my grandmother was a trooper who hailed from a small town in Palencia, Spain, called 'eagle of the field'... She was a hardworking shopkeeper that raised five children and greatly valued a solid work ethic... She was also a great admirer of spain.s long serving right wing dictator Franco and the stability and law and order he delivered through republicanism and strong handed rule
..coincidentally my mother in law..from communist russia.. Also greatly admired authoritarian rule sans democratic liberals... Be it said that women from modern young democracies and democracies in general generally are merely lost gay men w. Vaginas wombs and bosoms that know not what to do w. Them and cannot be bothered to figure it out and prefer some slick tv shows and magazines show them...
Returning to my grandmother, Piedad, our acquaintanceship ran thru years 1992, 96.97 and later 2000 and 2001 and even a little contact in 2002 in spain... Altogether over a three year period scattered amongst above listed timeframes... My grandmother.s father or father in law was a smalltime banker that funded what would become a famous and successful local biscuit factory...
Upon first meeting my grandma at madrid.s airport at age 16 i couldnt speak spanish and couldnt understand her nor could she speak english but she was thrilled to meet me... I was blurry on the notion of extended family as i had known none to that point and had only lived in a very redneck kind of way in australia...now here was not only a new grandma but uncles...aunts..cousins and an entire new nation and culture whose varied blood ran in my veins...nurture would meet nurture...in 1992 my grandma was very nice to me and understanding of my linguistic deficits...she posed a marked contrast to the example of her son in law, my father, who had failed to teach me spanish at all effectively..at one point
even making a strange show of getting me to translate some difficult text shortly b4 my trip to spain when i had no entrance in the language and knew naught of language or grammar...
Although my grandma couldnt ram grammar down my throat..she was always patient and sweet to me and after a few months...thanks to the 2nd to none prodical abilities of 16 year olds to learn new languages...i was speaking and understanding spanish w. Great dexterity and had a solid base for greater mastery...
Truly, all parents should send their 16 y.o. Children to foreign speaking parts...even china...thanx to the great ability of this particular age w. Languages
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