Novelas y Piña

“Mira. Él es malo. Malo. Y ella, ella es buena. No no, ella es buena, es buena. (puffs on her cigar) She was in an accident and lost her husband and son. Sí, sí en un acidente. Now she’s in love with this one. Y ese. (Gestures at the television) Ese. He was married to that one, but when he became crippled, she left. Yes. And now she’s back to get her daughter and bring her to the United States. But this one. (points to the TV) Esa, she doesn’t want to go because she is in love. ’Perate, ’Perate, I’ll show you who when they come on. ’Perate. It’s this one. Him. Él es bueno. Eh? No no no, es bueno, es bueno. Te gustan las novelas? Ayy te gustan las novelas! Las novelas Cubanas son muy buenas no? Sí son buenas. They’re good because they talk about real life and real problems here. This one is on, hmm, a ver, (counting on her fingers) Lunes. Miercoles. Viernes. Yes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At 9. Yes, a las nueve y pico. ’Perate. Ah, se acabó.

Mira. (Smiling) La pelicula last night fue muy buena. Yes yes. Fue buena. There was this one, about snakes that were on a plane. Yes. They were on a plane and they killed so many people. I turned it off because I don’t like that kind of violence. Na, I don’t like that kind of movie. But the other one. It was Brazilian. It was from Brazil. It was about this man who was married and his wife, his wife was muy mala. Era mala. Muy mala. She killed her friend. Sí she killed her friend and then her husband found out and tried to stop her. Pero. But when he tried to stop her she tried to kill him too. But he. He, he was able to stop her. But he had to kill her. La mató. Sí, fue muy buena. I watched both of the novelas and then this movie and then went to bed. I didn’t go to bed till late. I don’t know why I just didn’t. Eh? I couldn’t sleep don’t ask me why. I don’t know why but I couldn’t sleep. But tonight me voy a acostar temprano. Sí, temprano. I’m so tired.

But tonight, mira, tonight, mira, tonight there’s another novella. The Brazilian one. Called Paradise Island. Yes it’s good. It’s good but not as good as the other one. The one you like. You’ll see almost all the actors in this one are the same as that one. Casi todos. And him, he’s the same in almost every Brazilian novelas. Yes the Brazilian novelas are very good. They’re good because they talk about history. About what life used to be like. Mira, this is how life used to be. This is how slaves were treated. Verda. There was one. Oh it was on for a while. I used to watch it. But it ended, and now this one just started. It’s on a las diez. A las diez y pica.

And Listen, tomorrow voy hacer jugo de piña. You like pineapple juice? Ah sí es muy rico. Jugo de piña es riquísima, but I don’t drink it. Na, na, I don’t drink it. Ay, I have to peel the pineapple. Yes. Careful of the ants. La’ Hormiga’. Buscan dulce. La’ Hormiga’ buscan dulce. Y pican tambien. Hormiga’ pican cantida. But they just look for sweets.

Ay bueno, tengo que pelar la piña. Hasta luego mi vida.”

Postscript

Over the past weeks I have spent lots of time with Maria and we have shared various conversations about a variety of subjects from politics to relationships to looking at the cars that pass below on the Malecon. I chose to write this narrative about Maria and the ways in which she explains and talks about novelas and movies. Maria loves television and is frequently watching novelas, news, movies, and a variety of shows. She is an expert on any show and it is real source of joy for her. Recently she has let me watch two novelas with her in her room and she would take it upon herself to make sure I was up to date, even though sometimes it got in the way of her own enjoyment. I love watching the novelas with her, and I think she does too, although she has said I talk too much. But Maria always makes sure that I understand who is who, their stories, and especially makes note of who is good and who is bad. Although I could have chosen to write a narrative of Maria discussing politics or giving advice or recounting her personal history, I chose instead to include a dialogue of a normal conversation between us based on something we share and do for fun together.

I didn’t have to exclude many questions because Maria will just explain things to me without much prompting. It was also very hard to write in English because I always think of Maria speaking in Spanish. However, I made a point to include a number of her common expressions in my attempt to recreate her voice. When Maria and I watch the novelas together, normally, she will constantly shift the conversation and change subject as she just says what she thinks and what she is feeling. Also, normally after we finish watching TV together, we will head into the kitchen, and I will watch and try to help her peel pineapple for the juice for breakfast. She takes extreme pride in her juice and works very hard to make it each day and keep it fresh. My favorite part of our time together is how when I go off to bed, she will say hasta luego mi vida. It’s such a sweet caring and loving expression, it reminds me of how much she cares about us and how lucky we are to have her with us.