Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Ana can't stay away from the Folk Toys of the World exhibit



Unless you're a first-time visitor to this blog of our dear extraterrestrial Ana Darcy, you already know that her ancestors, when they were delivered to the planet Thomo some 3000 years ago, died in droves.

The ultimate survival of our distant cousins was due partly to luck, partly to the aid provided them by whoever or whatever it was that took them there, but mostly by their own determination and cooperation, especially in the matter of the nurturing of families and raising of children.

Like most all Thomans, then, Ana retains a love of children, and because of that, a recent exhibition in a local art gallery of folk toys of the world, made by parents and others for their children, often from the most humble of materials but with abundant and obvious love and imagination, captivated Ana completely. She has returned to it over a half dozen times.

In an earlier post we have shown some photos of various displays from this exhibit. Now we shall concentrate on closer views of selected items. What child would not love these toys?

(These photos are generously sized. Click on any photo to begin a slide show.)



































Thursday, August 30, 2012

The variety of Ana's blog: food, art, education, & more!

First, why not take a peek at Distant Cousin? It won't hurt and you might love it, and her!





Matt, husband of the extraterrestrial Ana Darcy, models a Dia de los Muertos t-shirt. The legend says "Beautiful Mexico," and  "Man proposes, God disposes, and along comes Death and everything decomposes." (Matt and Ana love to bicycle down their country road.)


Ana loves the foods of Earth. Here she's arranged a fruit plate according to the color spectrum! See many of her recipes in the column on the right, under the photo of cranberry-apple pie!



Ana is a huge believer in early education, and especially in reading and math. Here are two young practitioners! 

More on early education: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8



Ana loves the arts of the people of Earth, especially the Hispanic peoples (since she lives among them). Here's a mola and a painting of Don Quixote (oil on pine):



More of Ana's favorite art: molas   arpilleras clothing paintings  music

Language fun with Ana: Dichos   Mas dichos   Aun MAS dichos


"I have started reading Distant Cousin and I am charmed. It's been a breath of fresh air."



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A Mexican-American Great Grandmother Passes on Some Nursery Rhymes


By the time Ana arrived on Earth she had already taught herself passable English, and studied some Spanish, French, and other Indo-European languages, thanks to her years of study on the moon. She was lacking many of the fine points, of course, including the homey kinds of language characteristic of family life, with children. Fortunately, she was able to fill in many of those empty areas.



She learned a great deal of Spanish from her husband's grandmother, Reyes Méndez, including a number of nursery rhymes and simple poems. Ana found them useful language-learning devices, being easy to remember and full of good vocabulary words. She happily passed them along to her children!


The catchy verses below are among her favorites, for their cheery, humorous meaning and their rhyming patterns. If you read them out loud in reasonably accurate Spanish, you might enjoy their music too. Interlinear translations are provided for those whose Spanish may be a little rusty.


Ojos de sapo, patas de rana,
que tengas suerte toda la semana!


Toad's eyes, frog's feet,
May you have good luck all week!



¡Alas de murciélago, cola de lombriz,
que hoy y siempre seas muy feliz!


Bat's wings, earthworm's tail
May you be happy today and always!



¡Muelas de hipopótamo, cuernos de dragón,
que nunca nadie hiera tu corazón!


Hippopotamus molars, dragon's horns,
May no one break your heart!



¡Dientes de culebra, huesos de chucho,
NUNCA olvides que te quiero mucho!


Snake's fangs, hound's teeth
NEVER forget that I love you a lot!



¡Uñas de gato, plumas de gallina,
que siempre te lleves bien con la vecina!


Kitty's claws, rooster's feathers,
May you always get along well with the neighbor!



CONJURO:


Escobita, escobita,
que cada año me ponga más bonita.
Sapo, sapito,
que este año me vaya mejorcito.
Caldero, calderito,
que me abunde el dinerito!


SPELL:

Little broom, little broom,
May each year make me more pretty.
Toad, little toad,
May this year go a little better.
Cauldron, little cauldron,
May I have an abundance of money!



 

 
 
There are more of Ana's favorite poems in the right column about halfway down, under the LOVE sculpture.