Ni amigo reconciliado, ni chocolate recalentado

she gave him another heartfelt chance ... but his aftertaste lingered horribly in her heart. 


 

Fragile remnants

fragile remnants of past romances lingered, especially imaginary ones

El día del pavo (y santería ...)

En Latinoamérica es común que ciudades y pueblos tengan nombres de santos, que celebremos fiestas patronales y el día de nuestro santo. Cuando vine a vivir a los EE.UU. me sorprendí al enterarme que la gente se estaba preparando para festejar a un santo. Nos dieron vacaciones en el colegio, iba a haber un gran desfile,  y los almacenes tenían ofertas. La explicación que nos dieron en la escuela me pareció interesante pero no entendí la conexión con este santo, y jamás había escuchado de él.

San Antonio

Turkey Day

In Latin America many of our towns and cities are named after saints, we have fiestas patronales, and we celebrate our saint’s day. When I came to live in the United States I was surprised that Americans were getting ready to celebrate a saint: we were going to have time off from school, there was going to be a big parade, and all the stores had sales. I found the explanation to this holiday interesting, but I didn’t see any connection with a saint, or had ever heard of him.

San Pascual, patron saint of cooks

Una escuincla babosa se enamora de México

A los seis años me tomó completamente por sorpresa cuando mi mamá nos dijo a mi hermana y a mí que nos regresábamos a vivir a Panamá –pensé que había nacido en Puerto Rico. Al principio no se me hizo difícil adaptarme, en particular porque lo que me gustaba comer se conocía con nombres diferentes: mantecados eran helados, limbers eran duros, chinas naranjas, y piraguas eran raspados. Mis nuevos amiguitos me ayudaron con los cambios lingüísticos y a ser más panameña. Esto fue algo muy significativo ya que desde entonces empezó mi amor por las palabras y por la comida.

How a brat fell in love with México

When I was six years old I was surprised when my mother announced that we were moving back home to Panamá -it never occurred to me that I wasn’t Puerto Rican. Puerto Rico was the only place I thought of as home. Moving back home required many adjustments, especially linguistic ones: mantecados were helados, limbers were duros, chinas were naranjas and piraguas were raspados. I adjusted and learned how to be more Panamanian with the help of my new friends who helped me learn the proper names of things. This was a significant event because it combined two things that have shaped my life: the love of food and the love of language.

Resignada

Resignada, me senté a la mesa y comí tu indiferencia a cucharaditas; como si fuera helado de zapote (no me gusta el helado)

Obediently, I sat at the table and ate your disdain in teaspoonfuls as if it were ice-cream (I don't like ice-cream).

Minervaplein Sunday

Another Sunday escapes the trap of his spider web at Minervaplein. While so many managed to enjoy the guilty pleasure of doing absolutely nothing; he managed to suffer gingerly about not doing enough. This constant preoccupation with productivity on his leisure time was one of his many, less obvious, but nonetheless, equally enchanting idiosyncrasies. Counting cheese and bread slices was another one.

En la tina I

Se sentía como camisa recién lavada y planchada

Baths: a cheap luxury, a weekly vacation. She smelled good, felt renewed, clean, and relaxed. She imagined this is how a freshly laundered and ironed shirt felt. Sitting in this aromatic water was like breathing a safe ocean. An ocean where magically, and slowly, worries drowned voluntarily and disappeared into the underworld down the drain. Thoughts deserted the mind, the body surrendered to warm waves of perfume. A soothing scent that tickled the nose and tricked her into believing the world was full of poetry and beauty. Until she woke up from her dream as the water turned cold.

Chin up, chest up, shoulders down.

Looking for stability and balance at the barre: A couple of times a week I go to ballet class. I am determined to be physically (and emotionally) balanced and flexible. I am learning how muscles that I wasn't aware of feel, what they can do,  how they hurt in different ways, and how to isolate their movements.

How I feel during barre exercises in ballet while following perfectly coordinated 19 year-old ballerinas (or 80’s songs).

1. Too Shy  -Kajagoogoo
2. Only in My Dreams  -Debbie Gibson 
3. Under Pressure  -Queen and David Bowie 
4. Here I Go Again -Whitesnake
5. Welcome to the Jungle  -Guns N' Roses 
6. Livin' on a Prayer -Bon Jovi 

vanilla and dead orchids

Another bright, white, tropical day of vanilla and orchids. Two years had been born and died since she left the country house of her youth. The place where time stood still and nothing ever changed.

He could not notice her hesitating into the dark, cold room with the heavy furniture and the cool red velvet chairs. She approached him, and their childhood dreams bombarded her. The buried ghost of their life together haunted her.