i am single, and i live alone.
as part of a project my senior year of high school, i decided to teach myself spanish. i bought a cd course and proceeded to listen to the cds one by one, fairly regularly, repeating when the suave voices told me to repeat and writing when they told me to write. the one phrase that sticks out to me was this: "yo soy soltera, y vivo sola." i found myself repeating that phrase one day, over and over again. "i am single, and i live alone... i am single, and i live alone... i am single, and i live alone."
a few moments into the exercise i paused and thought about what i was saying. why would i need to learn this phrase? at the time being, i was single, but i did not live alone. i lived with my parents, as had always been the case, and i figured i would move from there to a college dorm, have roommates for a few years, and then get married. i would only be single for a very short time, i was sure, and living alone was not in the plan. and even if i were to be single and living alone one day, why would i need to be able to announce it in spanish? it's not something i would brag about in english, let alone in another language.
this evening i cleaned my room, did the dishes, and then made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. having just done the dishes, i didn't feel like reusing more than the minimal amount, so i spread the peanut butter first and then dipped the same knife, with a bit of peanut butter still clinging on, into the jar of jelly. i cringed for a second, hearing my father's voice in my head-- he mixes jelly with his yogurt (nancy's brand, plain) in the mornings, and he hates it when he gets that little taste of invisible peanut butter in his breakfast. but a second voice soon eclipsed that of my father: the voice of a smooth-speaking latin american woman. "yo soy soltera, y vivo sola." i smiled and dipped away. i am single, after all. and i live alone.
a few moments into the exercise i paused and thought about what i was saying. why would i need to learn this phrase? at the time being, i was single, but i did not live alone. i lived with my parents, as had always been the case, and i figured i would move from there to a college dorm, have roommates for a few years, and then get married. i would only be single for a very short time, i was sure, and living alone was not in the plan. and even if i were to be single and living alone one day, why would i need to be able to announce it in spanish? it's not something i would brag about in english, let alone in another language.
this evening i cleaned my room, did the dishes, and then made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. having just done the dishes, i didn't feel like reusing more than the minimal amount, so i spread the peanut butter first and then dipped the same knife, with a bit of peanut butter still clinging on, into the jar of jelly. i cringed for a second, hearing my father's voice in my head-- he mixes jelly with his yogurt (nancy's brand, plain) in the mornings, and he hates it when he gets that little taste of invisible peanut butter in his breakfast. but a second voice soon eclipsed that of my father: the voice of a smooth-speaking latin american woman. "yo soy soltera, y vivo sola." i smiled and dipped away. i am single, after all. and i live alone.