Beethoven and Cheese

I’m watching Beethoven on TV right now (dubbed of course, in Spanish) and it’s making me homesick, because that movie was shot in my dear little city. OH MAN, Garfield Park is on right now!! Yes, Beethoven 1 and 2 were shot in South Pasadena, and I have met Beethoven himself, when I was 10…? Whenever the movie was made. I was a little disenchanted to find out that there were actually 3 Beethoven dogs that played the part, but I got over it without much emotional scars. Or, I think.

The first day of classes, my students had to ask questions in English about me, as sort of an introduction. The most asked questions all concerned California, about the beaches and Hollywood. One little kid asked “Arrrr der a lot ob beeeches in Los Angeles?” It took me a second to answer it, even though it’s SUCH a common mispronunciation. Either way, I was going to answer, “Why yes, there are (in fact) a lot of bitches/beaches in Los Angeles.”

I learn lots of things from my students as well. We were doing an activity where each student wrote down a sentence and passed the paper along to make a collaborative story. Tu sabes. I know you’ve done something like this before. You just pass along the paper to make one long story. Well, my kiddies need a bit of direction, so there was a basic skeleton to the story. The title was “It Made My Day!” and it took place in a restaurant where meet a strange person, but somehow, the story had to end up in a way where it made your day. We’re talking 13 year olds here, so it was all about finding a beautiful girl/boy and being asked out for una cita. Here’s one ending of a story, verbatim. “The guy went to a girl and said, ‘You are coming to my house. You know why. You are like cheese.” Cheeky ain’t it? “You know why.” Que chulitos son. The cheese comment is the best part. It's a Spanish expression, and it means that you are beautiful. “Tu eres como queso.” You are like cheese. Yous like hot cheese baybeeee!! is what he wanted to say. Ahluuvit. Only here, could you be compared to a block of cheese and let it be a good thing. Vosotros todos sois como queso.

As far as the weekend recap goes, not much to note. I went to another discoteca called Palacio, aka Palace, aka a club which is actually a palace. Or parts of it. ( My friends asked me if I actually do anything besides partying, because I always call them when I come back at 7AM. I swear to you, te juro, that partying is an event and not a daily occurrence.) Here’s another peace sign. There ya go. PEAAAAAAAAAAACE.