I don't know Spanish.
I think I should. I grew up around a little bit of Spanish. My grandpa (who lived next door), and my tio, who also lived next door, and my other neighbor, Tony, and my grandpa's cousin, who also lived next door--all spoke Spanish.
I guess I should explain what "next door" is in Santa Fe. We all kind of lived "next door". I grew up in an old part of Santa Fe. I mean, I suppose all of Santa Fe is an old part.
*Rabbit Hole* now I want to know when the houses I lived in were built. I won't do that now.
Okay, so I grew up close to the intersection of Guadalupe and Agua Fria. There's no rhyme or reason to the neighborhood design. Houses just went up where they went up.
I mean, check out this image from Google Earth. Not sure if it illustrates my point very well, but it's a cool image either way. What I'm trying to say is that this area more than likely predated cars. I really don't know, but I could look at a historical map.
Okay, had to look it up. Here's a website I found in a quick google search.
Sweet images. Looks like cars were in New Mexico around 1905.
This rabbit hole I did go in. Maps.
Officially my favorite map.
So, yeah. My neighborhood predated cars.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Spanish. I remember talking a bit of Spanish to my Tio and to Tony. It consisted of only, a "Hi, Tony. Como estas?" and he'd respond with "Muy bien, usted?". Same with Tio.
And my grandpa didn't speak Spanish to me, but he would sing Spanish. He was a musician, and he loved mariachi music. I would watch him practice on his
vihuela and he would sing. He would also play his harp (that he made) and sing songs. I'd watch him play and sing in Spanish. Some of my favorite memories.
And now that I'm getting older, I'm coming to appreciate where I came from more. I'm sad that my generation lost the language, but I'm hoping to bring it back a bit. I'm doing some Duolingo lessons, and I'm learning a bit. Maybe I can encourage my kids to learn Spanish, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment