I have decided to begin the translation of my grandfather's greatest work, the novel "La Trampa", or "The Trap". The novel consist of 461 dense pages of Spanish literature, his life autobiography until he was encarcerated. This includes the years during the rebellion in Cuba, the fall of Batista and the rise of Fidel Castro. The Bay of Pigs. His debauchery and use of women. His love of his country and family. His escape in the night from death. Days of starvation on a raft. I do not know how good I will be at this, but it is something that I have thought of doing for years, and now is as good as ever to start. If you are interested in seeing pictures of him or his paintings, look him up on the internet.
"LA TRAMPA" by Manuel Penabaz. Zoom Publishing, Miami 1983. Library of Congress Card No. 83-50033.
Youth is for making history,
old age for telling it, and childhood for listening to it.
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Manuel Penabaz Solorzano, and to my son, Manuel Ranulfo.
IN THE WAY OF A PROLOGUE
My dear Manolo,
I received your letter. Thank you for remembering me. I am very surprised at your rapid conviction. Not because I think you are innocent, but after looking into a street full of criminals, it is difficult to comprehend the velocity with which they took your case. I do not understand it.
Of course I will aid you in what you request.
As for the book, having analyzed it, I reccommend the following. Write the truth. Write it all, fall who falls. Do not attempt to justify yourself and do not embellish anything. Do not write literature, because you know nothing of that.
About Me
- Sofia
- California born by a Cuban mother, and having lived in Japan since 2004, with many former years in the California Bay Area and six in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I have friends and family throughout the world, and the web of trails it grows. I live the dream of traveling to many distant lands, creating music and dancing to it, meeting interesting people, discovering treasures in the most unlikely of places, and finally returning to the continent of my birth.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Windblown Seed
A log set to drift...
An insect in a typhoon...
A seed carried to another land...
Sets root
as only it can
and it can only
survive in another land
where its leaves might grow strangely
or its flowers face another hill
against a sun
from another angle
But it sets root
into the earth
determined
by destiny
Set out to live
Punishment
and blessings
Life
as only can be seen
from this angle
Grow
Grow little seed
into that sun
into that mountain
It is the same air
the same sun
and the same Earth
in perspective
Monday, June 21, 2010
My husband took me to one of Kyushu's amusement parks, Mitsui Greenland during spring break. This is a picture of the place next door, Ultraman Land.
I thought I would talk about some of the things that are poplular in Japan today. The boys love Ultraman. They also love another show that reminds me of Power Rangers, called KamenRider. The stars are insect or crustacean heroes and villains. The third fanaticism is with insects, especially large beetles. I wrote about them last year in this blog. My husband says that the children consider these insects heroes also.
I thought I would talk about some of the things that are poplular in Japan today. The boys love Ultraman. They also love another show that reminds me of Power Rangers, called KamenRider. The stars are insect or crustacean heroes and villains. The third fanaticism is with insects, especially large beetles. I wrote about them last year in this blog. My husband says that the children consider these insects heroes also.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The wave is going up
Life has those ebbs and flows... this time the wave is going up.
We have been going to look at the fireflies at night. They are sooo beautiful. They fly toward the car in a sparce wave, and then when we turn off the lights, they fly away, startled perhaps. They are so numerous, and the mountains are so steep that they are like a curtain of tiny soft lights, moving across the nightscape. The fireflies will only last until the big rain, Tsuyu, when it rains nonstop for a month.
We got our bathing suits in the mail today. Now we can go swimming at the pool. Ordering things online is much cheaper.
We are watching "The SOund of Music". It is a lovely movie, not at all boring or cheesy. I think it is a real piece of art. My father, Norbert, was born in Austria. It really gives a lovely view of the landscape and some traditions.
We have been going to look at the fireflies at night. They are sooo beautiful. They fly toward the car in a sparce wave, and then when we turn off the lights, they fly away, startled perhaps. They are so numerous, and the mountains are so steep that they are like a curtain of tiny soft lights, moving across the nightscape. The fireflies will only last until the big rain, Tsuyu, when it rains nonstop for a month.
We got our bathing suits in the mail today. Now we can go swimming at the pool. Ordering things online is much cheaper.
We are watching "The SOund of Music". It is a lovely movie, not at all boring or cheesy. I think it is a real piece of art. My father, Norbert, was born in Austria. It really gives a lovely view of the landscape and some traditions.
Monday, April 19, 2010
New School Year
In Japan the New School Year begins with Spring! I love spring. And summer.
Anyway, this year is really nice. I love my new English Teacher coworker, and am looking forward to working with her. I am also happy to be seeing the same students, one year older. They are so cute. With each year, and all of the "Shikis", or "Ceremonies", the students have grown just a bit. It is really interesting to me. I was commenting on the fact that there are so many ceremonies, when the new principal came in. He told me that in order for Japanese people to feel like they have gone up a level, they need the ceremonies. If not, they will stay the same forever... in the US and MExico, we just have a graduation ceremony. On the new day of school, if I remember correctly, there is no ceremony. But we still feel exited about the new year. And we still go up a year. I have two theories. One is that in order for the people to trust the rigid heirarchical system, they need to feel as though without the system they cannot survive. If people feel free, then they don't need anyone, they feel like they can do anything, they won't listen to those above them, or might make their own decisions more rapidly. Another reason is that the Japanese people want to feel supported by their society, and want society to help them along. These thoughts are obviously related, although I'm sure that the former is not widely conveyed to others, or even recognized. There are a lot of things here that are not recognized, simply because people are involved so deeply. From an outsider's perspective, things always look different. I have heard a lot of perspectives about US culture that might shock people over there, or which are not widely accepted points of view in the US, but which make complete sense. For example, why is whale meat not eaten? I myself do not eat whale meat, because I grew up in the states and find it disgusting. There is something stupendous about the animal, it is very intelligent, and that harpooning is cruel, etc, etc. OK, so then they come back at me and say, ok, why do you eat lobster by boiling it alive? So then are pigs not smart, or is it just the whale's size? If you really cared about animals, you'd stop buying from huge farms where they don't treat the animals humanely, etc. etc. The defenses and rebuttals go on forever. Let's go ask the Chinese and Koreans what dog tastes like.
Anyway, there was my agro rant for the day.
Today, I did some gardening at the JHS. I trimmed the trees again. I got to teach the new 1st graders and the 2nd graders English. They were so cute and excited. And then I came to JHS and taught 1st grade here (7th grade).
The weather is great today. Warm and humid. I LOVE IT. If only it was this way all year round. But then we wouldn't see the cherry blossoms in the spring!!
Anyway, this year is really nice. I love my new English Teacher coworker, and am looking forward to working with her. I am also happy to be seeing the same students, one year older. They are so cute. With each year, and all of the "Shikis", or "Ceremonies", the students have grown just a bit. It is really interesting to me. I was commenting on the fact that there are so many ceremonies, when the new principal came in. He told me that in order for Japanese people to feel like they have gone up a level, they need the ceremonies. If not, they will stay the same forever... in the US and MExico, we just have a graduation ceremony. On the new day of school, if I remember correctly, there is no ceremony. But we still feel exited about the new year. And we still go up a year. I have two theories. One is that in order for the people to trust the rigid heirarchical system, they need to feel as though without the system they cannot survive. If people feel free, then they don't need anyone, they feel like they can do anything, they won't listen to those above them, or might make their own decisions more rapidly. Another reason is that the Japanese people want to feel supported by their society, and want society to help them along. These thoughts are obviously related, although I'm sure that the former is not widely conveyed to others, or even recognized. There are a lot of things here that are not recognized, simply because people are involved so deeply. From an outsider's perspective, things always look different. I have heard a lot of perspectives about US culture that might shock people over there, or which are not widely accepted points of view in the US, but which make complete sense. For example, why is whale meat not eaten? I myself do not eat whale meat, because I grew up in the states and find it disgusting. There is something stupendous about the animal, it is very intelligent, and that harpooning is cruel, etc, etc. OK, so then they come back at me and say, ok, why do you eat lobster by boiling it alive? So then are pigs not smart, or is it just the whale's size? If you really cared about animals, you'd stop buying from huge farms where they don't treat the animals humanely, etc. etc. The defenses and rebuttals go on forever. Let's go ask the Chinese and Koreans what dog tastes like.
Anyway, there was my agro rant for the day.
Today, I did some gardening at the JHS. I trimmed the trees again. I got to teach the new 1st graders and the 2nd graders English. They were so cute and excited. And then I came to JHS and taught 1st grade here (7th grade).
The weather is great today. Warm and humid. I LOVE IT. If only it was this way all year round. But then we wouldn't see the cherry blossoms in the spring!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Google Image Searches in Different Languages
I recently gave this lesson to my students, but it really could benefit anyone doing image searches on the net if they have knowledge of the their own culture and another culture.
I had to relearn this myself today while looking for cake images online. English Google really doesn't have much as far as nice photos of cakes. I don't know why. But the Japanese are rather obsessive about their food, and have somewhat of a food fetish nationwide. This is easily proven by the fact that 60% of the TV shows are about what restaurant has the best food in a certain area. Anyway, they like to photograph food as well. You can find BEAUTIFUL photos online. I searched for cake in Google Japan, and lo and behold, there was a huge selection of excellent photos to choose from. Perfect lighting, put into a perfect scene. It was great. Highly recommend it. www.google.co.jp
When it gives you the option to choose Japanese letters below (katakana), choose the ones closest to the search bar.
Here is the direct link for what I found. Just copy and paste into your address bar.
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&source=hp&q=%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AD&btnG=%E7%94%BB%E5%83%8F%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
If you want to compare what is available on the English Google, just go to your regular google search page, go to images, and search for cake. The results, compared, are dismal. However, the interesting thing is that depending on what you are searching for, your results can be better on the English site, for example, any Japanese Animation earch will give you better results in English. If you search for the colors of the rainbow in each, the results are very interesting and show differences in what is appreciated by each culture, or the history of the use of the color by that culture. Try green. Or blue.
If you want another interesting experiment in culture, go to the Wikipedia home page. Then in two corresponding windows, select the Japanese Page, and the English page. Search for anything.
The results will be completely different. It makes me wish I knew ten languages.
I had to relearn this myself today while looking for cake images online. English Google really doesn't have much as far as nice photos of cakes. I don't know why. But the Japanese are rather obsessive about their food, and have somewhat of a food fetish nationwide. This is easily proven by the fact that 60% of the TV shows are about what restaurant has the best food in a certain area. Anyway, they like to photograph food as well. You can find BEAUTIFUL photos online. I searched for cake in Google Japan, and lo and behold, there was a huge selection of excellent photos to choose from. Perfect lighting, put into a perfect scene. It was great. Highly recommend it. www.google.co.jp
When it gives you the option to choose Japanese letters below (katakana), choose the ones closest to the search bar.
Here is the direct link for what I found. Just copy and paste into your address bar.
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&source=hp&q=%E3%82%B1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AD&btnG=%E7%94%BB%E5%83%8F%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
If you want to compare what is available on the English Google, just go to your regular google search page, go to images, and search for cake. The results, compared, are dismal. However, the interesting thing is that depending on what you are searching for, your results can be better on the English site, for example, any Japanese Animation earch will give you better results in English. If you search for the colors of the rainbow in each, the results are very interesting and show differences in what is appreciated by each culture, or the history of the use of the color by that culture. Try green. Or blue.
If you want another interesting experiment in culture, go to the Wikipedia home page. Then in two corresponding windows, select the Japanese Page, and the English page. Search for anything.
The results will be completely different. It makes me wish I knew ten languages.
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