Caray, Caray!

Folks, this is Schoolmarm Jeanne and you know I have to weigh in on this since captions r us in my field. There are several things going on with the captions on Univision and other networks at the moment. For those who do not yet know me, I have been here most of the last two years until just recently when my schedule got nutty, and in my real life I am a school administrator at a school that exclusively serves students who are deaf or hard of hearing. I have had captioned television since 1980 when it first arrived on the scene, and never, ever turn off the captions; I’ve kept up with the issues nationally regarding captions—this is an especially hot topic at the moment since it appears that the current digital converter box is not especially compatible with the caption decoder chip in the older televisions that are not digital. So deaf folks trying to access the digital signal through the air are finding they cannot get their captions anymore.

At the end of this post, I have included the additional information on Spanish Language Programming directly from FCC fact sheet website—which are slightly different than the NIDCD information states (one of my favorite websites, by the way, and I’m glad to see you using it, Carlos). The NIDCD info is primarily about English language programming and they seem to have an error in the Spanish programming statement…..my apologies that I haven’t gotten adept at making the URL links work, you’ll have to cut and paste to get to the FCC fact sheet.

How closed captions are prepared: a human being (it’s not yet ready for the linguistic nuances of voice to digital transcribing yet, folks) must transcribe the audio track. Sometimes the captioner has a script, sometimes not. The person captioning can mix up sounds. Thus, in Spanish, the caption might read that the character is trying to “break the heaven (cielo)” when he or she was trying to “break the ice (hielo).” I actually saw this caption blooper on Yo Amo a Juan Q early in the program once and caught it only because a) I was recapping and b) I was very familiar with caption bloopers. There’s a Deaf online magazine called DeafDigest that has a caption blooper of the week every week!

Captioners are trained in programs like those for court reporters (sometimes the same programs). Each captioner must create his or her own personal “dictionary” of sound transcriptions that are merged to form the words heard—there is not a standard dictionary and I could not tell you why for the life of me.

This is why you sometimes see some funny things in live captioning, like when the President speaks, and then suddenly the mess becomes a full word. They work in words and syllable-like units. The initial dictionary must be about 10K words/syllable units before a trainee is ready to go out professionally and speed is an issue. Still, they hit the wrong keys in live captioning. This happens less in pre-recorded captions, but it happens (and may be the similar sounds, noted above). Melinama has noted in a previous thread that Univision is using live captioners. There is no way on earth they can be listening to even ten minutes of the rapid-fire dialogue we hear and be able to caption it all, especially if they have no script in front of them. I can’t type as fast as people talk, can you? I couldn’t take shorthand that fast and that accurately back in the days I did shorthand, either. Even with their shortcuts in their personal caption bank dictionaries, they can only catch part of what is being said live.

Watch a live captioned news special in either English or Spanish—the captions have all kinds of interesting differences from pre-recorded and pre-captioned programs. This is not a local provider problem, because it is occurring nationwide on Univision primarily, by the way. It’s definitely a network problem.

Back to the general captioning process, and pardon me for sidebars: the pre-recorded audio/video track and the caption track then get merged by the network so they match--theoretically, and when the local cable station plays back the video/audio for airing, the caption transmission equipment must be activated also. However, the equipment they are using for playback and airing locally must match the equipment on which the tracks were prepared and must have the same type of technology. It must merge and display all the tracks with appropriate timing, or your television screen comes up with a caption garble that you can’t resolve by turning it on and off, or pausing-restarting with something you have recorded, etc. (remember the old videotapes? They would get stretched and you’d have to manually “track” so they wouldn’t break up the picture and sound? This is similar but there is no correcting it at the user’s end). The video/audio track will be fine in the transmission from your local provider or national network, but the local provider’s captions will be terrible. (But as we have noted, this IS a problem at Univision at the moment. Others may be having it as well….see below). My local provider had problems with total garble on Univision when I came here five years ago. I complained, and they discovered they had outdated caption playback technology—they had to update it and totally replaced their caption playback technology/equipment.

Here’s what’s happening now:

First, some stations are now transitioning to digital transmission. Caption playback equipment is in your local cable service provider’s offices and may or may not be capable of handling digital---so far, the transmission has all been analog for the most part and the playback equipment handles analog captions. Since it’s happening nationwide, there may be other factors, however. In analog captioning, I noted that at least with my provider, there were always two characters for an accented vowel. They would caption “maás” for más. This was because the captioning equipment was displaying the “place marker” that gets put into some text programs for an accented character. There were other flaws like that, too. NOW, I am noticing they have cleaned that up. They are also slowing the captions (some of you have noted that, too) and stripped out some of the words—which is likely so they can begin building the transmission merge between captions and video/audio tracks.

These are just a couple of the factors I am fairly certain are influencing our captions. They remind me of the early days of captioning (1980-1985) when the captions said only half of what the characters did (and my deaf friends would look at me with the “what did he/she REALLY say?” look. But it was too late to interpret as the action moved on too fast. As captioners got more proficient and as the tracks got merged better without junk captions (garble that shows up when the tracks are mismatched), more of what the characters said was in the captions. Live captioners never get all the words, in my experience, that the speakers are saying unless there are large gaps in what the speakers say—as in some sports programming with occasional commenting. If Univision is hiring live captioners—they may be using trainees, which would account for some of the issues.

Finally, the FCC rules for Spanish language programming are different until 2010. (Also some of the rules for HDTV transmission are different, even if it is a form of digital). Have patience; the captions are actually clearer now than they have been since the Univision folks who’ve hired the captioners are changing their transmission format (analog to digital to match signals) although they are having growing pains and the captions are way slow. They have awhile to get it right, unfortunately for us, as the section below shows.

See below and thanks for your interest! (The entire following section is quoted from the FCC fact sheet website).

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/closedcaption.html

“Different closed captioning schedules apply to new, pre-rule, and Spanish language programming.

"New" Programming

As of January 1, 2006, all “new” English language programming, defined as analog programming first published or exhibited on or after January 1, 1998, and digital programming first aired on or after July 1, 2002, must be captioned, with some exceptions.

"Pre-Rule" English Programming

Analog programming first shown before January 1, 1998, and digital programming first shown before July 1, 2002, are called “Pre-Rule Programming.” Pre-Rule Programming that is not exempt from the closed captioning rules must be captioned as follows:

* January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2007: 30 percent of programming per channel per quarter.
* January 1, 2008, and thereafter: 75 percent of programming per channel per quarter.

Spanish Language Programming

Because captioning is fairly new to Spanish language program providers, the FCC allows them a longer time to provide captioned programming. All Spanish language programming that was first shown after January 1, 1998, must be captioned by 2010 with some exemptions. The following schedule applies to Spanish language “new” and non-exempt programming, or programming shown after January 1, 1998:

* January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006: 900 hours of programming per channel per quarter or all of the new, non-exempt Spanish language programming on that channel, whichever is less.
* January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2009: 1350 hours of programming per channel per quarter or all of the new, non-exempt Spanish language programming on that channel, whichever is less.
* January 1, 2010, and thereafter: 100 percent of all programming, with some exceptions.

For Spanish language “Pre-Rule Programming” (first shown before January 1, 1998) that is not exempt from the closed captioning rules, the following schedule applies:

* January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011: 30 percent of programming per channel per quarter.
* January 1, 2012, and thereafter: 75 percent of programming per channel per quarter.

For more information on the FCC’s closed captioning rules and requirements, go to www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/caption.html.”

Jeanne

Labels: announcements

From last night: We’re still going around in circles about where Soledad’s final resting place will be and Priscila get’s the tie-breaking vote. AnyBalls reminds her that only their familial ancestors are buried there. She dryly says thanks for the info.

New stuff: Priscilla votes in favor of Soledad being buried in the family crypt. Fernanda and Santiago are ecstatic, while Barb curses Priscila in her mind. Anyballs doesn’t look too thrilled that Prisci voted against him either. Barb tries to make nice with Nanda by telling her that she and Gonzo will do everything possible to make sure Soledad gets a funeral deserving of a queen - “digno de una reina”

Aurora, in Nanda’s room, is admiring all of Nanda’s beautiful clothes and thinking house nice the family has been to her, especially Santiago – he’s been an angel.

Lucio’s still drunk as a skunk in Jacinto and Margarita’s house with Fr/Ed lurking in another room out of sight, but listening. Lucio tells Jacinto and Marg that Barb said that Gardenia and Florecita were the ones who sent the flowers to Nanda at the wedding. Lucio says not to worry he’ll help them, but Marg’s is sure it won’t be free. Lucio promises to tell Barb that Gardenia and Florecita had nothing to do with the flowers as long as Jacinto and Margarita give Lucio the keys to Soledad’s house. They’re appalled at the thought and tell Lucio they have no right to give away something that isn’t theirs, and besides, Soledad paid for that house with her blood, sweat and tears. Lucio tells them he doesn’t get what the big deal is, Soledad doesn’t need the house anymore, right? Fr/Ed listens and is starting to look irritated with drunk Lucio.

Back to Aurora, thinking how nice of a family she’s found herself with, especially that good guy Don Gonzo and his beautiful wife Barbara. But, she thinks, there’s something about Barb that troubles, but intrigues her, she’s not sure what it is, but maybe it has something to do with the things that Santiago has told her – that Barb is very ambitious and all the affection she shows the family is fake. Boy, has Aurora got a thing or two to learn! She thinks how different her life is than when she was with cruel Dominga. Speaking of the drunken Dominga, who is at this very moment screaming and yelling for Aurora, saying that once she finds Aurora she’ll make her pay dearly. Aurora vows never to return to Dominga’s house. Somehow I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Dominga!

Back at Jacinto’s place, Lucio is still trying to convince them to let him move into Soledad’s house. They’re still against it, but then Fr/Ed catches Jacinto’s eye and shakes his head yes, to let Lucio live in the house. Jacinto tells Lucio they’ll think about it, and instead of just goin’ with the flow, good ol’ Marg starts yelling no at Jacinto, whose yells back at her that his word is final. Lucio’s happy and compliments Jacinto on how he treats his wife – yuck. Marg is stunned and of course tries to start an argument, when Fr/Ed comes out and tells her to simmer down, that Jacinto was only doing what he signaled him to do. Fr/Ed, like he’s talking to a 5 year old, has to explain to Marg that he wants to figure out if Lucio spilling his guts because he’s drunk, or if he’s really on Barb’s side.

Barb is in her bedroom and Gonzo enters – he’s happy that she’s made Nanda happy about burying Soledad at the family’s crypt. She says when she married The Gonz that she vowed to care for his family too. She just hopes that Fernanda knows that she’s putting herself in danger. Gonzo, like the Big Mouth Bass that he is, opens up his pie-hole and just waits for Barb to insert the fish hook. She explains that whoever sent the flowers is very close to them, obviously. She fakes being scared that this whole thing will turn against her. Of course he buys it – hook, line, and sinker, and vows to protect her with his life.

Uh oh. Errorika is waking up and her head hurts big time. Who knows what’s worse, the hangover or the beating from Cadmilho. She turns on the light and has no idea where she is. That must be an awful feeling.

Fr/Ed’s walking back to his house in the dark, thinking about Fernanda, and how the memories hurt him so.

Nanda goes to her bedroom with Damian and they talk about how difficult the situation is, with him having to go to New York in the midst of all this business with Soledad. He promises to do everything he can in order to get back quickly. He asks her to come with him, and she says no, they’ve already discussed that. He says that after the funeral he’ll wait for her in New York, he doesn’t want to leave her alone for long. She tells Damian none of this has happened by accident, there’s someone behind it – but she doesn’t tell him she thinks its Eduardo.

Errorika comes down the steps calling out to see if anyone is in the strange house where she has just woken up.

AnyBalls is letting Prisci have it for voting against him. She gives it right back to him. She says they’re together until death separates them, and that Gonzo’s first grandson will be her child.

Vladimir is calling Prisci from his car, but changes his mind and hangs up. He thinks to himself she is a dream come true.

Errorika is still calling out to see if there’s anyone is there. The fireplace sure looks good – the only thing missing is Fr/Ed and his towel. Just then Fr/Ed walks in and asks Errorika if she slept well – she doesn’t remember him at all. He reintroduces himself as Franco Santoro. He reminds her that the name probably doesn’t ring a bell because at the wedding she kept telling him he didn’t have the “face” of a Franco. She’s looking a little nervous. He tells her he brought her to his house because she was in bad shape, and he didn’t know her address. He didn’t think it was a good idea to be asking her boyfriend, either. “Boyfriend?” she says. He says yes, Cadmilho Elizalde. She says, “That pig is not my boyfriend!” He offers her some OJ that actually looks more like watered-down Sunny D – maybe it’s a new product he’s testing out for Pow-Where Meeeeelk – or something Esteve invented at Harvard as a hangover cure after a frat party. She still doesn’t understand why she’s there and why he wanted to help her. She says until he proves otherwise she’s going to think he brought her to his house with other intentions. He says, yes, I have brought you here with other intentions – she jumps up, immediately afraid and stares him down.

Damian struts in the bedroom, showing off his six pack in his open pyjama shirt and gets lovey-dovey with Nanda. By the look on her face, she’s not really diggin’ it. He gets serious when takes off his glasses. She explains to him that she wants their first night together to be unforgettable. He tries to go for it again, and she backs away saying she feels very sad. She promises that one day soon that they’ll do it. He can’t believe she’s saying they’re not going to consummate their marriage until after he gets back from Nueva York. Dude! She’s just not that into you!!!! He said he never imagined that his wedding night would turn out like this, and it’s all Franco Santoro’s fault. She doesn’t understand what he has to do with any of this – Damian explains about the business. But, more importantly, she denies ever having seen Franco Santoro in her life. Lying to the hubster already Nanda?

Our favorite galan, f/k/a Ricky McPirateson, tells Errorika that his intentions are only good. He tries to get her to call someone to let them know she’s okay. She calls her maid, Rootie (!) who is very happy to hear from her, and tells her that a gift will be arriving for her tomorrow. Errorika doesn’t seem very interested and hangs up. Finally, Errorika sees her reflection in the mirror and cannot believe her eyes. Shocked at the bruises on her face, she asks, “What’s this?”

Nanda is having another conversation with her alter ego – who always seems to be smarter than the real life Nanda. Smart Nanda questions Not-So-Smart Nanda as to why she lied to her husband about knowing who Franco Santoro was, and why she’s always so nervous when Franco is around.

Aurora is shacking up in Liliana’s old room. Santiago says he’ll tell her all about Liliana later. Aurora says she’s happy to have a warm bed to sleep in tonight. She asks why he doesn’t like Barb. He tries to avoid answering with jokes. She says she’s thinks Barbara is “rara” – or strange. He says that’s the best way to describe her.

Barb is putting droplets of something into El Viejo Gonzo’s nighttime glass of milk. I’m sure it’s probably the opposite of Pow-where Meeeelk.

Aurora tells Santiago how nice Barb and everyone else has been to her. But she says Barb is a bit strong. He confesses that his sister’s marriage was more complicated than he thought, but he’s happy that Aurora was there with him. She says this is the end though – tomorrow she’s leaving to go look for her mother. He begs her to stay. She says she doesn’t want to take advantage of his family’s hospitality. He asks if she’s running off because of all that she witnessed with his family. He said he hasn’t felt this good in years and promises to help her tomorrow look for her mother. He says if she can’t sleep all she has to do is knock on his door and they can go out to the garden and tell stories to the stars and the singing crickets. After he leaves she thinks how nice he is, and how she could really get used to living there, but this kind of happiness can only last for a moment.

At Jacinto’s it looks like all is forgiven with Marg. But Marg’s having doubts about Fr/Ed’s plans. Jacinto says Eduardo is their friend and they have to help him put an end to all the vileness that is La Hiena. Somebody’s knockin’ on the door, somebody’s ringin’ the bell . . . just let ‘em in . . . . It’s Gardenia who still thinks that Jacinto has another woman in the house. Surprise, surprise, she finds Margarita. Gardenia thinks that Jacinto fed Marg a bunch of lies and she believed him. Gardenia can’t get it through her thick head that Jacinto isn’t lying to Margarita. They try to explain that Jacinto’s doing business with the “engineer” Franco Santoro. Gardenia’s not buyin’ it. Margarita says she confirmed it with Franco Santoro.

Back to Errorika and Fr/Ed. Errorika says there’s no reason left for her to go back to Camilo. [she’s only remembering how he humiliated her with Natasha, though.] Errorika wants a favor from Fr/Ed, but before she asks, she wants to know something personal. She asks him if he’s in a relationship with anyone. He says no, but asks why. She says if he were in a relationship he wouldn’t be able to do her the favor she needs.

Errorika is ashamed of what’s happened, but Fr/Ed tells her she doesn’t have to say anything more about it. She says it’s hard to look at herself in the mirror. She asks him to think about her proposition. He tells her to go and rest and he’ll think about what she’s proposed. She tells him she wishes they would have met under different circumstances. He flashes her his Gazillion Dollar Smile and tells her to go back to sleep, everything will look different in the morning.

Nanda brings Damian coffee in the office. She says she couldn’t sleep. She says she wants to go the chapel. After she leaves, he thinks to himself he can’t believe that the death of a servant could actually ruin a wedding night. How sensitive Snake Boy!
Nanda’s in the capilla, crying, and asking La Virgencita for help with the pain of losing Soledad (shades of Slofia!).

Barbara is on the phone with the Evil Gay Doctor from the Crazy House. She tells him she doesn’t care how he does it, but he better find out what Liliana told Fernanda the day she came and visited. He tells her he tried, but Barb is not satisfied with that answer at all. She wonders where the pair of “tortolitos” (two little birds) could be? I assume she’s thinking of Damian and Nanda?

Fr/Ed’s torn between his juramento with Nanda and the deal that Errorika has proposed. He doesn’t understand why the promise he made to Fernanda so long ago should even matter anymore.
Nanda-fia is still crying in the chapel. She misses Soledad’s warm hugs. She says Soledad went away like water spilling through her hands.

Fr/Ed says soon Fernanda will find out that it was him who ruined her wedding.

More crying, when Soledad’s ghost appears behind Nanda to touch her shoulder. I can’t stand when they put ghosts in the novelas – except when it was Rosario haunting Feo in FELS!

Previews: A nurse is trying to coax Liliana into seeing her sister, but I’m pretty sure it’s a trick cooked up by Dr. Gay. Fr/Ed looks like he’s going to go along with Errorika’s plan. Nanda tries to trick Jacinto into telling her that Eddie’s back in town. Barb gives Damian his wedding night after all!

Labels: manana

Labels: barbara

Well, we've got a new intro, folks, but otherwise it's the same old same old. In fact the plot movement these days reminds me of a slow drain. Everything keeps swirling around but never goes anywhere. We're knee-deep in icky-poo and no hope in sight.

But anyway, here's what went down...Hah! Charlie's tormenting himself by looking at the video he took of Lucia in happier days. Gregoria tries to comfort him and to reassure him that it wasn't his fault. But he says it was because he didn't protect himself (or his partner) by using contraception. Chava's listening in on all this, while hugging his wee dog, and promises himself that he'll find a way to protect Charlie from "whoever is trying to kill him". Later he reassure him that he's asked "Diosito" for help and Charlie has nothing to worry about. After all, Chava asked Diosito for a dad, and not only did he get one, he got grandparents and a cousin (Charlie) as well!

Humor break. Zamora's performing for the restaurant folks with a joke. Meño tells him to make it a "short one". But Z doesn't know any dwarf jokes. Ay yi yi. I'm laughing so hard my sides hurt. Aren't yours? Meño reminds him he needs a waiter...a worker...not a performer, even though Zamora protests that he's a raging success.

Now back to Candy and Patricio in the Love Tent, having their millionth discussion of the wedding fiasco. Patricio wants her to know that Alicia forced the kiss on him. Candy reminds him that they threw their forgiveness stones in the water and there's no need to go over the past again. (Oh please! Let it be so!) Okay. Patricio's on board. He just wants her to know that he loves her. And how great is his love? Well, if you went to the moon and back 8 thousand times, that would about cover it.

They're not the only ones discussing love. Santiago and Rocio are having that talk as well. He's explaining that "amor no se busca, se encuentra" (You don't look for love, you find it...or it finds you). In other words, you can't force it, it just happens. Rocio's trying to work all this out with Papa's romantic history. Paulina was his fiancee and wife, but she's not anymore. And Marissa was his fiancee but not anymore. Thank G..! Santiago starts to say and then stops. So fiances just suddenly appear...like Chava for me, adds Rocio. NO! retorts Papa. He's not underwriting any mini-romances right now, thank you very much.

Back to the tent. Patricio's talking with the Good Lord now, thanking him for giving him life , giving him time to correct his mistakes, giving him a chance to believe in love again, giving him this love that he feels for Candy. She listens. She smiles. And she turns away. And suggests they go to sleep. BUT....she says, "Goodnight Amor". That's enough for Patricio, evidently, who cozily spoons up next to her and we presume they drift off to sleep. Have to give Pat points here for amazing self-control and patience. We break for an ad while we wonder at all this.

When we come back, we see Charlie at Santiago's office, waiting to talk to him. Have to give Charlie even more points for incredible courage. A grim-faced Santiago sweeps past him and tells Hortensia "no calls".

It's the next day. Our two lovebirds are awake. Patricio's saying he doesn't want to pressure her. He's at peace knowing she knows that he loves her. Definitely a candidate for sainthood, our Patricio. Candy, of course, is still dithering. So much on her mind. Charlie. Lucia. Marissa. The baby. The Institute. No matter, says Patricio. If we're together, it's all going to work out. Okay, maybe not a candidate for sainthood. More of a cock-eyed optimist award. But hey, cut him some slack. Love will do that to ya'.

Lucia is at home, grimly checking information on AIDS and Acquired Immune Deficiency on the Internet. Granny intervenes, reminds her not to get ahead of things. She doesn't know yet if she's actually infected. But there's no cure, cries Lucia. No more of that. Isabella pulls her outside for a walk in the sun-filled garden. Life calls. One must listen.

Santiago though can barely manage to be in the same room with Charlie, must less listen. The young man is telling him he doesn't care if he dies....as long as Lucia is alright. Santiago suggests they talk at another time. There won't be another time for me, answers Charlie. Some eye-rolling by Santiago. You CAN have a good quality of life, you DO have many more years of life ahead of you, he manages to say.

The walk with Isabella hasn't gotten Lucia's mind off the subject (understandably). If I'm infected, I can't have children, I can't go to Los Angeles, I can't be a pediatrician. Am I wrong to reject Charlie now? she asks her grandmother. Tough love from Granny. Charlie didn't do this to you. With a couple, both people are responsible. Both need to be accountable for protection.

Hortensia is being a much more sympathetic listener with Santiago. He's berating himself for not being more strict...if he had been, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Hortensia thinks that Lucia is pregnant. No, that's LIFE. This is not, he mourns. Another ad.

Meño's consulting with Barbara since she's well-versed on the subject of parent-child relationships and he needs help. But, turns out she doesn't know much about AIDS. So she'll research that and then get back to him. In the meantime, Patricio and Candy breeze into the office and Soledad says she wants to talk to them....BOTH of them. Dum de dum dum.

More talk about "amor no se busca, se encuentra" at Santiago's place. Jaime is joking that he didn't look for Isabella but she looked for him! They all agree that Marissa is a lost cause because she's a lot more "especial" than they thought. "especial" in this case is a "false friend". It doesn't mean "special" but rather "difficult". Candy, on the other hand, is deemed "buena onda" (nice, cool) by Rocio so she and Lucia decide they will try and get Candy and Santiago together. After all, Dad's been doing some serious moping lately.

Indeed. Now he's moping with Lalo, though one can hardly blame him. Eduardo gives the same advice as the rest of the characters...don't get ahead of yourself. You don't know yet if Lucia is infected. Well, there are also Marissa's threats. At this point the bell rings, the girls arrive, Lucia and Rocio come in, Lucia calls Santiago "Papa" and Lalo is dumbstruck. But in a good way. And as Santiago points out, it's a two-syllable endearment....not Pa...but Papa. Way better.

Not so good is Soledad's take on things. She understands that Patricio prefers Candy to her, but does that mean he should make a difference between how he treats Chava and how he treats Beto? They're both his sons. Patricio protests that he's not treating them differently...he would never do that. Candy says nothing but looks kind of sour. Pat reassures Soledad...or tries to...that the boys are the same to him, both are his sons. Another ad.

When we come back, Chayo is telling Candy she has some surprise guests in her office....and it's a good surprise. Yep, it's Lucia and Rocio, with Santiago in tow, asking Candy to be their papa's girlfriend. Marissa is watching all this on her spycam and spewing toxic waste hither and yon.

Cut to Meño, looking unusually dapper in a cream silk suit, complemented by a dusty rose handkerchief and shirt. Clearly he's the darling of the wardrobe department. Alas, he finds an ominous farewell note from Charlie bidding him good-bye and saying he's leaving so as not to be a burden to anyone.

Candy's kicking Santiago out, explaining that this is girl-talk time while Marissa spews more venom and gets ready to light up a cigarette. We're shocked of course but to show you how times have changed, not only did my mom smoke through all her pregnancies but my first obstetrician smoked in his office while talking to me. And I worked in a place where my editor chain-smoked cigars while everyone else (but me) puffed away as well. I expected my poor baby to arrive looking like a little cinder but she was fine.

Anyway, Barb, when entering the office and finding Marissa with the shocking cigarette in her mouth, tries to talk sense into her and gets nowhere. And points out that Marissa is in HER office. Marissa replies that the whole place is HERS so get out already.

The discussion twixt Candy and the girls is a mite more civilized. Candy explains that she has to resolve something in her past before she can think about getting involved with anyone. But Papa's sad, he misses you, protest the girls. And Papa is about to discover Marissa's secret. He hears Rocio's voice, enters the office, find Marissa and wonders what's up. But the whole subject gets forgotten when he spots the cigarette in her mouth and the whole baby-safety discussion starts over again.

Alright. Back to the Charlie situation. Meño's frantic and they're asking Lucia if she knows where he might go. Turns out she does because he asked her to meet him one last time and she refused. They persuade her, in the name of the love she once felt for him, to meet him.

Humor break again. Chayo's dusting her side of the apartment and complaining about the dirty socks and nasty smell on Lalo's side of things. He plays it nice for a moment, admitting that he did value her work...the cleaning, the laundry, the ironing, the cooking, the er, other little things but now....Is love going to rebloom? Nah...now he has....ta dah...enter Estrella, a babe maid in a sexy outfit, ready to wait on him hand and foot and call him "venadito" (literally "fawn". but a term of endearment like "honey" or "darling").

Meanwhile, Meño's health seems to be deteriorating even faster than Charlie's. He's clutching his head, sick with worry about his son. If he robbed, or was a drug addict, I could protect him, he sighs. But what can I do with this damned illness?! Another ad.

Now we're in the kitchen with Lulu and Toño is trying out a little joke on her. Why are men like Chinese food? Well I hope you know, 'cause I didn't catch the answer. Lulu is encouraging, and reassures him that he can be as funny as Zamora. Toño's not convinced. He was picked on in school for being a little dumb guy. You have an enormous heart, Lulu reassures him, and Candy always says, Love has no size (talla). Hmmm.....could Toño be the galan for Lulu? Any guesses?

Meanwhile, things are cozy with Lalo and his "mucama" (servant). She's bringing him his slippers, tucking him into his couch/bed and asking if there's anything else she can do for her "venadito". Chayo's still got something up her sleeve though. She sashays in, wearing a black baby-doll lace nightie....whew!...and dangling her duster in Lalo's direction. Eduardo is practically howling at the moon and invites her over to the couch to get comfortable. Whoops. Chayo knees him in the nuts instead and suggests that he get comfortable with his "mucama" if she's so great. Clearly she's been hanging around Candy too much, our Chayo. Bad form.

Lucio finds a forlorn Charlie. And convinces him to go back and face the music so to speak. Marissa and Barbara have another chat. Marissa's boggled that Candy is going out with Patricio and trying to work things out there. She finally asks the 64 dollar question. Am I crazy? No, hedges Barbara. Candy's confused. And so are you. But you're a bit MORE confused. Then Barb scoots out the door.

Charlie and Meño reunite at the house, under the happy gaze of the rest of the family. Next time you leave, you leave with a big hug, not a note, insists Meño. Don't worry, it'll never happen again, Charlie reassures him.

But life is not the same. Meño is barking at everyone at the restaurant like a slave driver. They can't work fast enough or hard enough for him. And Hortensia's feeling the pressure as well. Santiago is meditating on his loneliness and confusion while absently patting her knee. I'm not made of wood, you know, she manages to gasp. Santiago looks startled and abruptly ends the discussion.

And speaking of abrupt endings....we cut back to the restaurant where Meño suddenly passes out and falls to the floor. Give Lulu kudos for promptly calling an ambulance. In most telenovelas, people seem to rush around and wail for a good 20 minutes before calling for help. Yay Lulu! And there we end for tonight.

Previews: Santiago proposes tossing a coin to decide whom Candy should be with, him or Patricio. She catches the coin. Who will it be? Let's flush this drain and get an answer already.

Vocabulary:
mucama = servant
me salió el tiro por la culata = it backfired on me (Santiago discussing his plight with Hortensia)
me importa un bledo = I don't give a darn
venadito = honey, darling, dear (literally 'fawn')

thought I'd just throw in some other expressions that you often hear in telenovelas..though not in this particular episode

no hay pero que valga = no "but's"
de buenas a primeras = out of the blue, suddenly
de mala gana = reluctantly
de mi puño y letra = in my own handwriting

And "Proverb of the Day"

A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando. God helps him who helps himself.

Labels: Tontas

THANK YOU CARLOS for providing this information. Now, what to do about it?

From his link at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders:

The law

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires that businesses and public accommodations ensure that disabled individuals are not excluded from or denied services because of the absence of auxiliary aids. Captions are considered one type of auxiliary aid.

Since the passage of the ADA, the use of captioning has expanded. Entertainment, educational, informational, and training materials are captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences at the time they are produced and distributed.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules requiring closed captioning of most television programming.

Captions and the FCC

The FCC rules on closed captioning became effective January 1, 1998. They require people or companies that distribute television programs directly to home viewers to make sure those programs are captioned.

Labels: announcements

Hi all,
Since Ferro's post last Friday - during which we tentatively decided the disastrous meltdown of the Univision subtitles started on March 16 - I've been in touch with a few people at Univision and one of our other recappers who "knows somebody" there has done the same.

There is a possibility this problem results from a cost-cutting measure at Univision: that they stopped paying for pre-recorded captions and have been trying to get by with live captioners. We are hoping they'll realize what they're offering now is utterly unusable and will go back to the previous system. In the mean time, I'll try to keep you posted.

Labels: announcements

I'm back on a bi-weekly basis. I'm going to see if I can fit this back into my schedule. On with the show -

Eduardo and Steve, over the phone, plan Steve’s fake meeting with Damian in New York. Eduardo is worried that Fernanda might go with Damian on the trip.

Damian tells Anibal that he and Fernanda are leaving tomorrow, she enters and says she’s not going anywhere, she has to transfer Soledad’s body from the graveyard into the family vault in the hacienda’s chapel. Damian rolls his eyes without actually rolling them, you can tell. Anibal is just whining and acting like a jerk. Like always.

Steve gives Eduardo some comforting words on the loss of his mother.

Barbara is beside herself at the thought of Soledad being in the family chapel, what, someday she might have to be put in there next to her! She tries to get Gonzalo to agree that if it turns out that Jacinto and crew sent the flowers that he won’t let Soledad be put there. I paused right here to discuss this with my wife, after a few minutes we still couldn’t figure out how the Jacinto/flowers thing had anything at all to do with Soledad being put in the family vault. Gonzalo tells Barbara that he promised that honor to Soledad long ago, so that’s that.

The wedding guests are still partying, it’s dark out now. Vladimir is still working on Priscilla, who doesn’t seem to mind. She says the required bit about being married, but she is enjoying this.

Jacinto finally tells Eduardo that all the secrets are ruining his life, his wife left him, frankly he’s pissed off. I have been saying since the first time Ed said “ok here’s what you’ll do for me” that Ed has been treating Jacinto like his bitch and Jacinto is getting nothing out of the deal. I’m glad he is finally saying something, even if it is far too late to do any good. Jacinto tells Ed that Barbara thinks Margarita and Gardenia sent the flowers and the note.

Damian tells Fernanda that she hasn’t spent a single minute at her own party! Also that he has to go on a trip and the honeymoon is not happening tomorrow.

Fernanda gets on the microphone and thanks everyone for coming, but she found out that someone that was like a mother to her has died, so party’s over, go home. She asks the band leader why he played the wrong song for the first dance, he said the note came from her. He found it on his music stand. He shows it to her, it is typed note saying to change the song, with her name typed on the bottom.

Vladimir wants Priscilla’s phone number, she takes his phone and puts it in there for him, then runs off to comfort Fernanda.

At Jacinto’s house, Eduardo is telling Jacinto to go look for Margarita, not understanding at all the trouble he has gotten Jacinto into. Jacinto tells Ed that Barbara will kill Gardenia and Margarita if Jacinto doesn’t do what Barbara tells him to do.

Barbara calls Flor and tells her that Margarita and Gardenia will pay for what they did with tears of blood. She gets off the phone and tells Gonzalo that they are the ones who sent the note and flowers.

Eduardo and Jacinto talk about the ‘secret’ – just in time for Margarita to enter and say ‘what secret?’ In time honored novela tradition, nobody noticed another person barging into the room.

Fernanda enters Gonzalo’s office where he and Barb were, Gonzalo tells Fernanda what Barbara suspects about the flowers. Fernanda says it wasn’t them. Barb says then who? Fern has a flashback of Liliana telling her that Eduardo had returned.

Margarita isn’t getting the answers she wants, so she gets upset and leaves. I can’t say I blame her. From all appearances, Jacinto isn’t cheating with another woman, he is in a gay secret relationship with Franco Santoro. What else could she think?

Barbara simpers to Fernanda that she is only guilty of not wanting to ruin Fernanda’s wedding day and was keeping a promise to Soledad by not saying anything. Barb leaves. Fernanda then tells Gonzalo that it was Eduardo who left the flowers and changed the song!

Jacinto and Margarita fight outside the house, Eduardo hears it all inside and paces, not knowing what to do. Here’s an idea – don’t leave your best friend totally hung out to dry. Even if his wife looks old enough to be his mother, just not cool.

Fernanda tells Gonzalo that the song that was played was the one that she and Eduardo danced to like a million times when they were kids. Gonz asks if Ed came back, why hasn’t he been to see us? Fern says because he doesn’t WANT to see us!

Jacinto and Margarita fight some more, she turns to leave and tells him to not look for her again, to forget about her. Eduardo still does nothing.

Fern tells Gonzalo that he can’t say anything to Barbara. He doesn’t understand why, but finally agrees. Fernanda wants to be the first one to find Eduardo and tell him to his face what she thinks of him. I’m not thinking it’s “he’s so awesome” at this point.

We see some legs and feet following Margarita, no real suspense here – they are black dress pants and black dress shoes. Ed was dressed that way, Jacinto was wearing the latest in peasant fashion. Margarita turns around and asks our mystery follower, “what do you want?”

Anibal tells Damian to not come back from New York without a check in his hand.

Barbara tries to get all weepy with Gonzalo to find out what Fernanda told him, he doesn’t bite.

Ed tries to talk to Margarita, and in his best Lorena de la Cruz mode, takes a full minute to say what he should have just said a looooong time ago – “it’s me, Eduardo.”

Back at the reception, Lucio picks up some leftover Champagne bottles and gets to drinking. He vows that he’ll find a way to get into Barbara’s pants.

Fernanda argues with Anibal, saying HE should go to New York. She wants Damian to help her with the Soledad thing. Anibal says the director of finance is who has to go, and that’s Damian.

Eduardo brings Margarita back to Jacinto’s house, he says she knows the secret now. Margarita says yes she knows, but she wants some more explanations.

Anibal is appalled at the idea of Soledad being in the family vault, Fern says Gonzalo promised!

Barbara whines some more to Gonzalo, now that his kids don’t like or trust her. He still won’t tell her what Fernanda told him before. His loyalty to his daughter is deeper than his loyalty to Barb I guess. I suspect that he’ll not remember this at some crucial juncture.

Ed tells Margarita he is there incognito, the Elizaldes can’t find out who he is.

More arguing about Soledad’s resting place. Santiago and Aurora enter. Santiago says that Anibal is scared that he’ll die soon and Soledad will have taken his place! Anibal tells him to stop being a clown. Anibal whines that he wants the whole family to make the decision. I guess Gonzalo having promised it already means nothing.

Jacinto and Ed continue to tell Margarita everything that has been going on.

Santiago says Camilo should vote too, but he found him lying in a heap earlier. Gonzalo says to go get him.

Ed fills in Margarita on his plan for justice and begs for their help. He says they have to keep his secret. They agree when Ed says they can tell him when he crosses the line between justice and vengeance. I’ll believe that when I see it.

Santiago dumps unconscious Camilo on the sofa next to Gonzalo. Barb goes to leave, but Gonzalo says as his wife she gets a vote. Aurora leaves, a maid directs her to Fernanda’s room. Gonzalo repeats his promise to Soledad, he thinks she should be in the vault, but for some reason says his vote won’t count, the rest of them have to vote. Barbara thinks to herself that they are wasting time, her body will be rotted away anyway.

Eduardo gets ready to leave, but there is a knock on the door and he hides in the kitchen. It’s Lucio, drunk. He says he has instructions from Barbara. Once he’s in, he says that’s not true, he just wants to toast. He has a bottle of expensive champagne with him. He takes forever to pop the cork. He fills them in on Fernanda missing the whole party, and the flowers and note.

The voting starts – Anibal says no, somehow Camilo wakes up to say no and even though he can’t possibly know what they are talking about nobody protests his vote, Fernanda and Damian vote yes, Santiago says yes, then Barbara says no to tie it up. She says something lame about her own people being able to visit her better at the cemetery, so it’s not fair to bring her to the chapel.

Lucio says he wants to make a deal with Jacinto, one that will change his life!

Damian jokes that they settle their tie like in soccer, with penalty kicks! Fernanda scolds him like a child and he shuts up. Santiago says they should flip a coin and it looks like everyone will go along with this when Priscilla shows up and asks if she gets a vote, as a spouse. The answer of course is yes. Anibal tries to tell her something and she says “yeah thanks for letting me know” in a way that means “shut the hell up you loser.” She says her vote is………….

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Also tomorrow – Barbara poisons Gonzalo’s nighttime glass of milk. He apparently doesn’t normally have milk at bedtime, but he gulps it right down anyway. If my wife ever wants to give me some drink at bedtime, which has never happened, there is no way in hell I’m drinking it. I’ve seen enough of these shows to know what that means.
Also – Damian and Fernanda get busy wedding night style, at least that’s what it looks like is going to happen. Erika asks Ed to do one more favor for her and he can ask for anything at all in return. She’s not very subtle it seems.

And just because I'm so excited about the new baby and my little family, and you have all been so nice sending me well wishes and all that, here are a couple photos -

Labels: manana

As some of you may know, my daughter’s wedding was this weekend, so I switched recap nights with Paula H. Muchisimas gracias, Paula, de verdad! I mentioned in yesterday’s comments that I wrote some new words to the Mañana es Para Siempre song, and sang it to my daughter and her fiancé (now husband) at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. In response to a request from JudyB, here it is.

Amor es Para Siempre

Okay, now back to our favorite tonta, Candy, who is in a little rowboat with Patricio, in the middle of a pretty lake. Pat reminds her that he once proposed in the air (while parachuting!), and today, he’s proposing on the water. He breaks out a little sign which says “Marry me”, and shows Candy the ring. She smiles, and remembers the romantic parachute proposal, seven years ago. However, last time, she said yes, and things went wrong. She’s afraid. Pat threatens to overturn (voltear) the boat if she doesn’t say yes, and after he stands up, she gets him to sit back down, thinking about her answer. At this, Pat is elated, she’s THINKING about it! Candy tells him that if he can help her get over her fear, she might risk living and loving again.

Bárbara and Chayo are having some girl talk in the ladies room, while fixing their makeup. Barb asks what Chayo thinks about Candy and Mari, didn’t Candy sort of betray Mari (remember, Mari asked Barb to be her new partner the other day). Chayo doesn’t trust Mari, but she does have total confidence in Candy.

In the restaurant, Zamora and Toño want to ask Meño something, but they’re a little shy about it. Finally, Zamora gets it out – they know about Charly. And Meño can count on them for whatever help he might need. Meño thanks them and gives them a hug.

Isabel and Jaime are walking Rocío home from school. Rocío tells her abuelos that she, Beto and Chava have an idea to make Santiago happier. What is it? They’re gonna find him a novia!, she whispers excitedly. This makes Isa and Jaime smile, but when Rocío adds that they’ve picked Beto’s Mom Soledad as the lucky lass, a little doubt creeps into the grown-ups’ smiles.

And the plan isn’t working at Soledad’s house either, as Beto tells her the idea, but Sole says she doesn’t love Santiago. Beto doesn’t want her to be sad, and although she says she’s not sad, he listens to her heart, proclaims her to be a good Mamá, but there’s sadness in her heart, so he’s still going to try to find her a novio. (BTW, when Beto asks if HE can be her novio, Soledad says of course not, he’s her son, which to me is better than what Candy tells Chava).

Seems that everyone’s getting ideas to cheer up someone. Zamora and Toño ask Meño if they can borrow Merengue, the puppet. Meño says they have to ask Candy, but they don’t know where she is. Why do they want Merengue? They want to put on a show! Right here in the restaurant. It’ll cheer up Charly. (Sounds good to me. It always worked in 30’s movies, why not in a telenovela!) As Meño goes to fetch the puppet, Toño practices applauding and laughing.

Santiago is a bit negative, tho. In the kitchen, he tells Isabel and Tina, no more women, they’re too much trouble, trying to snare you into marriage. Tina thinks women can be fun, but Santi doesn’t want any disagreement. Isabel says she knows how Santi can forget all about Candy and Marissa. Take the day off, and spend the entire day playing with the girls. Santi doesn’t have any surgeries scheduled, and Isa’s idea brightens his face right up.

Back at the lake, Pat and Candy have docked the boat, and are sitting on the dock (of the bay, wastin’ time). Pat tells her how guilty, stupid and angry he felt at himself, that day of their wedding, when Candy left. His friends told him to search for Candy, but he couldn’t find her, and wanted to die. Candy teaches him Meño’s “fuera dolor” remedy.

Santi is in the girls’ bedroom, telling them about his day of fun with them. Rocío is literally jumping for joy on her bed, but Lucía’s not in the mood. Santi reminds her he’s king of the castle, and he can proclaim this a festival day, and if she doesn’t like it, it’s war, as they all start throwing pillows at each other, and Lucía joins in, too.

Well, Barb is apparently still testing out Mari’s idea (without revealing it), and now she’s talking to the whole group of Institute gals. She feels that the tensions in the Institute are at least partly due to Candy’s actions, and where is Candy now? Well, they know she’s with Patricio, and Lulu gets a little mad at Bárbara for how she’s bad-mouthing Candy. Enter Mariloca (they were in her office, formerly Candy’s). She kicks them out, back to work, ladies! They leave, although Barb is the last one. Mari makes a chicken sound, calling the others chicken, trying to be funny, but Barb isn’t laughing.

We now peer at Pat and Candy standing on the pier, and it’s time for self help method number 768 (at least!) Pat has a bag of rocks. Each one represents a painful thing, and as you toss them into the water, you free yourself from the pain. Candy moans again about (Candy’s lines, how he hurt her, etc.) and throws a rock. Pat says his lines (he’s sooo sorry, she has to forgive him), and it’s back and forth and back and forth, and after about 3 rocks (she has quite a pitching arm, that Candy), it looks as if Pat’s making some progress, although I’m suffering through this endless whinefest.

As we come back from commercial, the still shot just before the segment has Rocío and Lucía’s smiling faces, and that brings me out of my funk. Santi and the girls are relaxing on the big bed, eating fritos and making gritos (shouts) of joy, as they watch a movie, apparently a scary one! Isabel and Jamie join the party, bearing burgers on a platter, and the five squeal with delight at the scary movie on TV.

Mari is enjoying replaying her spycam recording of Barb’s discussion with the ladies before Mari came in, when her phone rings. It’s Alicia, who wants to know if Mari has eaten yet. Why? Well, Ali wants Mari to take good care of HER baby (Alicia’s!), and good nourishment is very important. Ali informs Mari that Pat has just about agreed to the adoption. And since Ali has told Pat she may have to adopt from a foreign country, that part of the plan is also working. But Ali worries that if Mari leaves the country, too, Santiago could get suspicious. Mari tells Ali not to worry about that, she’s got everything under control, Santiago could search for his son over sky, sea or land, but will never find him.

Z&T have put a little sign on the front of the reservations desk of the restaurant, heralding the “show of Merengue and Zarzamora”. I guess the show is a puppet show, to be put on behind said desk. A dour Charly is led in by Meño, complaining that he doesn’t want to see a show of tarugos (pieces of wood), but Meño tells him not to say tarugos to the tarugos (which also means blockheads, i.e. Z&T). Toño asks if they have tickets, and since they don’t, he puts on a silly mustache and proceeds to sell them tickets at 100 pesos each.

Okay, back to Pat and Candy AGAIN. The only part of this I’m enjoying is that the camera keeps showing Candy’s low cut top, and I love that little birthmark! Sorry, but I’m just bored with their whining. When she died, he died too. Why did he pick Alicia? Did he love her? No, never. Blah, blah, blah. Candy’s different now. No she’s not, he loves her even if she changed. She wants him to pardon her (I think he already did), she puts her rock in his hand and he throws 2 rocks, with a big heave, and we get to give this scene a heave-ho. ¡Por fin!

Okay, the puppet show has begun. Zamora asks Merengue (being controlled by Z) why do women have it better than men? Because they don’t have to marry women! Bada bing! Zamora loves his job, feels like a fish in the water. Merengue asks him what’s so good about that, what does he have to do in his job? Well, nothing! Bada boom! Charly is cheering up, and Meño sees it, says let’s get outta here, on the count of three. One, two three, and Meño, followed by a happier Charly, splits the scene, leaving a babbling Z&T.

Back at girls’ festival day (aka daughters’ day), Lucía is singing a pretty love song “You arrived, and were a blessing”, she gets a little misty, tho, thinking about Charly, but Santi gives her a big hug, and a lot of encouragement for her nice song and nice voice (and she is actually a very good singer). She suggests going to the piano to continue the musical portion of our fiesta. And of course they have a piano player in Jaime. What should they sing? Luc says it’s Santi’s choice, and she’s happy now about this daughters’ day, because she really feels like Santi’s daughter. She wants him to be her papá, and he can have a daughters’ day whenever he wants!

We have a short scene at Candy’s house, in which Gregoria berates Margarita. Why did Marg make such a big thing out of Arturo’s “affair” with Gregoria, if Marg knew all along they weren’t lovers? Well, Marg just wanted to teach Art a lesson, as a woman, you understand, right, Gregoria? No, wrong, it’s time for you to leave, and don’t bother coming back, in fact don’t call me again, period, as Gregoria hustles Marg (who thinks it’s all no biggie) out the door.

At the house of girl fun, there’s general merriment, a game of tag leads to hide and seek, which leads to music at the piano (a four hand rock and roll duet with Jaime and Santi, although we don’t really hear what they’re playing, as a sped up montage shows Santi, Rocío, Lucía, Isabel, Jaime, Tina and Donato, all having a blast.

And it’s back to Pat and Candy AGAIN, still sitting on that dock. Okay, she tells him he has been the only man she was ever “with”, and he lets out a whoop of male pride. But they’ve both changed, soooo much. Now they’re older, they’re mature now (gag me with a spoon), for both of them, their children are their whole lives (except for right now, of course). Pat thinks it’s a special moment (again), something is going to happen, let’s get back in the little rowboat.

In contrast, Santi, although he put on a good show to cheer up the girls, is back alone with his worries, knowing Candy is with Patricio, and as he sees his other self sitting in the chair, reminding him how much he hurts, he thinks he’s starting to go nuts.

At Iron Towers (Torre de Hierro), where Marissa lives, it’s time for the coven to convene, as sister witch Alicia has arrived to stir the cauldron a little more. Well, actually it’s care for the baby time, as Ali snatches the coffee cup from Mari (no more caffeine, hon), and gets out a shopping bag. What’s inside? Well, we start with a little baby shirt, and guess what? Mari bought the same one! They’re merging or blending (mimetizandose). (Uh oh, if we blend Mari with Alicia, we could get Malicia!) Except that the next little clothing item Ali gets out disgusts Mari (who, of course can change moods at the slightest provocation). Ali calms her down, though, and asks if she can put her head on Mari’s panza to listen to or feel the baby kicking, as we leave our twisted sisters to go to commercial.

Now, it’s really getting good (and weird, or good and weird). Mari remarks how nice it is to have Alicia with her head on Mari’s belly, the two of them are getting closer, but something doesn’t square with her (no me cuadra). Ali, smiling away, purrs, what do you mean? Mari says normally you’re cold and calculating, but now you’re so…..loving. Ali deviously replies, “you think I’m faking it?” Mari’s eyes grow, she’s not sure.

And it’s back to Pat and Candy AGAINagainagainagainagain. Now they’re back afloat, in their little bitty boat, and Pat says he KNOWS something special is going to happen, but he doesn’t know what it will be. And you know what? He’s right, again. I kid you not, Pat has some pull, or riches, or good writers, because a giant black eagle or hawk flies overhead, lands on the boat, drops off a single pink flower, I think it may be a carnation, and takes off again. Candy is laughing, almost speechless, asks how Pat did that one, Pat says he couldn’t have done that, it’s a magic place, and when there’s love, magic happens. So marry me, Candy. Your fear has gone up into the air, you’re smiling, marry me or I’ll tip over the boat. And she still doesn’t answer him, but they both stand up, and giggling, both fall overboard, start splashing each other, start KISSING each other, and I think Pat has just been given the white flag for the final lap, and is surging around the final turn toward the finish line.

In contrast, Santiago has a sore back. Well, not really, although Isabel is massaging his shoulders after all the horseplay. He’s glad the girls had a fun day, he’s even starting to warm up to the “intruder” (Jaime), since he makes Isa happy. But Isa reminds him that Lucía’s problems are pretty grave, and if there’s any way Santi could do a miracle, now would be the time (well, Pat seems to do miracles, why not Santi! – as you know, I’m on team Santi, but keep it quiet.)

So, inquires Marissa of Alicia, are you a hypocrite, or what? No, I’m a first class liar, and proud of it. Mari thinks she’s a pretty good liar, too. Better than I? challenges Ali. No, maybe not, but are you faking or what? Ay, Marissa, sometimes you’re so intelligent, but sometimes so naïve. But you know what, if I can fool you, I can fool anybody, and the two share a knowing, bruja power stare.

And it’s back to Pat and Candy AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGG, okay you know the rest. It’s dark now, their clothes got wet. The tent is set up, Pat wants to know if Candy is still afraid. No, she isn’t. Hurray, says Pat. Yeah, now I’m terrified (ahora tengo pavor)! Hmmm, not so good. Candy reiterates her same rap, still afraid, don’t want to be hurt (I guess I was wrong about the home stretch thing I said earlier). She’s a little cold, he built a fire, let’s roast marshmallows, and look at the sky. You won’t believe this, but Pat has arranged the stars to spell out Candy’s name! No, just kidding on that one.

And to finish off the evening, our two witchy women (both with shoes on the couch – what bad manners!) verify their life goals. Alicia’s sort of glad she doesn’t have to have a baby, what with ruining her figure, carrying all that weight around. Marissa doesn’t even care about that, she cares about only one thing – vengeance against Santiago. And Alicia only cares about getting back Pat – however she can. Do you really think you’ll get him back? Yes, I do, she responds, a little defensive. Mari asks if Ali has thought about the future of the baby. Nah, it’s not worth it at this point. Mari then summarizes the situation. We have this elaborate plan with the baby. I’m doing it for vengeance. You’re doing it to get a man. And you know what? She takes another bite of popcorn, and laughingly adds, I don’t even want the baby!

These girls are BAD.

Next time: Rocío and Lucía want Candy to be their Mamá, but Marissa was watching on the spycam!

Vocabulario:

Voltear: to overturn (something). Last time, I had voltearse, which is to turn around (yourself)
Tarugos: pieces of wood, like dowels, or blockheads
Mimetizar – to merge or blend
No me cuadra – it doesn’t square with me, something’s not quite right
Tengo pavor – I’m terrified

Labels: Tontas

DB accuses Marisela of going after Santos and claims that he continues to be her man. Marisela says that DB is lying but she doesn't want to discuss it anymore.

On his way out, Sapo casually hands Gonzalo a check. Gonzalo initially refuses it saying that he doesn't accept gifts. Sapo says that it isn't a gift; it's a donation to Gonzalo's favorite charity or a contribution to his gubernatorial campaign. Sapo leaves the check with Gonzalo. Sapo also tells Gonzalo to say goodbye for him to Marisela since she isn't at her desk and compliments Gonzalo on his choice of personnel.

DB chases after Marisela and say that she is tired of Marisela playing the innocent with Santos. She wants Marisela to stop chasing after Santos. Marisela tells DB that Santos doesn't love her and is fed up with her. DB says that Santos adores her so much he gave her this baby. Marisela tells DB not to worry, she isn't getting back together with Santos. Gonzalo comes up and takes DB to his office.

Santos tells Dr. Arias that he is only asking about DB because she is carrying his child. Dr. Arias says that DB is healthy but no spring chicken and she needs to be calm and tranquil. She isn't obeying doctor's orders because she had to leave urgently for San Fernando to take Eustaquia to the hospital. The doctor tells Santos that Eustaquia's heart is failing and she is a bad way.

María Nieves and the guys try to placate Melesio.

MN says that he is serious about Altagracia but he doesn't have a dime ('no tiene dónde caerse muerto,' literally, 'he doesn't have a place to fall down dead'). Melesio replies that if he is broke, he shouldn't come around looking for trouble ('buscar cinco patas al gato,' literally, 'looking for five legs on the cat') much less getting decent girls pregnant. MN asks how Melesio is so sure that Altagracia is pregnant and Melesio says that he believes in the bird. Angrily he tells MN that he believed in him and let him court his granddaughter and this is the result. Melesio tells MN that he should follow Pajarote's example and relieve his desires with the prostitutes and not with decent women. Melesio lays down the law - MN has to say away from Altagracia until he marries her.

Antonio takes Lucía to the hospital because she is not feeling well and Marisela tags along.

Genoveva asks Altagracia what she did to make their grandfather so angry. Altagracia says that Melesio must have seen her giving MN kisses. "And were balloons exploding?" asks Geno. Altagracia doesn't know what she is referring to. Melesio overhears the word balloons (globitos) and asks what they are talking about but Geno and Altagracia say that it is just a joke. Melesio tells Altagracia that she can't see MN until the wedding date is set. The alcaraván starts up again and Melesio tells Altagracia that the bird must be indicating her pregnancy since Genoveva doesn't have a boyfriend.

Gonzalo tells DB that she has to do her part and get Santos back. He says that Santos is hanging around harassing Marisela. Gonzalo wants DB to do something to make Santos leave Marisela in peace and go after DB.

Cecilia tells Santos that his mother would be just as proud of all the things he has done for the town as she is. Santos points out the things like the school and the library that Cecilia has achieved. Cecilia agrees but says that she only did them with his help. "All this isn't filling your emptiness, is it?" asks Cecilia. Santos says that nothing can fill up the void that Marisela left in his life.

Antonio says that Marisela has been a good friend to him and Lucía. Marisela replies that they are the only friends she has in San Fernando and she doesn't want to be alone with Gonzalo. Marisela denies and then admits that she is avoiding Gonzalo. Antonio asks if that is because she doesn't care about him and when they are alone, he is a little mushy (baboso, literally 'drooling')? Marisela says no, Gonzalos is tender, romantic and considerate. "And mushy, right?" says Antonio, "A lot," admits Marisela laughing. "I know someone who sends you mushy flowers and mushy cards and you love them," says Antonio. "How stupid am I?" asks Marisela, "those flowers and notes are the only thing that cheer up my day because even though I don't see him, I know he is thinking of me. Our love can never be."

Meanwhile Santos is telling Cecilia that he made his relationship with Marisela impossible becasue of all the errors he made. Cecilia feels obliged to tell him not only that she warned him but that Marisela is right in leaving Santos when she found out that her mother was pregnant by Santos. Santos says that he doesn't want to sacrifice his love for Marisela because of what people might think or say. Cecilia says that the Santos in front of her is so different from the arrogant Dr. Luzardo who came to the Arauca telling everyone how to behave. Santos replies that he is a different person because he knows that he is full of defects. Cecilia asks what he is going to do about Marisela.

Marisela sees Melquíades leave Eustaquia's room. She asks Eustaquia is doing there. "Dying a little," replies Eustaquia. Marisela tells Eustaquia that she can't die because 'that woman' needs her. Eustaquia is happy that Marisela is thinking of her mother but Marisela says that she doesn't care about DB. It's the baby that she is thinking of. She doesn't want it to be as unhappy as she was. Marisela asks if DB was always so hard and cruel. Eustaquia says no. Before the rape, she was innocent and happy and sang all day. Then Eustaquia describes what happened that night and how she took the half dead DB to her tribe and healed her. Eustaquia says that afterwards DB wasn't the same. She hated men and punished them for what those five bastards had done to her. Eustaquia goes on to tell how DB met Lorenzo who had his own cross to bear with the death of Santos' brother and father. (DB comes to the door and starts to overhear)

"They united the guilt and the desire to punish," says Eustaquia. Eustaquia tells Marisela that the suffering in her life was nothing compared to what DB endured. DB sees that Marisela is crying for her.

Santos tells Cecilia that his plan is to wait and keep his love intact for when Marisela returns to him. He admits that he blew two chances to be with Marisela but swears that he will get her back because she is his only chance of happiness.

Eustaquia tells Marisela that it is fear that keeps DB from being in peace and makes her accumulate money. Marisela has trouble believing that DB is afraid but Eustaquia assures her that all DB's swagger and daring only hides a great fear that anyone should see how fragile she is. Marisela isn't sure what to think. She says that most of the time DB has treated her very badly but a few times she has been tender with Marisela but then went back to hurting her like before. Eustaquia says that DB is afraid to love Marisela. Eustaquia tells Marisela that with this baby she sees DB becoming the sweet person she was before. Marisela replies that may be so but DB is nice to the baby but is not nice to her. She asks Eustaquia if she thinks that DB is really changing or is this just a trap to get Santos. Eustaquia says that she is sure that DB is trying to manipulate Santos but deep down she thinks DB is calming down and it is wonderful to see her calm and quiet waiting for her baby and her man. Eustaquia describes how DB talks, sings and laughs with the baby inside her. Eustaquia says that DB is learning to be a mother and she is more afraid than ever because she knows that this is her last chance at saving her soul and her heart. DB slips away from the door where she was listening.

DB tells Melquíades that Marisela was crying for her after all DB had done to her. She doesn't understand that or why she was crying too. Melquíades says that the raging hormones of pregnancy have made DB weak and that's not good because they still have an enemy out there.

Sapo tells Facundo how surprised he is that Gonzalo took the bait so quickly. They will continue to lure him until he is well caught. Sapo sends Gonzalo some whiskey.

Eustaquia tells Marisela that she is crying because of her affection for DB. Marisela denies that she has any feelings for DB but Eustaquia says that Marisela is a good person and can't hold a resentment. She says that holding on to resentment makes people unhappy like DB. Eustaquia is worried about what happens where DB realizes that Santos will never return to her. Marisela says that isn't certain. Eustaquia is surprised. She thought Santos was with Marisela. Marisela says that it is over between them. DB comes in and Marisela takes an affectionate leave of Eustaquia but says not a word to DB. Eustaquia tells DB that Marisela was her salvation and she let her go. She says that Marisela is too good for DB.


Lucía is being kept overnight in the hospital for observation but she wants to leave early the next morning to go to the festival in Progresso. Antonio and Marisela don't think this is a good idea but Lucía insists.

MN and Pajarote gripe about their problems. MN says that he doesn't have any money to get a place for him and Altagracia and no more people can be squeezed into Melesio's house ('no cabe ni un alfiler,' literally, 'there isn't room for even a pin'). For his part, Pajarote is grousing about the terneras' obsession with the future and the family and other such idiocies instead of just living for the moment like him. MN tells him that the result of enjoying the moment is pregnancy. He says that since the bird is never wrong and Genoveva doesn't have a boyfriend, it must be that Altagracia is pregnant with his baby. "You know how the thing is with Don Melesio," says MN, "he who impregnates, pays." (It sounds much better in Spanish, '¡el que preña, paga!')

Eustaquia begs to be taken home but DB insists that she stay in the hospital.

Facundo tells Sapo that Gonzalo cashed the check. "He took the bait!" exults Sapo.

Marisela tells Gonzalo that she doesn't want to go to the festival in Progresso. Gonzalo asks if she is afraid of falling into Santos' arms again. She thinks that Gonzalo wouldn't want her to see Santos. Gonzalo says that he doesn't want her to be afraid of Santos or anyone. He wants to go to Progesso with her and dance with her and when Santos sees them he will know that they are a couple.

Montage of scenes.

Santos gives a speech at the opening of the library saying that this realizes Cecilia's dream and it was all done without any help from the government. In her speech, Cecilia says that many years ago, a child promised her that he would be a different Luzardo ('un Luzardo distinto') and now that child has grown up to a man and she is very proud of him.

Josefa and Federica are discussing expanding their business when Facundo delivers cases of liquor, presumably, to Pernalete for the celebration in Progresso. Facundo says that they are from 'a friend.'

There are lots of smoldering looks between Santos, Marisela, Gonzalo and DB at the party. Santos tells DB to leave him alone. Marisela wants to leave with Gonzalo. Santos wants to follow and Antonio keeps him from following once but the second time he manages to escape. Gonzalo makes a declaration of his love for Marisela. "Sometimes you do what you have to do," says Marisela and kisses Gonzalo while Santos watches.

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