Let’s see how long I can continue the photo a day project.
August 1: Alfred and I had finally had the chance to resume our Friday evening outings. This time around we caught the end of Manny Ramirez’s debut with the Dodgers at a local Mexican/Salvadorean restaurant, Gloria’s. Afterwards, we caught up at the recently opened Father’s Office location near my apartment. They have tons of beers on tap. It was tough to choose, so I let Alfred pick an Alaskan White Ale for me.
Continue reading
When you’ve been blogging for a while, you realize something. People quit blogging all the time. Some of my favorite bloggers no longer post or took long breaks from their blogs. They’re off becoming attorneys or working on their dreams of becoming professional writers. Sometimes, we just realize that we shared too much and need to take a step back.
Anyway, one of my favorite bloggers was the <a href="http://dailytexican.blogspot.com/"Daily Texican. He stopped blogging when he moved to Seattle for law school a few years ago. One of my favorite DT features was the “cholo word of the day.” DT defined Caló, Spanglish, or common Spanish phrase (e.g., chota, Entiendes Mendez). He’d also use the words/phrases in clever sentences and translate them for non-Chicana/o consumption. I loved the translations.
In honor of DT, I’m focusing the QOTW on Caló and Spanglish.
La Pregunta: Do you use Caló and/or Spanglish words/phrases in your daily life? What’s your favorite Caló and/or Spanglish word/phrase(s)? If you’d like, define the word/phrase a la DT (see above for an example).
En la esquina de Breed y la Primera esperé detrás del autobús anaranjado. Aunque que el área sea familiar, parece muy distinto con la construcción del metro. Ya no existe la escuelita pre-kinder cerca de Utah. En esa escuela adornada con un lindo mural, ensayabamos con Sergio y su grupo, Danza Tenochtilán.
En un momento, la luz cambió de rojo a verde y el autobús avanzó rumbo al este. En la esquina al sureste vi una palabra pintada en la pared: MAZATL.
***
MAZATL. Inmediatamente traducí la palabra. ¡El venado!
No tengo que explicarte que Mazatl significa venado en Nahuatl, el idioma de los Mexica (o Aztecas) por que tú me enseñasté Mazatl, una danza en que se recree el juego entre cazadores y los venados.
Me avanzé más y MAZATL se convertió en MAZATLAN MARKET.
MAZATLAN. Una linda ciudad. Quiero recordarme de los cinco días que pasé allí hace cuatro años. Quiero acordarmé de la sensación de volar sobre la playa en paracaídas, del agua tibia de la mar y del asombro de ver el más lindo atardecer de mi vida. Pero no. Esas memorias lindas de Mazatlán se convierten en memorias de ti, el Venado.
Continue reading
The July Project documents each day in July. For the first twenty days check here and here.
July 21: On my way to meet with freshmen, I saw this sign in the parking structure. This photo is the reason I never leave home without my digital camera.
Continue reading
Lotería Chicana 