GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

thanks a lot Holly. and yesss. just about what i thought already, on my own. and lf is someone i actually sense to be trustworthy.

I'd say there's less variation in Castilian Spanish than there is in Standard English.

The gap between Cuban Spanish, Argentinian Spanish and Madrid Spanish is smaller than that between West Australian English, Liverpool (Scouser) English, and Californian English.

There are plenty of regionalisms, though: a guagua (wawa) in Chile is a baby or small toddler, while in Cuba is a bus. The camión in Mexico is a bus, but in South America is a truck. And while a chavo is a young boy in Mexico, in Argentina the same is a pibe.

A parranda (party) in Panama becomes a juerga in Perú, and something in Venezuela is chévere (cool) when in Mexico is rebueno, and in Perú is bacán. A pendejo in Mexico is a stupid sod, while in Perú it's someone sneaky enough to sell you the Golden Gate.

A capullo (gay guy) in Spain is a maricón in South America, which is a joto in Mexico. And in Cuba if you get cabreada (angry) you could become what in Argentina is called an atorrante (annoying classless person). And so on.

But that's not any different to English. When you cross North America, you find your lingo learned on the East Coast doesn't work as well on the West Coast. Or when you move from Texas to the Northeast. And then on to Canada. So be careful when you use non-standard words.

Feinberg's landmark work is of course "Stone butch blues" which is written as a novel but is darned close to being an autobiography ending in middle age. It spells out (especially for FTMs but also for everyone) the danger of getting "stuck" between the sexes in a no man's land.

Compelling reading for anyone.

Feinberg (who wants neither his, her or its) writes about Cuba mostly as a compendium of snippets and historical references by the million.

The simple fact is that we know our government lies to us continuously about Cuba, but other that doesn't help get any closer to the reality.
One thing is for sure, straight cis-sexual Mariel Castro-Espin, daughter of Raul is a sexologist who has brought enormous progess to LGBT in Cuba in the last decade.
My own father was in Cuba in 1940, he saw it was just about the most prostitution-ridden, decadent place in the world. He described little boys openly touting their pre-teen sisters for sex. And so on.

Given Cuba was literally in a struggle for survival in its early decades, becoming self-sufficient with an initially mostly illiterate population it is hardly remarkable that it took them quite a long time to get on top of the machismo that was so very much a part of Latin culture. It just was not a priority.

They had bigger fish, like going from the country with fewest number of doctors per capita in Latin America in 1960 to most by 1975.

Idealism also played a part.

Some of the better educated people from other countries in Latin America moved to Cuba to help with the revolution, since it seemed they could do nothing in their own countries.

Some of them were doctors, who could teach medicine. And some were medical students, ready to be part of the first promotions on the island.

Without going further, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was a medical doctor from Argentina, specialized (in allergies) in Mexico. He had been a lecturer, as well.

His story of leaving his own country behind to go teach and help in Cuba is not atypical.

I have been using livemocha.com to learn Spanish for a few days. I did some Spanish in school, gosh, "many" years ago, so my starting level was very uncertain (not to mention ragged at the edges). Ser versus estar were old friends ;-)

livemocha seems to cater for an uncertain starting point well, you can start at beginner level and move very quickly if you have the least background. You are not held back by mindless drills.

Their self-help system works well (you submit writings and sound recordings and they are reviewed (graded) in exchange for you reviewing the work of others learning your native language).
Since English is a popular language to learn (for native Spanish speakers at least) you get more out than you put in as regards grading.

My only complaint is that the pricing is deceptive, however it is quite cheap so that doesn't matter too too much. Still, it is puzzling why they are not up-front about how much you get for free, and how much it costs. Being deceptive leaves a bad taste and creates distrust needlessly. You need not pay at all if you are willing to grade lots of other people's work and you are not especially in a hurry.

I suspect they change pricing daily, and I can understand why they want to experiment, but even if that is so they are still hiding the ball and that creates suspicion and distrust.