Esperanza（Hope）

March 23, 2011

It has been two months since I’ve studied Spanish seriously.

The tsunami halted my study just when I was beginning to read sentences.

Today I restarted.  “Learning” is fun.
I find studying more enjoyable and I can learn faster now than when I was a teen, because of my purpose and determination.
Learning never betrays you. It becomes your own asset.

My interest in learning Spanish came after trips to Mexico.  After living in Canada awhile, I made a short visit to Mexico.  I got hooked.  Indigenous Mexicans look very much like us, Mongoloids.  And their spoken language sounds just like an Onagawa dialect.  “Anda, koizu, umegara tabede midara iccha” (Will you try this. It’s tasty). What a joy to  hear a language sounding so close to our local fishermen’s heavy dragging accent in Mexico!   

It seemed as if I was going back to the past since the country goodness and human characteristics of Latinos seemed akin to the Onagawa and its people I had known in my childhood.  Being able to taste the lively and populous pre-nuclear power plant era in Onagawa, where I spent my childhood, was the biggest charm of going to Mexico.

Mail comes from friends in Mexico.  Now I can comprehend them easily. 
They write “Animo (cheer) “ and “Esperanza (hope）.”
Their supportive manner or, what I might call, expressions for feelings for others seem akin to ours.

By the way, the word “esperanza (hope)” was derived from a verb, “esperar（await）.”   How wonderful this word is!  Waiting brings hope.  I send to all of you, “Esperamos! (let’s have hope!) “