Carol Schmidt
Jan 31, 2004, 9:05 PM
Post #1 of 4
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There's a guy in my art class who speaks only Spanish and I need to tell him something where I'd better be clear. Another woman in the class told him his work should be put onto notecards, and she was going back to the States over Christmas and would have her brother do that if I took the photographs of his work for her, which I did. Then she never came back. He keeps asking me what happened. This weekend I ran into her on the street and she said my photos were not good enough, her brother said that they wouldn't transfer onto notecards, and so she didn't bother any more.
What I want to say is: I'm sorry the woman hurt you and I was involved, my photos weren't good enough for the printing process, and I'm sorry for raising your hopes and then not following through. Your work is wonderful and I hope you do some small paintings directly onto notecard stock so they can be sold, they're that good.
I want to show tact and support and not too much irritation toward the woman, who may come back to class some day. San Miguel is a small town in many ways.
Some $600 US and two classes later, my Spanish still fizzles after Buenos Dias and Adios. I don't just want to feed a paragraph into a translator service because I don't want to make some stupid mistake and hurt his feelings.
While I'm at it, what are the various connotations to saying Adios, Hasta manana, or any other version of good-bye? What is best said to the housekeeper as she leaves, to other students in my class, to casual friends met on the street, to close friends as they leave my house, to a government official as I leave his office, etc.
Carol Schmidt
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