Mother decides to move here

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Hello dear readers. So I figure the best idea would be for me to get my weekly blog entry out of the way now, while it is still morning and before I go to the grocery store, so I can resume my very neccessary activity of reading boring articles about translation. Yippee skippy

So what have I to tell you now? Well the newest addition to my present situation appears to be that my mother is moving to Salamanca. If any of you have met her you know then that my mother is about as organized as I am, this is to say, not very. This coupled with the fact that she speaks absolutely zero Spanish has me nervous.

If any of you have been to Salamanca you know that it is not like Madrid or Barcelona where you can usually find an inglés-parlante (english speaker). Here they speak only Castillano, thank you very much, none of these funny dialects like Gallego (spoken in Galicia in the north) or Euskara (spoken in the Basque Country, Basque langauge in Basque). No here it is just Castillano, or what most people outside of Spain know as Spanish that is spoken. The people of Salamanca have an interesting habit of getting upset (not angry, mind you just slightly miffed) if you try and speak with them in any langauge that is not Castillano. "No English!"

This is the environment into which my mother will enter. Why than is she coming? you may very well ask this question. Well, the answer lies in the fact I appear to be the only family member she has left with whom she is still on speaking terms. Also I think she has some desire to try and do all the things she couldn't when she was in her twenties, having been saddled at the time with two kids and my Dad. She figures now is as good a time as any to pack up shop and move to another corner of the globe. Why not, eh? Now or Never and Onwards to Hope and Glory, or something like that.

So my job now lies in trying to find her an apartment. Luckily this shouldn't prove too difficult, in Salamanca there is a building trend that has created more apartments than there are people willing and able to buy them. Also I need to find her some Spanish classes, also not a problem. Salamanca is one of the top places in Spain to learn Sapnaish due to the fact they have a world-renown university here (it's basically the Oxford or Harvard of Spain) and the "fact" that here they are supposed to speak the puest form of Spanish known in Spain. I disagree with this assessment, there is bad Spanish and good Spanish spoken everywhere in Spain, inculding in Salamanca. Anyplace where they say: "Toma la jarra y pon LE en la mesa" is not in line with the basic rules of proper spanish grammar. Anyway, I know a very very good little academy here called Ábaco which I plan to send her to. Lucia, one of the teachers is my friend there, and she just so happens to speak perfect English, a miracle here, let me tell you.

The next step will be finding my mother an assistant. Im thinking of going to the English department here and putting up an ad. Basically what my mother needs is a Smithers to her Mr. Burns. Excellent. Ok, maybe not so nefarious. Someone to help her go to the grocery store, go to the bank and the doctor, and someone just to keep her company during the week. I am doing a masters here which takes up all my time, when Im not writing in my blog, so I will be unabale to do any of these tasks. Luckily Im sure we will find someone who can.

So maybe its not an insurmountable obstacle to have my mother come here for a while. If I don't stop writing now and get moving on my articles, however, come Monday class time I will encounter some insurmountable obstacles. So dear readers, until next time.

Hasta Luego!

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