Today H told me one of those anecdotes I love.
This is Latin America over 4 decades ago. He was about 13 and his sister about a year older.
He's in church and, for some reason, maybe an unspoken dare, he decides to take communion without having confessed. As I understand, nowadays one can take communion if one has done some sort of interior confession, contrition, reconciliation (correct me if I'm wrong). Back then, though, communion could only be taken after a real confession with a priest. Both Confession and Communion are sacraments, and these things have a proper order in the Catholic Church.
H was starting to question the rules after years of being subjected to the strict discipline of Catholic schools. One of the things he has mentioned to me many times is that even Sundays - early early - he had to trudge across town to school to attend mandatory mass (and that, after a half day of school on Saturday).
So, this one time he gets up in church to take communion without having confessed, and he remembers his older sister asking him -maybe hissing at him loudly because she was sitting in another row, "Did you confess? Did you confess?"
Why do I find it so fascinating? Is it the evidence of a kind of innocent Catholic faith combined with the whole sibling squabble... I can strongly relate to the latter but not the former. I see H being maybe a little nervous about his decision. Why else is the moment still clear for him? I can't put it into words. OK - I'll just accept that very few people will find this interesting, but I tried.
24 July 2010
26 June 2010
John Travolta or Elvis?
Those guys (and Baryshnikov for that matter) have nothing on this dancing machine. He has a mullet now, but refuses to cut his hair because he can refuse. He likes to say that if the mullet ever comes back in style, he's set and all the other poor fools will have to wait months before the hair grows out. (So, at least he's not taking this all too seriously). I was worried because, before the dance, he was actually letting me "teach him" how to dance salsa. Well, after just three short lessons with me, he could pace back and forth muttering "one, two, three, rest" - and he did this with absolutely no grace,style or enthusiasm. I can see that I should have just let him be, because it turns out that he dances a mean "jig."
But, how could I let it be... It was the first time in MONTHS that he was willing to acknowledge that I might have something to teach him. It felt sweet for those few minutes...
El Mundial
En 2006, Francia e Italia se encontraron en el final...
En 2010, se encontraron en el aeropuerto...
¿Es posible mirar el equipo de uno sin sentir que el árbitro está favoreciendo el otro lado? ¿Qué tiene el futbol que alborota tanto el nacionalismo? Hace unos días hablé con alguien que tiene nacionalidad mixta (EEUU y Costa Rica). Lo que me pareció tan interesante es que, basado en un partido que vio hace 12 años, si no más, este amigo no quiere para nada el equipo de los EEUU (futbol)... Prefiere Holanda o Costa Rica.
Me da cierta ternura que la experiencia de haber visto este equipo estadounidense que jugó en Costa Rica y que después se portó muy mala nota antes de salir del país, haya afectado tanto a la persona. Me acuerdo, que en esa época me contó, con bastante emoción, lo sucedido. Estaba en Costa Rica y vio la reacción alrededor suyo, y la tomó a pecho tanto que todavía hoy, cuando ni el entrenador ni los jugadores son los mismos, no puede apoyar a uno de sus países en el futbol.
Estoy segura que no estaría de acuerdo con mi interpretación - que diría que es una cosa más lógica que tiene que ver únicamente con el estilo del equipo. Pero, no importa; tampoco puedo jurar que tengo toda la información.
En pocas palabras, a mí lo que me importa es que nuestra conversación reciente me ha dado materia parapensar.
Para el planeta lo mejor sería que todo el mundo tuviera un poco de esa ambivalencia. El nacionalismo es demasiado peligroso en su forma pura - ser "pro-Holanda" en el mundial y "pro-Mexico" en la comida y "pro-Canadá" en cuanto a su actitud hacia ... las armas, pues, nos protege. Lo opuesto es más incómodo decirlo, pero podemos ser "anti-Holanda", "anti-México," y "anti-Canadá" (y claro, anti-__________ <-- meta el nombre de su propio país) sin necesariamente sentir rencor u odio... A ver... los tres ejemplos en orden, serían algo así: anti-Holanda por la intolerancia cada vez más evidente entre musulmanes y cristianos, anti-México por la violencia y corrupción preocupante, y al pobre Canadá podemos reclamar la divisón entre hablantes de francés e inglés.
Tengo una larga historia con el tema del nacionalismo.
En 2010, se encontraron en el aeropuerto...
¿Es posible mirar el equipo de uno sin sentir que el árbitro está favoreciendo el otro lado? ¿Qué tiene el futbol que alborota tanto el nacionalismo? Hace unos días hablé con alguien que tiene nacionalidad mixta (EEUU y Costa Rica). Lo que me pareció tan interesante es que, basado en un partido que vio hace 12 años, si no más, este amigo no quiere para nada el equipo de los EEUU (futbol)... Prefiere Holanda o Costa Rica.
Me da cierta ternura que la experiencia de haber visto este equipo estadounidense que jugó en Costa Rica y que después se portó muy mala nota antes de salir del país, haya afectado tanto a la persona. Me acuerdo, que en esa época me contó, con bastante emoción, lo sucedido. Estaba en Costa Rica y vio la reacción alrededor suyo, y la tomó a pecho tanto que todavía hoy, cuando ni el entrenador ni los jugadores son los mismos, no puede apoyar a uno de sus países en el futbol.
Estoy segura que no estaría de acuerdo con mi interpretación - que diría que es una cosa más lógica que tiene que ver únicamente con el estilo del equipo. Pero, no importa; tampoco puedo jurar que tengo toda la información.
En pocas palabras, a mí lo que me importa es que nuestra conversación reciente me ha dado materia parapensar.
Para el planeta lo mejor sería que todo el mundo tuviera un poco de esa ambivalencia. El nacionalismo es demasiado peligroso en su forma pura - ser "pro-Holanda" en el mundial y "pro-Mexico" en la comida y "pro-Canadá" en cuanto a su actitud hacia ... las armas, pues, nos protege. Lo opuesto es más incómodo decirlo, pero podemos ser "anti-Holanda", "anti-México," y "anti-Canadá" (y claro, anti-__________ <-- meta el nombre de su propio país) sin necesariamente sentir rencor u odio... A ver... los tres ejemplos en orden, serían algo así: anti-Holanda por la intolerancia cada vez más evidente entre musulmanes y cristianos, anti-México por la violencia y corrupción preocupante, y al pobre Canadá podemos reclamar la divisón entre hablantes de francés e inglés.
Tengo una larga historia con el tema del nacionalismo.
18 June 2010
The invisible man?
This actually happened in my house on Thursday this week.
Important background info. On this particular day I had been cleaning the house and preparing dinner for neighbors. It wasn't normal cleaning - it's the type of real work that I only seem to get to if I invite someone over. My Husband had the day off and has spent it watching the World Soccer Cup. At 10 a.m. H. answered phone - call from son at school. I can't remember exactly what was said, but I got the idea that our son said that he really had better talk to me. So I picked up the phone.
Son:: "Mom, bring me my French horn. Oh, and on the way, could you stop and get a bag of chips, please?"
OK - I had an errand to do anyway... I had meant to tell son to put the band instrument out the night before. (And clearly, the kid had forgotten to mention a party in some class for which he had promised chips.) So, I didn't get mad.
After school that same day:
Son rushes home and heads straight to the computer to write a speech for model UN try-outs. He hadn't planned to do this activity, but the teacher in charge had encouraged him strongly to go for it (in school that day) and so he decides to audition.
rush rush, write write, scrub scrub scrub
Two hours later:
Me: On my hands and knees scrubbing floor.
Hubby: Lying on sofa.
Son: Comes out of room where he has been preparing speech. He's running late. As he walks down the stairs, he has to look past his father lounging in the living room in order to talk to me in the dining room, "Mom, start the car."
Me: "Your dad drives also."
Son: "He's not even wearing a shirt." Goes back into the room to print speech.
So, I explained to H. what son needs... As H. gets up to walk up the stairs (slowly) to get a shirt on, I restrain myself from running to start the car.
End of story: he got there on time, but doesn't think he got into model UN.
P.S. It's a good thing I didn't get mad about the French horn phone call. I had insisted to son that he had his in-school French horn lesson even though the school year is basically over. But son told me later that when he walked into the music room, teacher looked up and said, "What are you doing here?"
Important background info. On this particular day I had been cleaning the house and preparing dinner for neighbors. It wasn't normal cleaning - it's the type of real work that I only seem to get to if I invite someone over. My Husband had the day off and has spent it watching the World Soccer Cup. At 10 a.m. H. answered phone - call from son at school. I can't remember exactly what was said, but I got the idea that our son said that he really had better talk to me. So I picked up the phone.
Son:: "Mom, bring me my French horn. Oh, and on the way, could you stop and get a bag of chips, please?"
OK - I had an errand to do anyway... I had meant to tell son to put the band instrument out the night before. (And clearly, the kid had forgotten to mention a party in some class for which he had promised chips.) So, I didn't get mad.
After school that same day:
Son rushes home and heads straight to the computer to write a speech for model UN try-outs. He hadn't planned to do this activity, but the teacher in charge had encouraged him strongly to go for it (in school that day) and so he decides to audition.
rush rush, write write, scrub scrub scrub
Two hours later:
Me: On my hands and knees scrubbing floor.
Hubby: Lying on sofa.
Son: Comes out of room where he has been preparing speech. He's running late. As he walks down the stairs, he has to look past his father lounging in the living room in order to talk to me in the dining room, "Mom, start the car."
Me: "Your dad drives also."
Son: "He's not even wearing a shirt." Goes back into the room to print speech.
So, I explained to H. what son needs... As H. gets up to walk up the stairs (slowly) to get a shirt on, I restrain myself from running to start the car.
End of story: he got there on time, but doesn't think he got into model UN.
P.S. It's a good thing I didn't get mad about the French horn phone call. I had insisted to son that he had his in-school French horn lesson even though the school year is basically over. But son told me later that when he walked into the music room, teacher looked up and said, "What are you doing here?"
07 June 2010
Graphic power point presentation on the Illegal Drug trade
I forgot to warn those who view the powerpoint presentation (the link is below) on illegal drugs. It is very graphic.
The illegal drug trade
Wow. I just saw this power point on the illegal drug trade, and I recommend it to you if your kids are at that point where they have to start making these tough decisions.
The presentation was written and put together by a teenager - and it's just a reminder that when anyone buys or uses illegal drugs, the ramifications go far beyond that individual decision.
Not only the user is hurt (to which he or she can say, "It's my body"); people all over who get caught up in the violence.
Click here:
PS: if that doesn't work, paste in the following link.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B29NZYct1MouM2Y4MDJiYmMtYjZkOC00ZDA2LWIwZjctNjQ1MDM4YTI2YWZh&hl=en
What do you think about this?
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