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Mis Queridas (My Loved Ones),

Yesterday I had my first lesson via Skype with mi querida maestra (my dear teacher) at Colibrí School in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. If you’re like me you are wondering what in the world is really going on there?! Between my lesson with Diana and emails with the school’s founder Noelia Corrales, I am understanding more. I am sad in the depths of me. Add to this a slightly increased political understanding of “caudillos” (Franco, Somoza, Ortega, Trump, etc.) from my Barcelonian Spanish professor. It is easy to despair.

So I was glad to receive the opportunity to donate to Feeding Innovation in Nica Crisis. Noelia vouches for this intermediary – thank you and may God bless you, Sara Clark – and that is good enough for me. I have been assured that contributing in this way (as well as signing up for Skype lessons at $12US per hour through Colibrí ‘s secure site)  is the best way to support our friends at this time. Through lessons you too can add to your Spanish vocabulary with words like “tranque.”

This brick dam is a form of peaceful, smart resistance. It was built in our beloved Matagalpa by the people to slow traffic and therefore the economy. This is one way to alert the president and vice president (his wife) and encourage them to step down. For recent background as I understand it, unrest exploded this spring when the government refused assistance from Costa Rica and other Central American countries to quell the forest fire in Indio Maíz Reserve. This is a protected area where business collided with the environment in the quest for African palm oil production that led to deforestation. Next, social security was rescinded. The elderly in León protested first and were beated back. Since then – April 18 is a key date – many around the country have responded in protest. Benefits were restored but not trust, beleaguered though it was.

That said, my concern is for mi familia nicarangüense (my Nicaraguan family) and indigenous women in Matagalpa. As you can imagine, the arrival of tourists has fallen off completely. Tourism is the livelihood of many and one way we have been able to share our wealth with largesse in the past. Now it’s gofundme. After all, I want to make sure our friends have enough to eat.

You can help meet Feeding Innovation’s stretch goal of $14K. As you will see at the site, no gift is too large or too small.

For me, here is the true advantage of social media. No más fronteras (no more borders), people! Let’s make this happen.

Con mucho amor,

Penny

 

 

 

 

 

Estudio español en la Universidad de Washington este verano. Hay seis estudiantes en mi clase y mi profesora fue la profesora de mi hijo hace diez años. Ayer, recibí la cuenta de la matrícula. Era solamente $24.02 porque soy una vieja y puedo auditar las clases por una tarífa baja. ¡Qué buena suerte! La composición segunda para esta clase se supone contar que pasó en mis años de instituto como lo recuerdo.

Desde instituto he ido un hilo fuerte de todas cosas de conexión con otras personas en mi vida personal y profesional. Tenía suerte porque era suficiente inteligente y las tareas de instituto fueron fáciles para mí. Asi que no estudiaba mucho sino que hablaba con mis amigos. Al tiempo, jugaba tenis o hockey cada tarde con otras en los equipos deportes. No era muy atlética sino que era suficiente coordenada y activa. También los deportes me dababan las oportunidades de juntarme con mis amigas.

No aprendía español en escuela sino que estudiaba francés. Esta materia no era muy interesante pero el verano después de instituto, viajé con un grupo de mi iglesia a México. Enseguida mi interés en otras lenguas se cambió porque había escuchado a hispanohablantes quienes estaban hablando su idioma nativo. Me di cuenta que saber otras lenguas es una manera de más conexión. Ahora, al cabo de décadas, lo estoy estudiando por fin.

Influencias afueras de instituto me afectaban tanto como mis amigos y las materias académicas. Por ejemplo, mi prima nació con discapacidades. Entonces eso y mi personalidad social hacían una combinación de psicología y educación una carrera buena para mi. En mis cincuenta, añadía español a la mezcla. En realidad, cuando terminé cuarto años de instituto, ya había empezado la trayectoria de mi vida.

Penny Reid, SPAN 201 Composición 2, 29/6/2018

Cuando era en mis cincuenta, viajaba a Nicaragua muchas veces y escribí un libro sobre mis experiencias, especialmente sobre aprender español en la edad media, paso a paso. Lo publiqué independientemente. En general, el proceso fue un accidente. Después de esta expericiencia, empecé un blog. Usualmente, los autores construyen una presencia web primero porque es buena publicidad para libros y es màs barato que los servicios de un agente.

Por eso, quiero inventar una aplicación se llama Agente Automático (o sus siglas AA). Por un precio fijo, como cien dólares, se puede comprarlo. !Que económica! Es una aplicación con la que puede acceder a Internet. También, AA funciona con computadoras portàtiles e inalàmbricas. Para usarla, primero, tu pongas tu libro en un estante del plàstico afuera de tu ordenador. AA lo lee. Después de eso, enchufe algunos más datos de tu creación y la voz en inglés o español o cualquier lengua que se necesite conta la historia corta sobre tu libro. AA llamarà tiendas, escuelas, iglesias y empresas alrededor del mundo sobre tu libro. Les dará información especifica de todos. Tu puedes compartir tu libro fácilmente con AA y posible los venderá muchos e incluso ganará premio.

Composición 1, SPAN 201

25/6/2018

When I am between novels, I am at a bit of a loss. I fish around for the next well-crafted tale that captivates me and is worth sinking into. TV is the same way, even more challenging because I prefer to settle in with Rob. We enjoyed Downton Abbey together and then Stranger Things. From there El GranHotel and Broadchurch. In between most shows that we agree on, we fiddle around. One or the other of us has the wand and we bicker. Yes or no? Too creepy or a chick flick? Can’t we just agree on those nights before we bring our supper plates to our laps in front of the widescreen instead of wasting time searching and arguing?

Imagine my delight when we fell easily into the good old-fashioned phenomenon of reading aloud. We were driving between Aberdeen and Ocean Shores, about 90 minutes give or take. We were engrossed, surprisingly, in the Revelation to John. Yes, bingeing on the Bible. Rob was driving. It was sunny out. I started reading thinking I’d tackle some of my theology homework starting with one or two or maybe five of the last 22 chapters of the Bible.

The significance wasn’t lost on me. I had started this project of reading the entire Bible, cover-to-cover two years ago. I’ve studied with a dozen others in our Episcopal Diocese, meeting once a week for discussion and prayers, snack and camaraderie. The read-aloud seemed a worthy activity while traveling except that, frankly, Revelation has always seemed a little spooky to me and brashly judgmental too with the rapture and stuff – who’s in and who’s out. This is after all decidedly not my understanding of “heaven.” It makes more sense to me that we are all evolving into spirit. I’d rather invite a physicist to my funeral before this John character.

And Rob is basically a scientist first. Somehow over the years, we have found and enjoyed church together – prayers and sacred music and being part of a welcoming, intergenerational community. But Rob’s practical approach to life as well as his loving, open heart, have kept me tethered here on earth amongst the living instead of spinning out periodically on the visions/hallucinations God offers me.

So when I found myself reading one chapter of Revelation after another out loud the other day, I was amazed. We were drawn together into a magnificent story complete with superheroes and special effects. Albeit Rob was driving, thus captured, what could he say? But I did pause occasionally to underline or to ask him, “What in God’s name does that mean?” and then “Should I read a few more pages?” The creatures! The battles! Such imagination! And colors too! Thunder and earthquakes! Multitudes of people and angels! Um, um.

I realized we were bingeing together in the best way. After all, the book of Revelation starts with blessing “the one who reads aloud the words…and those who hear.” (1:3) This was certainly my experience, maybe Rob’s too with his repeated acknowledgements, “Trippy.” “Sure, read on.” “What happens next?” It helps that we have good friends on the island of Patmos where the book was written.

The final chapters sprang from the page and through my own voice into the air surrounding us in Rob’s white MPV van amidst a shower of fire. Talk about a special effect! Could Rob be a superhero too? In reality the sun filtered through the forest alongside the road casting dappled shadows on the pages. Given our movement, the light jumped and danced on the page similar to the effect cast by a giant mirror ball. Along with locusts equipped for battle with human hair, lion’s teeth and tails like scorpions, a pale green horse galloped across the page.  Next came a white horse with a rider whose cape dripped with blood. I squinted my eyes at one point, enough to let only the fantastic light of stardust through. This is what we are made of after all.

The words of story are captured briefly but not finally. Instead when, like children, we are spellbound offering up our time and attention to the miracle of great story and ancient wisdom, we find each other whirling through, surrounded by “a river of the water of life, bright as crystal.” (22:1) And “nothing accursed will be found here any more.” (22:3)

As we barreled along at 60 miles per hour, I shivered, reading the last of the Bible’s 1,400 pages aloud to my prince as well as to my King.

Just when I finally feel like a valuable part of a team that is firing on all cylinders,  it’s time for a pause. The school district (my employer) has agreed I’ve earned a leave for next year. I can pursue my dream of learning Spanish and celebrating her many cultures.

I call it “Penny’s Passion Project.” For this term, I credit Tamarashazam, the fellow blogger and fun second grade teacher who operates in my neighborhood cluster at school. Since she’s nearby I get to hear Tamara laugh often and direct her charges all day long. One of the things I like most is hearing her encourage young writers. Oh and her love of pretend and costuming. In response to this photo a youngster who knew her well asked, “Hey, is that a wig?”

I am especially grateful to work near Tamara because this school year has been a bit of a bear for me. Who’d think that a work week consisting of two days could make for such an arduous stretch? After all I have been able to carve out time for two extended trips (to Europe and Nicaragua) and have earned health benefits. Most importantly I have meaningful work on my plate—counseling five to twelve-year-olds in an elementary school. And my colleagues are decent and well-led. I feel alive at Oak Heights Elementary and the time flies by.

So what is it? One factor is I work Thursdays and Fridays and this school has 640 kids. It’s the largest of its type in our district. That means I arrive each week when the train is already going at breakneck speed. I need a hand-up which is a lot to ask when everyone is so bloody busy. I’ve learned to appreciate help from several on the team.

That’s a key word at Oak Heights and every other school I know of—team—and I didn’t have a lot to contribute to this important concept at the beginning of the school year because I was a new staff member. While I have served children and families in lots of places over the years, it had been almost ten years since I had worked in an elementary school. Over time I have introduced myself (with my sidekick puppet, Mo Jo Banana Monkey), developed and taught classroom lessons for grades K – 6 on personal safety and anti-bullying, and created small group counseling opportunities for struggling students. Ordinarily I do like being given a clean slate to color on and this has been intense.

I took over facilitation of the Problem-Solving Team too, an operation where teamwork flourishes or flounders. I inherited a solid group of talented, dedicated educators but why should they have trusted new-to-them me to steer through the inevitable politics and riptides? It’s been rocky. We’re starting to navigate as one finally but it’s already May.

Rob thinks a harder year is helping me consider retiring someday, like he did six years ago. Maybe this is the nudge I need to leave consistent work in schools behind, work I have treasured by the way.

Thus I am thankful for the likes of Tamara…and several others. I’m glad I get to move toward another passion-filled effort that I am excited about instead of running away from a difficult task.

So, I’m finding this transition period at work, with classrooms full of eight-year-olds and their fabulous teachers surrounding me, to be bittersweet. Nevertheless, immersing myself in Latin America for extended periods sounds wonderful. And I’ll have more to give back when I return again to schools, churches, hospitals. After all, more and more bilingual Spanish/English speakers are my neighbors and there will always be bridging work here at home.