ele jou: tres

(how to keep a lightbulb)

(peli parade)


(shadow box)

(pattern cacaphony)

(stripes and balls)






i forget how, in truly foreign places, even simple things can be exhausting. this is especially true for a person like me who wrings the most out of every experience. for instance, i want to learn spanish. of course, i did not study spanish, i studied italian but CLOSE ENOUGH! it is a romance language and if i get a root concept, it can be amended with some shifting of emphasis and vowelage. i constantly ask: ¿cómo se dice que en español? (how do you say THAT in spanish?) and slowly, slowly, i am gathering a vocabulary. plus, i have some strong pantomime skills and am not afraid to look foolish. this helps a great deal.

i watch the way people use their lips, the shapes they make as sound comes out of their mouths, and this is my detective work (in places like denmark, it is useless because they do not make sounds with their lips - they make sounds from somewhere half-way down their throats. but here in mexico, words sound a lot like they look...). i am a papagayo (parrot) and, like a child, for better or for worse, i learn by repeating what other people say.

it was Sarah's birthday today and we brought her two flowers from the market, a book and a printed scarf. also we took her to a special coffee place where she had the best chai latte of her lifetime.

(long live queen Sarah)

we walked a very very long way today and now i must put my feet in bed.