Madonna´s Hamburgers
So I suppose it´s my turn to discuss Spanish school and the frustrations of learning a new language. For example, my teacher today asked me if I ate McDonalds´ hamburgers. I thought he asked me if I ate Madonna´s hamburgers, to which I responded, ¨No, is that a place or a type of hamburger?¨ He explained what he had actually said, and I said, oh, I thought you said Madonna´s, like the singer or the mother of Jesus, and was trying to picture what type of hamburger either of them might make. He laughed for about a minute, then proceeded to tell me a joke about why women haven´t yet walked on the moon. Apparently, it´s because they haven´t finished sweeping up the earth yet. Get it? I didn´t, for a very long time, mostly because I couldn´t believe someone was telling me that type of joke. Then I didn´t understand it because I wasn´t sure whether it was funny because women sweep a lot or because there´s a lot of dirt on the earth and the job that they´re doing is silly because it will never be completed.
Then, my teacher proceeded to explain to me the following things: 1) 9/11 was perpetrated by the U.S. government; and 2) Ancient Mayan civilization ended because they discovered a way to fly to Mars and that´s where they´re living. Of course, in 5 hours of class, we discussed several other things that aren´t as interesting, like drinking and smoking, religion, polygamy, scandals, and an American diplomat that he met and is now living in Myanmar.
I can´t wait to see what tomorrow has in store.
-Megan (with help from Sarah)
Tags: American Identity, Guatemala, Language School, Quetzaltenango, Sakribal, Travel, Xela
admin
I think you didn’t get the joke because it isn’t funny. Or else, you (we) tend to over think things and it takes away the humor. Or it could be that we just don’t get things like “can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” I’m thinking that you should forget the language thing and take cooking class from Irma. Now THAT will be somthing to sink your teeth in. Sounds like you’re having a rich time and I’m glad to hear both sides. The month will not be long, I bet. Love your stories.
mom
ps Megan, did you get my e-mail response or am I still considered spam?
Are all these jokes and discussions conducted in Spanish? that’s what I want to know.
women haven’t been on the moon, yet the mayans are on mars? what about mayan women? you should have told him his story has plotholes so big a mayan pyramid could fit through it.
OK, OK, these ideas are valid in some universe, I’m sure. …or maybe in Myanmar.
However, I think I have some news you may find interesting.
Your friend, Heather Wilson of Alberquerque. is in deep sh*t. See below….
Wilson-Madrid race too close to call; 5,500 plus ballots to go
By Kate Nash (Contact)
Originally published 07:59 a.m., November 8, 2006
Updated 01:08 p.m., November 8, 2006
Photo by Steven St.John Tribune
Tribune
Attorney General Patricia Madrid makes her way to the podium after being introduced by Mayor Martin Chavez at the Democratic election headquarters. Early today, Madrid still remained locked in a close race with incumbent Republican Rep. Heather Wilson in the 1st Congressional District.
Photo by Michael J. Gallegos Tribune
Tribune
“I know the hour is late. We are very cautiously optimistic. We have not been behind once tonight. It’s going to be a little bit later. I know it’s a weekday, but I wanted to come out and say from the bottom of my heart thank you. I’m going to stay here, and it’s worth waiting for so we can declare victory.”
Wilson speaks
“While Mrs. Madrid was over announcing how far ahead she was, her lead was cut in half.” (Wilson then listed several precincts that hadn’t reported but that she thought would go in her favor.)
Smart Box
What comes next?
Bernalillo County voting officials early today said two sets of ballots remained for hand-counting.
One group, estimated at about 2,000, is ballots that could not be machine-read. That count should be wrapped up today.
Another 2,698 provisional ballots and 1,058 “in lieu of” ballots – voters who say they never received an absentee ballot in the mail but instead voted at their precinct – won’t be counted until canvassing begins Thursday or Friday, officials said.
She was the Democrats’ best hope against U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, their No. 1 star in an election season scarred by scandal and war.
And Attorney General Patricia Madrid still might be. But we probably won’t know for sure until the end of the week. Or next week.
After the congressional candidates spent a long evening playing cat-and-mouse in their vote tallies, they went into the morning hours with Wilson holding onto a 1,048-vote lead.
But their fate is bound up in two sets of uncounted ballots totaling more than 5,500 votes.
One group consists of more than 2,000 ballots rejected by the ballot-reading machines. They were being hand-counted by weary poll workers this morning.
A second set includes the ballots of 2,698 provisional voters and another 1,058 who cast “in lieu of” votes. Those probably won’t start to be counted until Thursday, according to the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office.
With 461 of 465 precincts reporting, unofficial results from the Associated Press gave Wilson 101,305 votes to Madrid’s 100,257.
Shortly after midnight, as Madrid began to see the lead she’d held most of the evening slip away, she and her husband quickly and quietly left the Hotel Albuquerque to go home.
Madrid spent most of the day with her family, away from the cameras. Heather Brewer, her spokeswoman, stood in for her on 10 p.m. newscasts.
At 11:30 p.m., Madrid delivered her only speech, 3 minutes long, at the hotel, saying she was “cautiously optimistic” she would win.
About the same time, 10 miles away at the Marriott Pyramid, Wilson likewise made her only speech of the night.
“This race is close, but I expect to win,” she said. “And then, we’ll celebrate with orange juice at breakfast.”
Brewer later predicted that the results would be close but that Madrid would win – and Wilson would ask for a recount.
“There’s nothing more to say until we have a result,” Brewer said after state Democratic party Chairman John Wertheim announced there would be no more speeches.
If she won, Madrid had planned to appear on CNN and National Public Radio this morning, Brewer said.
Even with the uncertainty, enthusiasm at the Democrats’ party remained high throughout the night: The party took control of the U.S. House and seemed poised to snatch it from the Senate. Democrats won all statewide races except for Jim Baca, who lost to incumbent Republican Land Commissioner Pat Lyons.
If Madrid ends up winning, it would be a big victory for the party, given the uphill battle that challengers face against incumbents, said University of New Mexico political science professor Christine Sierra.
If she loses, it could be hard for the Democrats to challenge Wilson again, she said.
“It does feel like it would be very difficult to unseat her,” Sierra said.
A majority of the voters in the district are Democrats, but a Republican has represented it since 1969.
Wilson, since her first election in 1998, has faced close races, but has usually dominated in early and absentee voting. This year, the Democrats appeared to narrow the gap, thanks in part to President Bush’s low approval ratings and a hard-hitting Madrid campaign tying Wilson to his administration.
From both sides, the campaign was negative from the start. And the hostilities continued through Election Day. Earlier in the day, Wilson held a news conference to bemoan a shortage of ballots in two Albuquerque precincts.
Madrid topped Wilson in Bernalillo County by a slim margin; Wilson pulled ahead with votes from portions of District 1 in other counties.
No matter who wins, some Democrats planned to stay at the party until a result was announced in the race.
“I’m going to wait until 7 a.m., because I have class at 8,” said University of New Mexico junior Ashliegh More. “This is history because of the change in direction, and hopefully a big change.”
The last Democrat to represent the Albuquerque area was Thomas Morris, who was first elected in 1958 to the House, when the state’s seat was chosen at-large. The seat was later divided into two positions, and a third seat was added in 1983.
Morris, 87, served until 1969, when Manuel Lujan Jr. was elected to the district.
Morris spent $11,600 on his first election and said Monday that he can’t believe what the candidates are spending now. It took a day to fly to Washington. And the way to get the vote out was “by talking to people, and by having their neighbors talk to other people.”
“Those were the days,” he said.
Thanks for the info re: Wilson. I´m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the people we registered in 2004 got out the vote against her.
Apparently, Democrats win big when Sarah and I 1) don´t work on the election, 2) don´t vote (not our fault, we never got our absentee ballots), and 3) leave the country. I don´t think I´ve played an active part on a winning team since 8th grade basketball.
-Megan
It’s long-term work. Frankly, I don’t think there will be as much change as we might hope, even with the D’s in charge of Congress.
But maybe we get more progressives into office in 2008 and set the agenda down the road.
You girls did good… the new voters made a difference both years. Enjoy the time away!
Hmm — do they have the old woman and the moon rhyme in Spanish? It’s VERY creepy — my mother used to recite it in this super creepy way. But it IS about women sweeping outer space:
There was an old woman tossed up in a basket
seventeen times as high as the moon.
Where she was going I couldn’t but ask it,
for in her hand she carried a broom.
“Old woman, old woman, old woman,” quoth I,
“Whither, oh whither, oh whither so high?”
“To sweep the cobwebs off of the sky.”
“Shall I go with thee?” “Ay, by and by.”
Maybe she’s going to sweep the Mayan’s city on Mars.
xoxoxoB
Here’s your friendly Albuquerque election update:
“Dems wonder if vote count will add up”
Updated 12:15 p.m., November 10, 2006
Democrats’ hopes that Patricia Madrid could still pull out her congressional race with U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson rest in two corners.
Democrats say they are optimistic the 4,400 ballots that remain to be counted could overcome Wilson’s 1,607-vote lead, though Madrid would need more than 70 percent of those ballots to draw even.
If those ballots don’t put Madrid over the top, Democrats hope they would at least close the margin enough that a recount could push Madrid to victory.
Counters will work through the weekend.
Madrid spokeswoman Heather Brewer today said the campaign isn’t yet thinking about a recount.
“There’s no need to even start talking about a recount because the count is still going on,” Brewer said….
As for the other side of the country, tell Sarah that despite serious intimidation tactics in black neighborhoods at polls in Yonkers, Andrea Stewart-Cousins is the first black State Senator from that district….
…oh, and BTW, it looks like the flagship station in PBS, WNET, may run “Brick by Brick,” our documentary about fair housing in Yonkers!!
Bill, that’s great about the documentary! Let everybody know when we should start looking for it. We do get WNET in Chicago… though probably not at Irma’s house in Sakribal (or am I wrong?)
What’s new in school, girls? We’re hooked on your postings!
Lool-
Thanks for the good thoughts. I’ll keep you posted…assuming they decide to run it. Y’know, there’s a difference between wanting to run it and actually scheduling it. But it’s still very good to hear.
I wonder if the girls are still speaking English anymore…
Hello out there. Everybody okay? We’re missing you:)
No worries, folks, we´re still alive and kicking. We went for a short vacationita this weekend and have been away from computers. A new blog post will come soon.
Congrats on the documentery! ´
-Megan