La Malinche

When I hear the name of “La Malinche”, I automatically think ‘translator and traitor’ to her people in Mexico. Usually what I have learned about this woman, that she was a translator who helped Hernan Cortez in communicating with other Native Americans that later attacked the Aztec’s. She became a mistress to Cortez and had the first “Mexican” son. Then well of course, Octavio Paz reinforces this known view of La Malinche even more with his writing about her. His writing is very well known all around the world, he attempts to write about the history and the meaning of La Malinche and being a Mexican.

He simply states that Mexican women can relate to la Malinche because they are “chingadas”, because women have a complex. The literal translation of ‘chingada’ is that women are ‘screwed’ by men and well in the aspects of their lives in society in and outside of Mexico. The complex is because of they are descendants; there is an inferiority that is felt by all women and men due to the history of Mexico. For men, since they have blood of “La Malinche” then they can also suffer the curse that is hereditary, and become traitors too. For a long time Paz’ interpretation of La Malinche in Mexican history was widely popular, now we have new and more positive views of her.

She has now become the symbol of a strong woman in the history of Mexican people. There are just reasoning to come to this representation. We know that she first was sold between tribes, and then given to Cortez. La Malinche was still able to learn different languages, she was a smart woman. In what she could, to dictate her life she made decisions. She lived in a world where others controlled almost everything. In her mind, she was saving her tribe from the cruelty of the Aztecs. However, it happened that the Spaniards had other plans for her and her land. She was a strong woman in her time, but as always, a person can be seen as either bad and a traitor or good and strong.

-RA

What is a “bad girl”?

What is a “bad girl”? This is something I asked myself after reading “The Bad Girl” by Mario Vargas Llosa. This book is amazing! I loved the story…a man in love with the same woman throughout his entire life, a woman who rejects him time and time again.

Obviously, Lily (the bad girl) can easily be described as bad because she was cold and very cruel. However, was there an underlying message in the tale? Are women who go against the conventions of relationships, honesty, and commitment really bad people? For centuries, women who do not conform to societal norms set by men are deemd outcasts, undesirables. It is a trend that continues to this day.

Read this book, and please comment!

LG

HABRA MUCHAS “BAD GIRLS” EN EL MUNDO?

 

Esta historia es una historia de mucha intriga  que nos hace pensar que haríamos si una persona como “la niña mala” o bien, “un niño malo” que tambien los hay, se cruzara en nuestro camino …

Una novela de amor de hoy, de erotismo, con encuentros, separaciones, sufrimientos, engaños, entrega, y también mucha verdad, y en la que Vargas Llosa analiza minuciosamente la condición humana.  Travesuras de la niña mala recorre la vida amorosa de un pobre hombre, y en paralelo, la de Perú y la de los artistas latinoamericanos fascinados por Europa, antes de que Europa quedase fascinada por ellos según el punto de vista de muchos lectores que hemos quedado cautivados por la sinceridad de Vargas LLosa y sus personajes. Tiene algo de la novela de moda, que mezcla historia con narrativa. Muestra al protagonista en escenarios tan distintos como un barrio elegante de Lima en los años ‘50, París de los ‘60, Londres de los ‘70 y Tokio de los ‘80, por lo cual a las personas que les agrada saber sobre la forma de vida en ciertas etapas de la historia les sentará muy bien.

Hubo momentos en el libro en los que me cansó un poco la repetición del tema (el interés y la avaricia con que la ya no tan “niña” insistía y en el que se desenvolvió gran parte de su juventud) y deseaba que en una de todas esas duras experiencias escarmentara y cambiara su forma de ser. Sin embargo parece que en ella se ejemplifica bien el dicho popular que dice que “arbol que nace torcido jamás su tronco endereza.” Hubo partes que eran tan fantasiosas que dieron pie al cuestionamiento de hasta que punto esta novela podía tener lugar en el mundo real.

“Como en todas mis novelas, he pretendido mezclar realidad y fantasía y he volcado mi experiencia en la construcción de un contexto histórico”, ha confesado a la publicación El Pais el propio autor, quien descarta haber creado una novela “autobiográfica”, aunque sí reconoce en ella algún tono “nostálgico” o ciertos apuntes de los “desgarros” o “exaltaciones” que acompañan a la experiencia amorosa.

La historia no es solamente el relato fijo de una relación sado-masquista, hay vertientes del libro que lo hacen muy interesante y muestran al verdadero Vargas Llosa.

 

 

 

For a Million Dollars- What is Love?

What is love? It has always been a common question. We as humans long for a significant other. Being lonely is not a great option to be in life. But the trick is- knowing what or who to look for in this life to share the rest of your life. When I was little girl, wanting or liking a boy was nice. It was nice to think another boy was really cute, funny, and kind. Wow all the butterflies in the stomach one gets when knowing about spending time or that first kiss with the boy. When I thought of my first kiss, I wanted it to be with someone I really had ‘feelings’ for and well someone who was going to have a relationship with for a long time. Later in my teen years, my first kiss was a sloppy one and the boyfriend only lasted a month! Still none-the-less it is simply nice to think with that innocence and perfection. There are relationships where a couple were each others ‘first’ in all senses and have been together for all their lives. While many other people have other stories to tell that are not of love lasting a life time.

For most finding that special someone is a main goal in life. Personally, just living my life and enjoying it in all sense is not that bad at all. Love can be experience through many people in your life. Of course a romantic love is not the same as love of a family or a friend. Usually I would know people that being without a girlfriend or a boyfriend was a bad and depressing time for them. The romantic slow songs always talk about how much love exists, needing one another, missing someone, and even hurting. For sure there is a lot involve in loving; a lot of emotions and even effort. The phrase of ‘the other half’ is used to address the people in a relationship. For most the ‘love of their life’ means having someone in their lives that completes them. The senses of needing, depending, and I guess the company more than anything means to love someone.

Lately I have been more aware of people who seem to be totally ok; going through their youth and later years without having someone by their side. It is rare to talk about not wanting to marry or even have a relationship. I think knowing what love is or being ‘in loving’ with someone does entail many aspects of emotions and decisions. It sure helps if one knows oneself, knows what one wants in life, and/or a purpose. Now and again, I see people who tend to ‘love’ someone that tells them what to do in life. Or some just ‘love’ someone who is just attractive and don’t really care about their personality or attitudes in life. It has been interesting to ponder the question of ‘what is love?’, because even I have noticed how my own answers have changed. Love does not signify having a simple attraction to looks or being an insincere relationship. I know that love does involve some physical attraction, then understanding, and also varied emotions. Love can be about adjusting to their company, complementing each other, and knowing that not everything is perfect all the time. That many experiences could be shared and be used to grow as better people.

-RA

Love? Hard to define. Amor? Dificil de definir, no lo creen?

Muchos nos preguntamos que es el amor. Me gustaria encontrar una buena definicion del amor y que ustedes aportaran sus porpias ideas al respecto… ya que el amor es algo distinto para cada persona… para unos es una reaccion del corazon, para otros del cerebro, para otros el amor no existe…

Asi que para tenerlo claro he ido a buscar la definicion del amor en el diccionario y he llegado a esto:

- Sentimiento intenso del ser humano que, partiendo de su propia insuficiencia, necesita y busca el encuentro y unión con otro ser.

- Sentimiento hacia otra persona que naturalmente nos atrae y que, procurando reciprocidad en el deseo de unión, nos completa, alegra y da energía para convivir, comunicarnos y crear.

-  Sentimiento de afecto, inclinación y entrega a alguien o algo.

¿Les parecen correctas estas definiciones de amor de la RAE (Real Academia Espaniola? ¿Cual es su definicion personal del amor?

Muy personalmente creo que el amor es una condición en la que la felicidad de otra persona es esencial para tu propia felicidad..
El amor se entrega de verdad. Siempre es sincero, adaptable al ambiente, honesto, respetuoso, humilde… y piensa en el bienestar de los demás.
El amor es el sentimiento que existe en todas las personas sin importar edad y es algo que no se puede comparar con un te quiero, porque es mas intenso y mas puro que el agua. El que ama nunca piensa en herir a la persona amada.
Para quienes creemos en Dios podriamos decir que el amor es el sentimiento mas hermoso que haya creado Dios en nosotros, porque el sentirlo es nacer, es vivir, es creer, es sentir una fuerza superior que te impulsa, te motiva, te da la alegria de ser mejor cada dia…
EL amor no se espera, de repente aparece y te cautiva de una manera imponente. Yo desearia que todos lo vivieran y aunque aveces es dificil creer en ”el amor a primera vista”  despues de escuchar las vivencias de varias personas con las que he discutido el tema ya no me atreveria a negarlo tan rotundamente.
El amor va creciendo dia a dia, al ver los ojos de la persona amada, su sonrisa, al poder conocer su alma, de pronto uno comienza a vivir para esa persona. Somos muy dichosos los que tenemos a esa persona cerca y que podemos decirle te amo, eres mi vida, siempre estare aqui para ti.
TE AMO es quiza la palabra mas fuerte que se puede decir por lo que es muy importante que, a nivel personal y sobre todo a nivel de pareja, exista un claro entendimiento de lo que amor representa para ambas partes y asi evitar malos entendidos y con ello heridas.

La mejor forma de poner en practica loque yo entiendo por amor es siempre amarme mucho a mi mismo y no olvider que hay que ”AMAR A TU PROJIMO COMO A TI MISMO” JESUS.

Angie

“Como Agua Para Chocolate”

“The book is divided into twelve sections named after the months of the year. Each section begins with a recipe of some sort, involving Mexican foods. The chapters outline the preparation of the dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist’s life.

Young Tita de la Garza, the novel’s protagonist, is fifteen at the start of the events in the story, which take place in the era of the Mexican Revolution. She lives with her iron-fisted mother, Mama Elena, and her older sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura, on a ranch near the Mexico-US border.

Tita’s admirer, Pedro Muzquiz, comes to ask for her hand in marriage, but Mama Elena forbids it on the grounds of the De la Garza family tradition, which demands that the youngest daughter (in this case Tita) must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until death. Pedro then reluctantly marries Tita’s older sister Rosaura instead, and a distraught Tita can hardly keep from being grieved, even though Pedro maintains it is Tita he loves and not Rosaura.

Tita has a love of the kitchen and a sharp connection with food of any sort, a skill her sister lacks. Tita unconsciously begins to use the power of food to draw Pedro away from Rosaura, with the rest of the family and hired help becoming pawns in the scheme.

As the story unfolds, Pedro begins to fall under the developing spell of romance caused by Tita’s kitchen skills. But side effects do result, as when Rosaura and Pedro are forced to leave for San Antonio, Texas at the urging of Mama Elena, who is firmly against a Tita-Pedro union, and Rosaura loses her son Roberto and is later made sterile after complications with the birth of daughter Esperanza. Meanwhile, Tita’s elder sister Gertrudis accidentally becomes affected by Tita’s culinary delights and leaves the ranch naked with a revolutionary soldier (though she returns as the head of a revolutionary army).

Upon learning the news of her nephew’s death, whom she cared for herself, Tita blames her mother; Mama Elena responds by beating Tita furiously with a wooden spoon. Tita, not wanting to cope with her mother’s controlling ways, secludes herself in a dovecote until the sympathetic Dr. John Brown reasons her to come down. Mama Elena clearly states that there is no place for “lunatics” like Tita on the farm, and wants her to be institutionalized. However, the Doctor decides to take care of Tita at his home instead. Tita eventually enters into a relationship with Dr. Brown, even planning to marry him at one point, but she cannot shake her feelings for Pedro.

After the removal of all obstacles to the Tita-Pedro union, the lovers finally share a night of bliss that is so heated and passionate that Pedro actually dies while making love to Tita. Their passions then spark a fire that engulfs them both, leading to their deaths in union and the total destruction of the ranch. The narrator of the story is the daughter of Esperanza, Tita’s niece and Rosaura and Pedro’s daughter, and Dr. Brown’s son, Alex, who marry at the conclusion of the story. The narrator then says that all that was found under the smouldering rubble of the ranch was Tita’s cookbook, which contained all the recipes described in the preceding chapters.^”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Como_agua_para_chocolate

NV

Like Water for Chocolate: Forbidden Love

LG

EL AMOR ES CIEGO?

Dicen que para muchas parejas perdidamente enamoradas así es. Estas parejas al rededor del mundo luchan todos los días para ser aceptados en sociedades a veces muy crueles que ven con malos ojos el amor entre parejas interraciales. A veces no solo tienen que luchar contra el mundo exterior sino que en muchos casos inlusive existe el problema dentro de sus propias familias que no se aceptan por diversas razones o prejuicios.

Considero que para que una relación interracial logre éxito debe cumplir dos condiciones básicas: Amor real entre ellos y total independencia económica y psicológica de sus respectivas familias.

Según opiniones de personas con amplio criterio si las relaciones interraciales o de diferentes países van bien, son beneficiosas para sus respectivos países de origen, porque se conocerán mejor, y entenderán sus culturas, buscando, quizás inconscientemente, una cultura tolerante que recoja lo bueno de sus países de origen.
En el caso de ser del mismo país, seria más fácil, pues sólo tendrían que lidiar con su entorno familiar.

 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…” Thomas Jefferson (Introducción de la Declaración de Independencia)

A mucha gente le encanta vivir en ciudades como New York. Ahí usted ve un anglo americano con una latina, o una china con un negro, una blanca con un negro, agarraditos de mano, y nadie hace el mayor escándalo por eso. La verdad es que la frase de moda en esa sociedad es: In New York Anything goes, and I love it! No estoy diciendo que no haya personas racistas en New York; claro que los hay, especialmente fuera del área metropolitana donde la gente suele ser más conservadora.

Sin embargo, no todo el país es New York -gracias a Dios dicen los conservadores, pues según ellos New York es la Sodoma y Gomorra moderna. Hay lugares en los Estados Unidos que podrían pagar para vivir, y muchos diríamos no gracias; pues es que es difícil de soportar su forma tan cerrada de ver el mundo. Les voy a dar un ejemplo, resulta que el año pasado se casó el futbolista afroamericano Ian Johnson con su prometida anglosajona,Chrissy Popadics . Al pobre le llovieron las amenazas de muerte por haberse atrevido a enamorarse, y posteriormente a haberle pedido matrimonio en televisión nacional. ¡Qué gran ofensa!¡Vaya osadía! A los pobres novios no les quedadó otra que contratar seguridad para poder casarse.  Es difícil de creer que esto pueda pasar en “the Land of the free.”

En resumen, es importante seguir fomentando la tolerancia a temprana edad para que futuras generaciones crezcan libres de prejuicios y promuevan sociedades más equitativas de verdad.   

“Como Agua Para Chocolate”

We saw this movie that translates into “Like Water for Chocolote” and it was something else.  It is about a woman that due to an old family tradition she is unable to leave her mother and marry.  She is destined to be alone and serve her mother.  She falls in love one day and the man falls in love with her too, so he goes and asks for her hand in marriage, but is not granted permission.  He ends up marrying her sister because he wants to remain close to her.

 The hole movie revolves around the wonderful food she makes and how it makes everyone else feel.  Usually whatever mood she is in when she is cooking, that is how the people eating it will feel.  I liked the movie, but I do consider that it might get corny at times, but for the most part it stays very interesting.

 The movie led me to think about some stuff.  For example, forbidden love.  I have a friend that dated a guy for a couple of years and left her for another woman.  Well even though he left her they still go out, see each other and are intimate with each other.  I’m not sure if she is wrong for what she is doing, i’m sure many would say she is, but my belief is, the other girl knew that was her boyfriend and she obvioulsly did not care and now she has him.  SO, should she care? Is it forbidden love?

Like water for chocolate

After watching the movie Como Agua Para Chocolate the class had a discussion about the switched gender roles. It was refreshing to see a movie set in old times that depicted a strong woman whose role would have originally been given to a man. The mother’s gender role is less nurturing and more demanding (not my favorite charater by far). The premise of the story is that it is tradition for the youngest daughter to never marry inorder to take care of the mother. This had me wondering when it was that this ridiculous tradition died? The main charater of the movie submitted to this tradition, if it were me I wouldhave run away! Even after the mother died, I feel like the girl never began living on her own terms. She was oppressed by society’s standards, which is not unusual for women, even now. I felt bad for her, but towards the end I got tired of her role as the victim. Everyone has a choice. What’s worse, being an outcast of society or living life on one’s own terms and being happy?

More to come…..

LG