Outa here

Well that is it, final day of classes. 

I have unfortunately been informed that I flunked the final exam and I will have to come back again next year for a month to prepare for the make up exam… such is life in the tropics, sigh!

Tomorrow early I am on the big bird to Cancun via Mexico City and although I should be able to send and receive emails until it is time to be home (Apr 22), I probably won’t be blogging much as internet access is much more limited in Cuba. 

 

So this could be Adios instead of Hasta Luego, but don’t be shy about sending me a note on email…

 

Don Tomas

You talk to God, you’re religious. God talks to you, you’re psychotic.
  – Doris Egan

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
  – Malcolm Forbes

All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.
  – James Thurber

 

A Spanish Lesson

A Spanish lesson.

Well school is almost over and graduation day approaches.  I would have to admit to being a bit frustrated with my progress in Spanish but when I think back to where I was when I started this year and where I am now I realize progress has been made. I have also decided that I could make Spanish a whole lot easier with a get together w  and get my diploma while the getting is good.

Ah Spanish, sometimes I just don’t get it.

 

Hasta la proxima,

 

Don Tomasfew simple changes if they would let me.  Do they really need 14 tenses?  Couldn’t they do without all the irregular verbs. My favorite so far is the verb Caber: “to fit”. Here are 5 of 14 tenses in the first person singular:

Present	Past	imperfect	present subjunctive	imperfect subjunctive
Quepo	cupe	cabia	quepa	cupiera

Don’t you have to wonder who was at that meeting and what substances were being consumed at the time. So as you can see I can’t take all the blame for slow progress in this endeavor. 

The main thing lacking in the Spanish language is a word for “get” and we should thank our lucky stars that this little jewel exists in English.  You can get going, get together, get the groceries, get drunk, get sick, get better, get the bill, get a job, get familiar, get acquainted, you can even get lucky ( get really acquainted), and for each of these concepts in Spanish you have to use a different sentence structure and or a different verb. 

Another noticeable thing about Spanish is that if there is a long word in English, you can count on the fact that it will be longer in Spanish.  I will leave you with some examples that you can use to impress people the next time you are having a conversation with a Spaniard:  intrinsicamente, ironicamente, coincidentamente, evidentamente; exquisitamente, elequentamente, efectivamente, precisamente, casualmente, honestamente, individualisticamente. …

OK, got to go.  Got to get to school for the morning