....

We plan to add a Spanish line (What's Three Muthas in Spanish? las tres mamitas? las tres mamacitas?) and are looking for similar sayings that Spanish-speaking mamás always say to their kids. I've started an informal poll, and here are some of the suggestions we've gotten so far...

Pregúntale a tu papá

Dime con quien andas y te diré quien eres

¡Cierra la boca!

¡cierra la puerta!

¿¿¿ya???

¡¡¡Ven acá ahorita!!!

¡Te amo! ¡Te Quiero! ¡Bechito!!

¿De quien es ese culito? ¡¡de Mami!!

¡¡Rápido!!

¡¡Apúrate!!

¿Te cepillaste los dientes?

¿Estás sordo? ¿Como que hablo chino?

¡dije que no!

¡ya basta!

silencio

¡puchica vos! (new to me, but apparently what my Salvadoran friend's mom said all the time!)


If you have any great ideas, either for an English or Spanish camiseta, please pass them along -- if your idea is new to us, and we make it into a t-shirt, we'll send you the shirt for free!