Monday, April 23, 2007

Destilando Amor 04/23/07 "They're creepy and they're kooky"

DA-da. DA-da. da da da da da da ...Hilario wheels around, it is FemJaws, TWB in her sleek little white bikini is on him like a shark on a hapless swimmer...he gives in major lip lock..Well it has been a very long dry spell for TWB and as the song goes "If you can't be with the one you love....". No No much as he'd like to tap that..he can't she is married to the Patron. Hilario runs off in a fit of testerone and adrenaline, his manhood says stay....but his self-preservation says run like the wind. TWB now gets a call from uber WASP Sofie, TWB is slammin Rod, he pays no attention...blah blah blah, the usual rant from women who have never had sex with their good looking healthy strapping husband and to add insult to injury, just been turned down by the stable boy. Sofie tries to calm her down, TWB must learn to control the situation. Excuse Me why would anyone take advice from the poster girl for spinsterhood? Just sayin.

Gavi & Ma are pawning Gavi's "promise watch" in lieu of a promise ring. They get 6 mil pesos for it, close to $600 American. Gavi says take good care of it cause she'll be back.

James and Rod are visiting the weird Jimador place again. Meliton (creepy Uncle), yells for Acacia, to bring some Tequila. Acacia brings out the Tequila and Rod asks some questions about the Jimadors...in his never ending search for Gavi. James is muy impacted with Acacia. James offers to work for free, learning more about Tequila; working towards his life's goal of becoming a Master Tequila Guy.

Hilario is sitting in the barn sucking on a pint of yes, you guess it Tequila, he is crying about what a sinner he is God will never forgive him. Here comes SanWanna, she tries to cheer him up with a roll in the hay, but Hilario screams, "Leave me in Peace". SanWanna leaves angry and Hilario throws the bottle against the wall.

Rod goes home and TWB is a bit standoffish..Rod suggest she go visit her parents for a little diversion...Yeah Rod that is just the kind of diversion she is looking for. No she tells him, she only longs to stay at the side of her beloved husband.

James enters the kitchen of the creepy ranch, Acacia is cooking, he asks for a glass of Agua, she gives him one with out ever looking up...James says that the dish she is preparing smells Ummmmm muy rico. She says it is chicken soup. Per Meliton's orders it is her job at the ranch to sacrifice the animals....Que the creepy music...The Uncle comes in and runs James off and says he doesn't want James in there with her. The Uncle leaves and Wednesday Addams picks up a knife and stabs the cutting board. Ewwwww Dead Eyes, she has Dead Eyes.
*****Hey would it not just be the best evah, if the Addams Ranch was actually some devil worship sacrificing animals and maybe an occasional "Sofie" to bring an awesome Agave Harvest?*****Just a thought...the old ways die hard out in the rural areas..

Gavi tells Clara that once again she is going to Montalvo to stalk Aaron til he hires her. Clara accuses her of just wanting to see Rod, to try and run into him. Gavi comes up with some crap about missing the country and agave, and I guess working at Montalvo will get her back in touch with her roots.

Rod is slaving away at his laptop..he slams it closed, he takes out the cassette from Gavi and begins to play the music, he moves his chair over in front of the window and we get to see Rod TV, he is envisioning Gavi singing or having a flashback, whatever, I think I saw this episode like ninety times so the thrill is gone, but Rod seems to enjoy it. Here comes TWB, she asks about the music and snatches up the player, she is BSC jealous and throws the player against the wall.
"Gaviota, Gaviota, Gaviota", it didn't work for Jan Brady and it's not gonna work for TWB. She storms out. Poor Rod runs over and picks up his little player, the only thing he has left of his little Gavi.

The Next Day

After the little temper fit of last night, Rodeo and Juliette need some time apart, he is shipping her off to MX DF. He asks Hilario to drive her to the airport...Si Patron...

Gavi gets her benediction from Clara before she enters into stalker mode.

Crispin and Roman try to have a heart to heart with Rod, forget Gavi they say, she is not coming back. Rod has spent mucho dinero and they can't find her. They are like hey, you got yourself one hot babe, forget the jimadora. Rod rages..no they don't get it "Gavi is his life, his one and only love, he can't get her out of his head". Yes another one of those awkward television moments when manly men blurt out things to other men, that well, they never wanted to hear.

On the drive to the airport, TWB asks Hilario to keep the little attempted pool side seduction on the downlow...Hilario is more than happy to agree to never mention it. Possibly staving off eternal damnation.

James is working the agave fields at the Addams Ranch...He is shirtless and I might add, not bad not bad at all, button down shirts and argyle sweaters do him no favor. Acacia or Wednesday is coming down the row, James spots her and runs up to stop her. ****Dude you are so borrowing Rod's tale of seduction, James may have all ready located a "doin the deed tree". He has a present for Wednesday, it is a small box. She opens it, it is a music box with a mirror...well she is casting a reflection in it, so certain evil creatures are ruled out. Just then Uncle Gomez, I mean Uncle Meliton, screeches for her, she runs off clutching the music box. Yes oh Yes, James is smitten.

Over in Mexico City, TWB is in the apartment Granny Pilar bought for TWB & Rod. Sofie comes in and is once again all up in her brother's amorous business. Now this is really starting to bother me, for someone who looks so prim and proper she is bent. Her advise to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" TWB; is to see a sex therapist, to try and find a way to get through to Rod. I am certain TWB could take Sofie and I would have just gotten up and knocked her into next Tuesday. I don't even like TWB and I was offended...like TWB needs to see a therapist? I think all her stuff is working okay. I'm sure if you just looked in Sofie's eyes you could see the $$ signs.

After dropping TWB off, Hilario stops off at a lingerie store, he is hanging around outside when the owner comes out and drags him in....We see Hilario leaving with a bag.

Now Gavi is standing outside Montalvo, she tries to enter but security guy, says no can do. Aaron issued a memo she is not allowed in the building. Well that means nothing to our spunky little jimadora...She paces until Aaron leaves the building. Gavi runs up and introduces herself as her alter-ego Mariana Franco Villarreal and asks for a few minutes of his time. Aaron has heard bad things about her, but she counters...Aaron's secretary "Jane Hathaway" runs out of the building threatening to call security. Aaron tells her to back off, I guess that collar is a little tight around his neck. Aaron asks Gavi to go to lunch with him at a French Restaurant.

Back at the ranch...Rod has just gotten news that Gavi has been spotted in VeraCruz picking oranges..He is ready to take off. He has spent lots of money following false leads.....
****I wondered if every migrant farm woman between the ages of 15 and 55, had gotten a perm and was trying to pass themselves off as Gavi****

Hilario is in the kitchen trying to make nice with SanWanna, she is standoffish, til he pulls out the bag, goody a present. She is feeling inside the bag & here comes Hilario's Ma...she wants to see, ***I was certain it was going to be a "Just you wait til you Father comes home moment", but no, SanWanna takes the bag and leaves. Hilario looks relieved..life was some much simpler before puberty.

At some point, but I don't remember when...Rod was having a crying talk with Dead Gramps under the Dead Gramps tree...oh how he misses Gramps and how he must find.....yep Gavi...I am glad Gramps is dead so they didn't have that awkward man pause.

Gavi and Aaron are seated in a French Restaurant..When asked for her choice in beverage, Gavi orders a Montalvo Tequila, smirk smirk..you work it girl. When the waiter takes their order, Gavi shows off her flawless French, then comments about her English and her smattering of German. ****Shout out to Catholic School Education, six months with the Nuns did far more for Gavi, than twelve years of Public Education, did for me****Gavi speaking very rapidly goes on to tell about being in Europe, well she left out the good parts, the whore-house, the being hit by a car. She informed Aaron that Montalvo is the be all end all, the cat's PJ's when it comes to Tequila...Oh Aaron was loving it.

Meanwhile Nosy Secretary is telling Minnnnnervvvvva the news. Minnie is very displeased.

Aaron takes Gavi back to the business, Old secretary, tries to throw a hizzy, but Aaron shuts her down, PR guy comes in and shows Aaron, Gavi's excellent, if somewhat fabricated resume.

Minnie shows up at the departmento of doom, lamenting her worthless dawg husband chasing "lil Mariana Franco Villarreal", hee hee hee, no really it is TWB's husband that is chasing her...oh well if Lety Padilla Solis can have two, I say Gavi is more than deserving. Once again Sofie has to bring up the TWB/Rod lack of sex....for the love of Gawd, get a hobby.

Rod is off to VeraCruz, TWB is in Mexico City, Rod hates MX City and says he will never go back...evah (famous last words).

Aaron offers Gavi the job of receptionist, he will replace Margarita. Oh No...that is Gavi's friend who tried to help her. Take it or leave it...that is the only offer. Gavi agrees to take it and leaves the office.. Just when it looks like Aaron is not so bad, He opens his mouth and sucks in all the air he can....savoring the scent of Gavi....

Little receptionist is sobbing..Gavi says she is sorry and vows that she will quit if lil receptionist is not hired back in one month...Wow Gavi plans to climb the Aaron, ooopppppsss, sorry I meant corporate ladder. Well she can speak English, French and a little German.

Tommorrow....everyone has a stunned look on their faces...
Rod is walking down the hall....
Does he find Gavi/Mariana Franco Villarreal?
or
does he bring news that Mister James was found slain in a strange Satanic Ritual..but on the upside the Agave crop is outstanding?

Labels:


Comments:
Thanks for this Beckster. I liked your analogies for Acacia (as Wednesday) and her creepy Uncle.

And I agree with you regarding Sophie. She must stop this and get a life. She's becoming an icky single woman who obsessed with her brothers sex life. She has the money to do anything she wants in life; this is what makes her situation muy loco.

Karen
 

Wow, I love the Addams family reference. Too right! This is quite the Cinderella story with Prince Rodrigo searching the land for all the Gaviota lookalikes. You almost did me in with Jane Hathaway. I'm always amazed at all the tequila drinking these folks do, but when Gavi agreed to take Margarita's job, well I had to pour myself a shot. How do you say backstabbing, traitorous, defecting bitch in Spanish?

Great recap Beckster, thanks for all the laughs.
 

Great recap. I am falling in love with this novela, but can do without Sophia and her "When are you gonna lay my brother " conversation. Does anyone recognize Acacia/Wednesday? I know I have seen her in another novela were she was maybe a little trampy? Anyone remember her?
 

Terrific recap, I laughed right out loud at the stable-boy rejection...

Things I would like not to see any more of: 1. SanWanna in shirts so tight you can see the underwires in her bras; 2. Rod, when annoyed, lifting one corner of his lip so you see his sharp teeth; 3. Gav's little head twitches to make her hair flip fetchingly AARGH; 4. Clara making the "cute lil' ol' me" face as she prays to the Virgincita; 5. Sophie at ALL; 6. Pilar's unfortunately excessive plastic surgery (there's no going back, is there?...); 7. James and Acacia, wow, creepy in every way.
 

Thanks for the great (& quick) recap Beckster!
Wow, Gav sure figured out how to work the corporate cut-throat system. She'll climb right on up with all the cute little tricks she's figured out. Disappointing to see her ambition to get ahead at any cost is working out. The novelas seem to use the idea that as long as you want it back enough you'll get it, whether you work for it or not.

And I'm still wondering why Rod hasn't started the long process of dumping TWB...
jb
 

Great pickmeup, beckster!

I wondered just what kind of "friends" work for nothing and just sort of help out ol' Melitón when he has a few things to get done???? Think he might have his own Jalisco-style Cosa "Nuestra" going on?
 

Beckster~~~Perfecto! You should be writing sketches for Saturday Night Live. You have a flare. Let's see, I made notes. First, I loved ''Rod TV.'' It did look like he was watching TV...his favorite cable channel ''The Gaviota Show''...all Gavi...all the time. Also, I loved ''Rodeo and Juliettte.'' Isn't it interesting how many names we have come up with for this guy ! Hot Rod. Rod the Bod. Rodrigooo. Rodeo. And, Sophie is super weird in her fascination with her brother's sex life or lack there of. It's all about the cash. Cha-ching. A varon adds up to dollars in her wallet, so Sophie is going to try every way she can to get Hot Rod and Isa to do the deed. Maybe she'll drug them both. This morning, I heard another song that I'd like to dedicate to Isa : ''I'm So Hot for You and You're So Cold.'' Thanks, Mick. . I couldn't have said it any better than that. I enjoyed your reference to Hilario's carefree days before puberty hit him broadside. [pun intended there] I didn't like him breaking that bottle in the barn--estupido...think about those horses and get those raging hormones under control, Hot-to-Trot ! As for Gavi's excellent language skills, I believe that it takes 6-7 years to become fluent in a language. How long was the nun tutoring her? ...a couple months. I've had some fast learners, but not that fast. Oh well, it's all about the suspended disbelief. Melinama : good list. I agree with all 7 points. I'm hoping that Gavi and Hot Rod get together soon. I want to see a tag team match happen : In this corner Hot Rod and Gavi ...In the other corner, AAron and Minervaaaa. Shake hands and start making varons. Thanks, Beckster for a fun breakfast read. ^^^Susanlynn, headed for the agave fields
 

beckster that was so funny thank you!

arrg it irks me that Rod, who is so in love with Gavi, doesn't think much of her at all- he keeps following these migrant worker leads, doesn't he realize that she has more potential than that? I mean, if she's so unique and he knows her so well, he'd figure she's capable of being anywhere and doing anything. the chick followed him to europe!

LOL @ "DEAD EYES" that girl is creeeepy... I want to tell her to stand up straight! that hump in her back is not becoming.
TWB and "dead eyes" both have that posessed look.

As far as the brewing love affair with MISTA JAMES- well, I can leave it. You're right he's borrowing it directly from Rob, but with a baby. Oh Sophie will be so jealous. Maybe it's a La Fea makeover set up- and she'll become Aurora with crazy red wigs and expensive earrings.

oooh I wish James would stop talking with that horrible accent. If he's been in Mexico for 2 years as he claims, his speech would be more fluid, not as choppy.

Rod kills me with the snarls. haha he always has a constipated look on his face. I love to see him smile, he should show off those caps or veneers more often.
 

I forgot..did anyone else notice TWB's..dark roots? I think I saw them a few episodes ago too...maybe if she would get some root touch-up Hilario could not resist...

How is Gavi gonna say no to Aaron? cause you know he didn't hire her for her language skills.
 

Yes, that dark line right along Isa's part ...wow, her normal hair color must be fairly dark. Can you imagine what she is doing to her hair by bleaching it to platinum blonde???? Yikes ! Maybe she is trying to channel Marilyn and Jayne. Get ye to a salon pronto, Girl. Those dark roots are just emphasizing your artificiality which so far has not seemed to be a turnon for the Rodmeister.
 

Susanlynn, would she have gone to compulsory school in Mexico? If she were fluent in Spanish, I could see her learning French in 6 months if she really applied herself. It is a related language. English would be easier if she heard it all the time. Now German is a different story! I've heard that one can become fluent in a year if one lives in a country where the language is spoken and that is all that one hears.
 

Woo, Mr. James with no shirt on! I still can't picture him with Marcia from LFMB, but maybe if he took his pants off I'd reconsider.

Ahem.

(What cracks me up is how much Marcia "hated" Eduardo on the show.)

And the lady at the lingerie shop last night was also the woman who fell asleep on Fernando Mendiola when he was at the airport waiting to go to NY.

As for Gaviota taking Margarita's job, well, in her defense, Aaron said he was going to fire Margarita regardless.

(Good call on "Wednesday Addams," Beckster. I hope this storyline isn't going where I think it's going, but I don't see any other place it can go. OTOH it would be worth it to see the look on Sofie's face.)
 

Oh, yeah I did notice Izzy's roots last night. It's funny - sometimes, in a certain light, she does seem attractive. Other times, she's owch, harsh. Starting with the cast-iron breast implants.
 

Well I'm glad that someone besides me can see that our darling Gavi and Poor Prince Rod are both behaving badly. Our little Gavi is very determined but in a selfish way. Even with her mother Gavi is always right. Mom hasn't won even 1 round. Now Gavi's flirting with fire (Aaron). Yet, whatever transpires between them, she'll be labeled another of his victims and he will once again be labeled a dawg who uses women. The women all seem pleased with his advances, they even encourage it and none has interpreted it as rape. Ladies, don't forget, it takes 2 to tangle. Also, although I think James' attraction for Acaca is a bit strange, I must've missed the part where they said that she's underage. I say that because I see that it's been insinuated that James is a pedofile. Another part I must have missed was when Isa became a whore. (That was Gavi under the tree getting pregnant by Rod.) That TWB label was amusing when I first heard it but it's getting old. It seems it's OK for women to call another woman a whore. But if a man takes advantage of what the whore is offering, then he's a dawg. Feel free to disagree with me but please don't attack me for my opinion.
 

Yuck! The James and Acacia thing is just too creepy -- who knows what she is capable of?

After last night, I was convinced that Rod and Gavi deserve each other more than ever!
 

RE ISIDORA:

WILL SOMEONE GET HER A BRA....HER BOOBS ARE ALMOST DOWHN TO HER HIPS...!!!

ANNTONIGIRL
 

"It seems it's OK for women to call another woman a whore."

Referring to someone as a whore isn't idle name-calling. "Whore" is a legitimate word with a specific meaning - it's not some random insult. And if it's accurate, it's accurate no matter who says it, male or female.

"But if a man takes advantage of what the whore is offering, then he's a dawg."

I didn't know "dawg" was a compliment (maybe I'm too old to know all the words). A man who pays a whore is a john. Perhaps there are newer terms. But, to the best of my knowledge, the women Aaron's been hanging around with have been doing it eagerly and for free, which makes them NOT whores (or at worst, ineffective whores for not arranging a price beforehand). I don't actually recall anyone calling them whores. Perhaps Minerva did, which would be funny considering she's a gold-digger herself.

"Another part I must have missed was when Isa became a whore. (That was Gavi under the tree getting pregnant by Rod.)"

You didn't miss anything. Isa didn't "become" a whore. She was introduced as a gold-digger.

Gavi gave herself to Rodrigo without expecting anything from him in return other than his love. That doesn't even remotely fit the definition of whoring. On the other hand, Isadore married Rod because of his family's money and prestige. Maybe if he'd been ugly, she would have gone looking for a better-looking specimen, but no way would she have gotten together with a man based on pure love without money.

I suppose it's not technically correct to call her a whore if Rod won't let her earn the title, but that was certainly her plan when she married him.

Now the women in Rod's family are pressuring her to produce an heir by any means necessary - so evidently they see her as a whore too, or perhaps a sow. And yet, she's the one who doesn't want a divorce. So it's still about the money, with her. That makes her, not Gavi, the whore.

That doesn't mean anyone is saying that Gavi is perfect. But we don't have to hate her, either.

That's my reply to your opinion: I disagree with your opinion, just as you obviously disagree with some of ours. No need to be defensive. I don't think anybody was planning on attacking you.

(Regarding Acacia's age: James said she looked about 17, and he seems to see her and talk to her as if she's a child, rather than as a woman.)
 

Miss Puebla from LFMB applied to be Aaron Montalvo's sexaterry as well hehehe
i guess the casting dept has favorites at Televisa
 

Ah Beckster...such style...I know it's you before I even check the name. Now, as to the fluency debate (less incendiary than the "whore"/"dawg" debate.) If Gaviota is verbally fluent in French after such a short exposure she is a certified genius, and way too smart for HotBodRod. But yes, given her Spanish, she COULD read French fluently after 6 months. I used to teach French and was able to read Spanish from the get-go (albeit with a dictionary at hand) but I certainly could not produce it fluently. That is a whole other level of skill.
Same with children...they understand much earlier than they can produce in a language.
Also, it's conceivable that Gaviota could have an excellent accent in both French and German...there are some sounds that are very different and take practice, but I've found that people with musical talent are much more adept at producing new sounds than anyone else...and She is quite a singer.
That said, unless she's a "freak of nature" IQ wise, no way could she handle those languages with fluency. But who cares?...it's a telenovela.
Love all the inside tips on life in Mexico...thanks Beckster and all of you who contribute...you enrich our lives and give us lots of laughs...Judy B.
 

I love the recaps and the comments. I don't always agree, but I like to think of them as entertainment. I love the caption on the home page that says
"We love to mock here, don't mistake it for real hate."
 

Ha ha... so far the only thing Gavi's proven to Aaron is that she can order at a French restaurant, which is a far cry from being fluent, but evidently that's enough for him. :) I think he's already got big plans for her, not to be just one of his ordinary "sexataries," I bet he's dreaming of installing her as his full-time mistress.

I didn't recognize Miss Puebla - it's funny - it's like there's a "Televisa Repertory Theater" and you keep seeing the same people again and again in different disguises. Back in the days of Highlander (the TV series), there were a few other shows being produced in Canada around that time, and it was funny to see someone get their head chopped off on Highlander one week, then have their blood sucked away by a vampire the next week on Forever Knight, and then have some other kind of problem on The X-Files a week later.
 

Julie: You are so right about the Canadian supporting actors on Highlander reappearing on other Canadian shows [Forever Knight...the lead on that show also turned up on Highlander during the first season]. As for the language fluency , I teach ESL at a community college. If people arrive here with NO English at all, they take basic foundation courses[mostly basic vocabulary, pronunciation, basic grammar]. These classes would last at least 2 semesters depending on the student, usually more. Then, they must take placement tests to be able to take the credit classes that I teach . They take the 3 intermediate level classes in one semester [writing, reading, speaking-3 credits each ] and the 3 advanced classes [writing, reading, speaking-3 credits each] the next semester. If they pass these 6 classes, they then take the last classes required which are English for Academic purposes [a reading/writing class-6 hours per week] and Accent Reduction[3 credits ]. If they pass all these courses, they must still pass a timed writing to qualify to get into the regular basic English Composition classes at the college. So , that would add up to about 3 years . I've seen students do it in that amount of time, but they must be pretty smart , organized, motivated, and dedicated. A lot of students must repeat one or more of these classes. Our mission is to prepare these students for taking classes in English. They still sometimes struggle when they actually get into regular classes with American students and professors...even the gifted students. English is an enormous language with something like 400,000 + words...lots of synonyms and homonyms that make people crazy...vowels that have long sounds and short sounds. English , unlike Spanish, is really difficult to spell because some letters have more than one sound [the vowels, ''c'', ''s'', ''g'']. Then, there are the 2 and 3 word verbs that we use all the time [take out, put on, fill up, believe in, take care of], all the prepositions we use [in, on, with, to, for] and the idioms. [I had a student who worked at Wendy's who got into trouble because he ''put away'' something he was told to ''throw away'' and ''threw away'' what he was told to ''put away''. The verb tenses also drive people crazy . We have 12 verb tenses anbd 2 voices ,,active and passive. They have enough trouble learning the 12 active,,,then you try to explain ''okay, now here are the 12 passive tenses.'' Usually learning occurs with listening comprehension coming first, then speaking, then reading, then writing. I studied French and Latin. There is some similarity between French and Spanish, but Italian and Spanish are really close. When I have students who speak these 2 languages , they can usually understand each other pretty well. Spanish is also close to Portugese. The one-syllable words in English often come from Germanic origins, whereas the multisyllable words usually come from Latin. That's why Spanish speakers might not know a simple word in English [true], but they will recognize its multisyllabled synonym [authentic].^^^Susanlynn , getting ready to give final exams on all this stuff
 

As usual, a great and funny recap, Beckster!! I agree with Judy B. You do have a funny and imaginative way of recapping.

Why, oh, why does everyone think Gav is a cualquiera? Like TWB isn't???? Oh, well...I forgot...this is novelaland!!!

- Becky T
 

Dang, Susanlynn, I teach algebra & calc. and that's easy stuff in comparison. It's pretty much the same in any language. I will never look down on the English department again, but as for those folks in the history department... JK
 

Susanlynn, thanks for explaining all that-- I thought it was pretty "novela" that Gavi could speak all those languages.

It's a gift to have so many talented and educated people on this site...
jb
 

Thanks Susanlynn. Lack of a good musical ear is why I'm watching Spanish novelas! Reading and grammar comes easily to me as I was trained as a Latin teacher - many years ago - don't work in the field now. German is easy for me as I am fluent in a Dutch dialect. Now - one of these days my listening skills will improve, I'll be able to understand the Spanish - much easier than the French accent!

I find it interesting to see how the French, Italians and Spanish have changed the words from Latin. I took a few course in these at a community college. I find it fascinating to see whether an English word has Latin or Germanic roots.
 

Julie, I really appreciate your outlining some of the history behind Rod, Gavi and Isa. Although I have read all the recaps I missed the first week or so of episodes and the details don't stick in my sieve of a brain as well as when I actually see the stuff. I realize you were responding to another comment, but I found it very helpful. So thank you!!

Susanlynn, you just blew my mind.
 

On a different topic, any thoughts on the third male cousin (played by Jan)? Which side of the family is he on, why isn't he included in the will, and what purpose does he serve on the show?
 

Oh Sylvia, I just hope I got it all right. ;)

I don't have much to add to the language conversation except for one thing: I remember how much trouble many of my classmates had in English class. There were native English speakers, I mean, not ESL people. And if the grammar is a problem for people who already speak English, it can't be easy for other people learning it from scratch.

And it's also hard to learn other grammar when you don't fully understand your won. I had little appreciation for the distinction between "direct objects" and "indirect objects" until I was learning Spanish. Finally I had a grip on that and then I took German and all of a sudden it was a "dative object" and it wasn't exactly the same thing as indirect object... or something...
 

Hey, thanks for the insight on linguistics. The music thing makes sense. I come from a family of six kids and three of us and my dad are fairly musical and languages have never been a problem for us. Dad spoke seven languages fairly fluently. The other three kids, oy! When we went to Italy, I thought my brother was mocking people with his "bun-JER-no". He had the grammar down pat, because he could study it in a book, but he couldn't hear the sounds of the language. Only thing more painful than his Italian is watching the man dance.

My bet is that primo Jan is going to be wicked. Maybe he discovers and starts hitting on Gavi or maybe he gets everything if there is no varon in three years or maybe it all goes to Clara to repay her for her lost innocence...
 

Lynne: When my husband was a boy..he had to do migrant work..he attended school for a short time each year till he was like 12, he got math and reading and writing..I was just in Mexico at Christmas, in a rural area in Guererro..the school is primary only..up to 12, secondaria you have to send the kids away. In Mexico city out of 6 kids, my nieces and nephews..only 2 have gone to school past the 6th grade, when it is no longer free. So I really doubt Gavi got much school, in fact in the first episodes, she was working on her "letters" so she would not forget.
 

Anon12:18:00 PM EDT
Okay first James is in no way a pedophile...things have changed a bit in Mexico..but esp. in the rural areas the girls often married right after they were 15, the big 15 year old party & when girls marry soon after... The reason being, what is a rural farm girl going to do? She isn't going to school, she isn't going away to the city to work...she has no education, so she marries.

Now about the comments, about whore..it is a joke okay, this is a typical TeleNovela, where the good people are good and true and spunky and the ungood people are well the opposite. When Isa first saw Rod, at a funeral, she said she wanted him...she later tried to seduce him and vowed no man has ever been able to resist her seductive ways. It is a done deal with out reading ahead we all know..Isa will go BSC, Aaron is headed that way and probably Minerva too...it is the way of the TeleNovela. Oh yeah another shocker...most people don't really look like Isa in Mexico either.
 

Jan is Fedra (sp?), Aaron's mother's nephew..he was adoped by Bruno (Aaron's Dad)...he has not had much to do..but I hope he is a good guy, cause I like the actor
 

If things don't work out between Gav and Rod, maybe she can give Jan a go. I'd like to see him become a bit more involved in the action, perhaps doing some investigative work. :)
 

Thanks Beckster - I'm learning a great deal on this website! Thanks to Melinama and all of the contributors.

I'm inclined to want to treat modern languages like Latin which was really as a dead language. This is why I have absolutely no problem with grammar. I have books on the verb forms of several languages and I'm comparing them. But when it comes to "hearing" the language, I had to really study.

I learnt (correct part participle in my country of origin :)), Afrikaans in S. African schools for 12 years. I don't have a clue about the grammar - we just learnt it by word patterns etc. German is the only language that I've studied which retains cases - 4 I think. But its natural for me to place the verb in the past tense at the end of the sentence as its similar to Afrikaans.

My French teacher at the Community college really pushed the students. She only spoke in French from the beginning and blew many student's minds away. She kept on emphasizing listening and at the later stages reading French. I would have had to go to a "real" university if I had continued with French so I took some Spanish. There was no class in the summer other than Italian. So I took it and fell in love with it. There is limited Italian in Detroit - so I'm trying to learn it on my own. This will keep me busy for the rest of my life!
 

hmmm, i guess it's possible that gavi speas all these languages, just not fluently. i do believe english is a difficult language to learn, however, the difference with gavi is that she also lived in london for almost a year. combine that with intelligence, stubbornness and perseverance, and you can speak enough to save your life. not sure about being fluent in both english and french though, but i don't think gavi claims to be fluent in both. plus, maybe she has that gift that susalynn talked about(remember at the first couple of episodes, she said she learns things 'de volada' = very fast).

in any case, this is telenovelaland, and therefore overdramatization :) that's what i love about it!
 

Lynne~~~I was very interested in your comments. There are not many Latin teachers around anymore. In high school, I was taught Latin, French, and English Lit. by the same teacher [A little , old maiden lady named Grace Moore]. She was a good teacher, very traditional, but she taught French the same way she taught Latin, a dead language...lots of vocab and translating but very little speaking and listening practice. She also was big on making us memorize poems and songs to sing at the Xmas assemblies. [I can still remember the words to ''Adeste Fidelis'' and ''Sur le Ponte D'Avignon.'' I also remember that we all got French names...very exciting for a farm girl to be called ''Suzette''..ooh-la-la]. Gracie liked me. I think I was her adopted daughter. She always read my poems in class and made me Emily in ''Our Town.'' Unfortunately, when I got to college and took French 2 and the teacher started talking...I was lost. My roommate who sat next to me was staring at me one morning at 8 am in French class . After class, she said. ''Gee, she was telling this disturbing story about living with a family in France and the couple getting a divorce, and I looked over at you smiling and shaking your head up and down.'' I often think of that when my students are doing that to me and I am thinking, ''You have NO IDEA what I am saying, do you???'' Also, years after Hub and I went to the local high school, our daughters went there. They had never replaced Grace after she died the year after I graduated, so there was no Latin teacher. When I asked the curriculum guy why Latin was no longer taught, he said that it would be hard to find a teacher. However, the high school that I taught in had brought back Latin a few years before. Latin is great for people going into law and medicine and for figuring those long English words. My boss was also a Latin major. We are kickass grammar folks us Latinstudying chicks!!! My older daughter studied 3 years of French in h.s.. Then, she changed to Spanish and wanted 2 years of Spanish, but in her senior year, the Spanish class didn't fit into her schedule, so she ended up in French 4. When she wrote something, her teacher often would point out ''That word is Spanish, Jana !!'' I had told her to study Spanish from the beginning, but She wanted French. In college, they put her in Spanish 2 her freshman year, but it scared her so she switched to an economics class and never took another language class until she took a class in German at NYU because she was dating a German guy. Wouldn't you know it, she ended up working for Banco Santandar for a few years with guys from Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Spain and couldn't understand them. I told you so, thought I.
 

JK~~~Ha, those history teachers, huh???---I have never understood or liked ''the math'', but oddly enough, I gave birth to a math fiend--she double-majored in math and computer science in college. She was a computer programmer for a while and is now a risk manager. I don't understand what she does. Her sister [a nonmathy middle school language arts/ancient history teacher]and I like to tell people that she is involved in ''risky business.'' She does not appreciate this. In high scholl, she used to actually ''save'' algebra problems to do later.
 

Sylvia~~~See, I am not just about Fernandooo, HotRodrigooo, and PIRATES............................but I am MOSTLY about them.
 

OMG!! Sooooo many kindred language spirits on this site! Reading your experiences with Latin and French during H.S. and college brings back so many similar experiences that I had buried in my psyche for decades. My first question for English ESL teachers and/or other types is, does diagramming sentence structure ever work???? Seventh and eighth grade English we diagrammed like crazy to learn proper English grammar.

"Sur le pont, d'avignon l'on y danse, l'on y danse" (sp?) hit me like a ton of bricks, Susanlynn! Sung it a lot..........
 

I took a year of Latin my freshman year in H.S. (definitely eye-opening grammar-wise, but a snore otherwise) and 3 yrs. of H.S. French and 2 in Jr. College. Wasted time for me. I studied some Portuguese on my own once I learned I had Brazilian relatives and I wonder where some of the shush and ow sounds come from. I only had a bit of Spanish in gradeschool. I retaught myself French at 40+ before traveling to France a couple of times. Then, since I had two brothers fluent in thoses languages I decided at the still youthful age of 50 to give it a try myself and take a few Community College classes to round it out. I admired those (patience- of-Job) CC teachers, too!! Anyway, book-learning is NOT the same as listening comprehension and if it weren't for the Closed Captioning (thanks to my CC teacher's suggestion) that goes along with the telenovelas and the crazy Jerry Springer type shows, I'd never have learned to understand what I hear now. So, 9 months to be fluent is definitely a telenovela fantasy for somebody like me. (p.s., my son has a Norwegian girlfriend who speaks fluent English, Spanish, and some French with some German for spice. Go figure!!)
 

I barely squeaked thru 2 semesters of junior high spanish..cheated thru 1 semester of high school German...great basic math and fractions..but word problems..no can do...no music ability either..in my grade school, the instrument renters came and told my parents, they'd be wasting their money..I have heard Language, algebra & music are tied together...I recently found I am mildly ADD...yeh I could sit still in school..I just couldn't shut-up..I have read the ADD may be tied in with the lack of skills...I also took two classes of Spanish in junior college...I still can't answer in spanish...and I only know the root of verbs..then I just wing it. I am a whiz at adapting computer programming to a problem...but can't write it on my own...Haaaa
I can't imitate the spanish vowels...yeah everyone in Mexico thought it was really funny...but like a told my husband..listen to any native Spanish speaker say "sister"...then tell me about it.
 

You learn something new each time you log into Caray Caray, WOW!

Very intresting reading.
 

So happy to know there are some other "Sur le pont d'Avignon singers out there...when my granddaugther was born a few years ago, she was hyperkinetic...I would walk her around for hours, swaddled tightly and singing an endless round of old standards...when I ran out of those, went to "Sur le pont" and also "Il etait un petit navire"...did anyone sing that? It was all okay with my daughter until I started singing "Making Whoopee"...for some reason she considered that inappropriate. Judy B.
 

Jardinera~~Sister!!!~~Seems that we have a lot in common! Diagramming may be coming back. Gracie Moore and others taught it to me in high school . My bro-in-law taught English for many years in a high school in new Jersey , and he always taught diagramming. It went out of vogue, but according to my daughter who teaches middle school language arts, it may be coming back. She belongs to the National Council of Teachers of English , and some people feel that it should be brought back. Here's what happened: American educational practices operate on a big pendulum--methods come , go, and sometimes come back again. I went to a small, very traditional rural school. I was taught grammar from elementary to high school. We had small grammar textbooks [Warren] and used them a lot. We could all write good, solid sentences because we learned that a sentence is made up of a subject and a verb, and we all knew what the parts of speech were : nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, articles. Diagramming showed has in a very visual manner how to put these parts of speech together into good sentences. Then , around the 1970s, someone decided that all these grammar rules were stifling creativity, so a movement called ''process writing'' came into fashion. Students no longer had grammar books, and grammar was not taught in any structured way. Students wrote paragraphs and essays ,and the teachers often did not correct mistakes and misspellings. Journaling [keeping a diary] often is used in school, but the teacher doesn't correct the writing in these student journals. My kids were taught this way in the 80s, and I let the powers thst be know that I thought they were throwing baby out with the bath water...Well, they said, ''This is the way people should learn to write.'' So, I taught my kids grammar. They are both excellent writers.However, at the college where I work, I used to tutor American students in writing and was shocked and upset to see how many students had graduated from high school but did not understand grammar and could not write a good sentence. My best friend has been an executive secretary [aka administrative assistant] at a publishing company for a long time. She told me that the young secretaries do not know grammar. In short, let's hope grammar and diagramming comes back. However, like Latin teachers, it may be difficult to find teachers who really understand grammar themselves. I love teaching grammar and every time I do, I thank Gracie Moore and all my other great English teachers from high school. Viva Diagramming !!!!!
 

Judy B.~~~My husband used to sing ''The Marine Hymn'' to our daughters when they were restless... ''from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...'' --worked every time !!!
 

Beckster~~~There are different degrees of ADD. Many people have a mild form of it.Many people have trouble paying attention, staying on task and focused, or listening to verbal instructions. Some people see letters and numbers reversed when they try to read. I'm pretty sure that I have a little ADD because even though I was a good student, I have trouble with ''left'' and ''right'' and I am not good at listening to directions, I have to see them. I sometimes have trouble focusing and listening to people and sometimes doodle to help focus. I also always take notes in meetings mostly to stay focused . [My older daughter told me that she does the same thing. They used to think that learning disabilities were a visual problem , but new research suggests that it might be due to a problem connecting letters to their sounds. As for the Spanish vowels , when my student Octavio taught them to me years ago , I connected their sounds to English vowel sounds . [Spanish vowels have only one sound , but each English vowel has two sounds , a short sound and a long sound which sounds like the letters as you say them in the alphabet [a,e,i,o,u.] I'll put the English vowel sound in parantheses : Spanish ''a'' [sounds like ''ah'' in English , ''e'' [sounds like our long ''a'' as in the word ''play], ''i'' [sounds like our long ''e'' as in ''see'']. ''o'' is like our long ''o'' as in ''rose''], and ''u'' sounds like ''ooh'' as in ''who'' Lots of really smart people had learning disabilities including Leonardo Davinci and Thomas Alva Edison, and some people thought that Einstein was retarded when he was a child. Many people with ADD have high IQs. I had a young guy from Syria in speaking class years ago who could not sit still and focus in class , but he was really intelligent and quick.
 

I figured it out! Acacia (Wednesday) is played bebilot mansur who I lost saw on Amigas and Rivales. BTW, the woman who plays Isadora was also on Amigas and Rivales as Margarita. Her hair was really dark and she was a bit heavier.
 

beckster: you and my son are in good company, wouldn't you agree?

Susanlynn: I had to teach my kids grammar through diagramming also!! I even had to teach them outlining so they could write papers in a literate manner. I used to complain to the teachers in the 80's and 90's till I was blue in the face. Both of my kids appreciated the help because they were desperate to learn. I had actually kept some of my grammar books (my parents never got rid of them). Amazing, huh? --Both of my kids write extremely well now also. I guess there is something to be said for "homeschooling", huh.
 

My daddy was a leatherneck in WWII and we used to sing that in the car and then "when the casons go rolling along....." Darn! That brings back some good ol' memories.
 

Jardinera~~~They are now also teaching composition very differently than the way I learned to write essays. I had to learn to teach writing by a formula. We teach a 5-paragraph essay style in which the first paragraph is the intoduction and the last sentence of the first paragraph is the topic sentence which contains 3 supporting details . These 3 supporting details become the first sentence of each of the 3 interior paragraphs. The last paragraph must restate the main idea and the 3 supporting details.That's the way the college teaches writing. I was never taught to write with such a structured formula.
 

Lordy, me neither! I had a topic sentence anywhere in that first paragraph I think, and the last paragraph had to relate back to the main idea stated in the first. That is about all I can truly remember of the rules.

(These days I just write as the spirit moves me 'cause I am all done with discipline!!) ;?)
 

susanlynn..thanks, yes I get the whole long/short thing...and I can do pretty well with one vowel...but if there are two together...well not good, I even have trouble with english words, if I have only read them and haven't heard them, like medical terms...I just hate vowels...but I suppose life would be pretty difficult with out them.
 

I'm amused at some comments in the past of difficulty learning languages at an older age. I'm 63. Latin has disappeared in most countries - I think. Still it was very prevalent in any country with a British background. Both my brothers and I learnt Latin at high school for 5 years - then I studied it for another 4 at college. About age, I have no difficulty whatever at being one of the top students in all of my language classes at the community college.

Grammar is so easy after learning Latin for so long. After all I can still recite some of the conjugations of "amo" :) and decline "puella" - even though that was 40 years ago. I can still recite grammar rules such as an adjective agrees with its noun in number, gender and case :).

My verb books allow me so see how the verbs have changed in Italian, Spanish and French from the Latin. When I retire, I'll relearn my Latin and become a whiz at these other languages :).

Its a great hobby.
 

Beckster~~~Here's are 2 little rules that I teach my students about vowels that might help. They do not apply all of the time , but often. 1. If 2 vowels are together in a word, the first is usually long and the second is silent [ex. soap, meat]. My daughter learned this rule as ''When 2 vowels go walking, the first does the talking.'' That always reminded me of her sister and her. She was the quiet one; her older sister was more talkative. 2. If a word ends with a silent ''e'' , the vowel is usually long. [rat, rate]Lynne~~~amo, amas, amant, ?, amatus,?
 

:)
amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant.

I'm at work so don't trust my knowledge to do it in French, Italian and Spanish :)
 

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