teenage boys love me.
but old latino men love me more.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
faux amis
there are a lot of false friends between spanish and english vocab. for example, "assistir a" does not mean "to assist". it means "to attend", as in attending an event.
dunno what this is called, but there are some words that don't just translate between spanish and spanish, depending on which country.
ada told me a story about her brother-in-law, who was a singer in church. once during a celebratory even, he ended his song with, "let's all go eat cake!"
puerto ricans call cake, "bicocho".
mexicans use the word, "pastel".
to mexicans, "bicocho" is the word for male private parts.
there happened to be lots of mexicans at church that day.
awkward.
moral of the story: know the people! know the culture! know the language!
dunno what this is called, but there are some words that don't just translate between spanish and spanish, depending on which country.
ada told me a story about her brother-in-law, who was a singer in church. once during a celebratory even, he ended his song with, "let's all go eat cake!"
puerto ricans call cake, "bicocho".
mexicans use the word, "pastel".
to mexicans, "bicocho" is the word for male private parts.
there happened to be lots of mexicans at church that day.
awkward.
moral of the story: know the people! know the culture! know the language!
Monday, August 30, 2010
a happier post
i should prolly change the name of this blog to allez philly, coz my life currently is in kensington among other neighbourhoods.
anyway, there are a bunch of new froyo places. i don't think i'm a foodie. and i don't think i'm a froyo fanatic. but it is a good tart treat once in a while.
yesterday my roommie and i went to yogurt city. it's the newest one and incidentally the chinese-owned one. very typical - there are the originals, then the chinese knock-off with greater variety of flavours and lower prices. it was so-so. the yogurt was a little too melty. because we struck up convo, the owner gave me a $3 gift card for free. even though my mandarin really sucked. and even though i insisted that i wasn't chinese because i am taiwanese and only speak 'min-nan-hua'. surprisingly he didn't argue! and respected my identity. he was also surprised that we chose to live in chinatown coz he considers that 'hood as 'dirty'.
chinatown is really dirty and smelly and laden with litter. but, it's cheaper, and because it is so smelly, i've noticed that there are less people living on the sidewalks asking for money or cigarettes. the smelliness kinda reminds me of taiwan night market, though, i hear it's cleaner these days... haven't seen one since 1996. oh my!
anyway, there are a bunch of new froyo places. i don't think i'm a foodie. and i don't think i'm a froyo fanatic. but it is a good tart treat once in a while.
yesterday my roommie and i went to yogurt city. it's the newest one and incidentally the chinese-owned one. very typical - there are the originals, then the chinese knock-off with greater variety of flavours and lower prices. it was so-so. the yogurt was a little too melty. because we struck up convo, the owner gave me a $3 gift card for free. even though my mandarin really sucked. and even though i insisted that i wasn't chinese because i am taiwanese and only speak 'min-nan-hua'. surprisingly he didn't argue! and respected my identity. he was also surprised that we chose to live in chinatown coz he considers that 'hood as 'dirty'.
chinatown is really dirty and smelly and laden with litter. but, it's cheaper, and because it is so smelly, i've noticed that there are less people living on the sidewalks asking for money or cigarettes. the smelliness kinda reminds me of taiwan night market, though, i hear it's cleaner these days... haven't seen one since 1996. oh my!
ugh
my roommie emails us this morning a news story that there was a raping that occurred yesterday night (at 9:30 p.m.) 2 blocks from our place. basically girl was waiting for the bus at the train station, was dragged between two buildings, choked/strangled then raped. the perpetrator was caught on surveillance tape, running away in boxers. so, he left his pants for the cops, in which contained his walled and a driver's license. who knows if it's the correct id though. it's a mexican driver's license from puebla. the girl is alive, already discharged from the hospital.
another girl who was walking her dog at the time called the cops after hearing screaming noises. the surveillance camera shows three guys walking through the parking lot and turning around to give a puzzled look at the dude running away without pants.
i'm not sure what i would do in that situation. i would hope that i would react to screaming and that i would summon help. i wish that i had super strength to kick ass if someone were attacking someone or myself.
my roommie then reminds us to carry pepper spray. ugh.
met up with a friend today and we prayed for the city. too many crazies here!
time to watch some kung fu movies.
another girl who was walking her dog at the time called the cops after hearing screaming noises. the surveillance camera shows three guys walking through the parking lot and turning around to give a puzzled look at the dude running away without pants.
i'm not sure what i would do in that situation. i would hope that i would react to screaming and that i would summon help. i wish that i had super strength to kick ass if someone were attacking someone or myself.
my roommie then reminds us to carry pepper spray. ugh.
met up with a friend today and we prayed for the city. too many crazies here!
time to watch some kung fu movies.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
the diversity of humanity
as a health care provider, i have the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. in a short time i've been able to hear lots of life stories. or maybe it's something that just comes with age.
last weekend on the bus - i normally don't talk to people on the bus - but the woman next to me told me her life story. it was quite interesting.
-studied life sciences in the philippines, came to the states at age 22 hoping to go to medical school, ended up nannying for rich oil folks in texas, a cousin told her the money was better nannying for rich people in manhattan, so she moved up to the city. she nannied for madonna's lawyer in the 80s. got married. had a son. divorced 2 years later. raised her son on her own in jersey. found a job at a medical publishing company. moved down to philly. remarried 4 years ago. contemplating divorce again because she doesn't want to deal with her husband's children: son age 26, in and out of jail and in and out of drug rehab; daughter age 20 with a 4 year old daughter, baby's daddy is not giving any child support, daughter became a lesbian and has new girlfriend; ex-wife struggling with bi-polar disorder.
anyway, people on the street are like the tips of icebergs. we really have no idea what kind of life stories people have hiding there.
i was able to share a little bit about what i was doing in philly. she was a little thrown-off and surprised, so that's good. i love shattering people's ideas of young professionals. she shared that she wished she could one day volunteer and do something to help improve the life of others. i immediately thought of her husband's family, who is in need of help, but it would totally inconvenience her lifestyle if she were to commit to help them. so i replied, "yeah, i guess it's easier to help people if you don't have to live with them" - in reference to my patients, but also implying her step-family. she laughed. (she actually laughed at everything she and i said - my type of person!)
last weekend on the bus - i normally don't talk to people on the bus - but the woman next to me told me her life story. it was quite interesting.
-studied life sciences in the philippines, came to the states at age 22 hoping to go to medical school, ended up nannying for rich oil folks in texas, a cousin told her the money was better nannying for rich people in manhattan, so she moved up to the city. she nannied for madonna's lawyer in the 80s. got married. had a son. divorced 2 years later. raised her son on her own in jersey. found a job at a medical publishing company. moved down to philly. remarried 4 years ago. contemplating divorce again because she doesn't want to deal with her husband's children: son age 26, in and out of jail and in and out of drug rehab; daughter age 20 with a 4 year old daughter, baby's daddy is not giving any child support, daughter became a lesbian and has new girlfriend; ex-wife struggling with bi-polar disorder.
anyway, people on the street are like the tips of icebergs. we really have no idea what kind of life stories people have hiding there.
i was able to share a little bit about what i was doing in philly. she was a little thrown-off and surprised, so that's good. i love shattering people's ideas of young professionals. she shared that she wished she could one day volunteer and do something to help improve the life of others. i immediately thought of her husband's family, who is in need of help, but it would totally inconvenience her lifestyle if she were to commit to help them. so i replied, "yeah, i guess it's easier to help people if you don't have to live with them" - in reference to my patients, but also implying her step-family. she laughed. (she actually laughed at everything she and i said - my type of person!)
Friday, August 27, 2010
chill out, philly!
without fail, at least once every day an annoyed driver honks at me. it doesn't matter if i am walking or driving. someone will undoubtedly toot. it's usually because i'm in their way, or i waited 1 nanosecond after the light turned green to cross the intersection. i've grown used to it. i like to think that they are just being friendly and saying 'hello there!', or maybe they think that i look like someone they know, since i have many asian look-alikes. i like to pretend that philadelphians are really laid-back and don't have anger management issues.
today within the span of five hours i've encountered the epitome of uptight east coaster. so i had some comp time this afternoon because i worked last saturday. it turned out great because i needed a break. and alex was in town visiting with his cousins, luke and kevin. i caught up with them at independence hall. apparently this is the only block in the entire city where jaywalkers are reprimanded. i was thinking i could cross the cobblestone road in the middle of the block, and the moment i stepped off the curve i heard a whistle. naturally it caught my attention, i looked up and across the street was a PPD officer, dressed up as a park ranger waving his finger at me. i gave him a pouty look, turned around and walked the other way.
after getting a cheesesteak at jim's and water ice at rita's i went home. then shortly thereafter went to the art museum w/ nancy. currently there is a renoir exhibit. very inspiring! however, i was a little flabbergasted in the beginning because as nancy and i were chatting, this woman behind me shushed us - "sssh!!!" meanwhile there was really loud live jazz music coming from the atrium. i didn't know that there was no talking allowed in an art museum. or maybe this lady had dreams of becoming a librarian but never got to live them out. or maybe this lady is constantly on edge, like lives with 20 grandchildren and developed a compulsive shushing reflex to any type of chatter.
the end.
today within the span of five hours i've encountered the epitome of uptight east coaster. so i had some comp time this afternoon because i worked last saturday. it turned out great because i needed a break. and alex was in town visiting with his cousins, luke and kevin. i caught up with them at independence hall. apparently this is the only block in the entire city where jaywalkers are reprimanded. i was thinking i could cross the cobblestone road in the middle of the block, and the moment i stepped off the curve i heard a whistle. naturally it caught my attention, i looked up and across the street was a PPD officer, dressed up as a park ranger waving his finger at me. i gave him a pouty look, turned around and walked the other way.
after getting a cheesesteak at jim's and water ice at rita's i went home. then shortly thereafter went to the art museum w/ nancy. currently there is a renoir exhibit. very inspiring! however, i was a little flabbergasted in the beginning because as nancy and i were chatting, this woman behind me shushed us - "sssh!!!" meanwhile there was really loud live jazz music coming from the atrium. i didn't know that there was no talking allowed in an art museum. or maybe this lady had dreams of becoming a librarian but never got to live them out. or maybe this lady is constantly on edge, like lives with 20 grandchildren and developed a compulsive shushing reflex to any type of chatter.
the end.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
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