In the last few days, we have been polishing our Spanish and finding better ways of saying things. We often use “quiero” (I want) but we’ve learned this could come across as a bit blunt so we are finding friendlier ways of saying things “Puedo tener” (can I have.) I find it annoying as I only just learnt the old way.
Tired of overtaxing my tiny mind trying to learn more Spanish, I retired to the hamaca for a rest. Rosalie did her usual job of feeding me grapes. Well, that was my dream until I realized she was throwing them at me to wake me up, for dinner.
I’ve only fallen out of the thing twice. Both times I was trying to get in and not out. Fortunately, I didn’t cause myself too much damage. The danger is when Rosalie gets in with me, for a little woman she sure bounces a lot. Twice I almost spilled my wine.
We just get settled in when this happens:
The guy in the red VW sells ice cream, even a tequila flavoured one. He’s been doing this for twenty years and we have no idea why he hasn’t gone crazy listening to the same recording over and over. The little girl is locked out and yelling to get in; her brother is even louder. We have no idea what the guy on the bike is advertising. The gas truck. Someone selling fruit and veggies out of the back of the pickup truck. And of course that F…ing rooster.
We finally settle down to read our books and before long Rosalie starts to take a nap. This is a tough time for me. When she sleeps on the couch I can at least tiptoe around very quietly and do a few things. In the hamaca I’m frozen. One badly planned move and I would wake her up. Worse yet we could both fall out onto the tile below. It’s only a few inches but it’s a very hard ceramic tile. I can only hope it’s a short nap before my muscles start to cramp up from inaction. The worse part is, that even if I’m brave enough to reach for my wine glass I may have to wait a while to refill it.
To keep my mind occupied I go into a zen state and count the dead bougainvillea blossoms blowing on to the patio. I swear every bush drops their blossoms and no matter where they are on the street, they end up on our patio. Perhaps we should leave them there, it may make our landing a little softer if we do fall out.