People, Places, and Paratópera: February 2010

Hey folks,

Just an FYI, there's a new blog in the works for Africa. I'll continue to use this blog for personal writing, but all Africa related stuff will be at http://somethingbeautifulafrica.blogspot.com/.

love to all,

Mandie

How this blog got its name

Doña Pali is probably one of the wisest people I have ever met. And for all the importance I give to words and stories, it amazed me that she could teach as much as she did, even though she couldn't talk. Pali had a stroke 4 years before I met her and by the time we started having "conversations", her muscles were so weak and confused that the only word she could muster was paratópera. No one knows what it means, but we all know what she means when she says it. Accompanied by a kind look from her sympathetic eyes, it can mean, "I can see that you're hurting and I want you to know that I care." Swatting at you with her one good hand, she uses paratópera to say "I can't beleive you just said that!". Some days when she's more confused than normal, Pali will try to shrug her shoulders and use paratópera as her own personal version of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. That is the sense in which I use the word to this day, almost a year after Pali's death. When I don't know what to say, that funny word reminds me that words aren't important enough to get frustrated over. So often when I pour words out into a blog, I look back over them and feel like I haven't gotten any closer to a solution. Then I remember Pali and how much she communicated even without words and I am encouraged. Paratópera.

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New Blog for Africa!

Where in the world am I?

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