Eia nā mana'o o'u pili i ko'u mo'omeheu, i nā mea i hewa 'ia ai, i nā 'ōiwi 'ē a'e a, i ka mana'o o ka po'e a pau i ke ea Hawai'i, ke aupuni Hawai'i e ho'omau nei, a me nā mea mākou e pono ai e loa'a.

MY FINAL POST

ALOHA!

Today while my classmates Jenny and Nahula were emailing each other, Nahula got an email from her cousin asking if Alberto Domingo was her classmate because she heard that he died. Apparently none of us had any information so I said that I'll contact my cousins in WA who is related to him. So when I came home, checked MYSPACE, my cousin did say that it just so happened she heard from her mother (Annabelle Domingo) and that Alberto died Tuesday. They found him dead in his apartment, more than likely due to health issues. Jenny said that when she last saw Alberto on Molokai (Jenny lives in CO) his hygiene was not that great. Had all kine kaki'o on his feet, etc.

How sad though to find out that someone dies from something that could easily be avoided. Although I know that it usually takes years before you get really, really bad. But you also have lots of time to get better too.

So now we have 3 classmates that died. Angel Sibayan who died while swimming out to save his nieces, Rebecca Sanchez who was murdered by her husband and died a slow death from what I heard, and now Alberto. I heard of another classmate having cancer, I hope she's doing okay too.

Having said that though, here's a list of my classmates and the cousins that we share. Alberto's name is bolded.


1) G. Punahele (Punahele cousins)
2) N. Calairo (my brother and sister)
3) J. Bush (my grandmother's hanai brother's descendant; Loo family)
4) S. Rapanot (Hubin family)
5) R. Manaba (Jason Flores)
6) J. Willing (the Keahi family)
7) N. Duvauchelle (G. Halemano and the Keahi family)
8) E. Ragasa (Catherine M.)
9) J. Kuahuia (my grandmother's step-father's relatives)
10) L. Maliu (the Keahi, Sanchez/Miller families and my brother & sister)
11) D. Spencer (the Keahi and Sanchez/Miller families)
12) L. Dudoit (the Keahi and Sanchez/Miller families)
13) E. Negrillo (the Loo family)
14) S. Reyes (the Loo family)
15) A. Domingo (Andy, Andrea and Amanda)
16) M. Mollena (the Loo family)
17) J. Tokuoka (Iaea family)
18) D. Naki (the Loo family)
19) F. Corpuz (Molly Bush & Loo families)
20) L. Reyes (the Bush-Kaalekahi family)
21) R. Poepoe (Keahi family)
22) T. Arce (Bush/Kaai family)

Found this link where you can test your proficiency. It covers grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. Reading is always a bitch and worse, comprehending. I had problems with English too. lol

Anyway, I did both the Spanish and Portuguese and the results was what I expected. However, I did notice that had I been a bit more careful, I could've scored a little bit higher.

Spanish:

You are at the Advanced Beginner level.
You scored 89 points out of 150.
You scored 59% overall.

PART I: Grammar
You scored 30 points out of 45.
You scored 66% on this section.

PART II: Grammar
You scored 34 points out of 45.
You scored 75% on this section.

PART III: Vocabulary
You scored 14 points out of 30.
You scored 46% on this section.

PART IV: Reading Comprehension
You scored 11 points out of 30.
You scored 36% on this section.


Portuguese:

You are at the Advanced Intermediate level.
You scored 123 points out of 150.
You scored 82% overall.

PART I: Grammar
You scored 41 points out of 45.
You scored 91% on this section.

PART II: Grammar
You scored 41 points out of 45.
You scored 91% on this section.

PART III: Vocabulary
You scored 24 points out of 30.
You scored 80% on this section.

PART IV: Reading Comprehension
You scored 17 points out of 30.
You scored 56% on this section.


Funny that the only reason why I have been finding these "evaluations" on proficiency is due to me frequenting linguaphiles. I saw one evaluation there that lead me to others. And at the same time, I see so many language nerds wanting to learn ukupaila languages (like how I wanted) but can't seem to focus on fluency. Then they try to compensate by showing off their knowledge of the language and what makes it tick, yet can't show anything for it. They rarely, if ever, get to know the people behind the language. That's sad really. The only reason the language is what it is, is because of the people. This reminds me of people having a fascination with certain things of the Hawaiian culture. Sure, exotify the culture but forget, if not marginalize the people.

Sometimes, so many things just irritate me when it comes to languages including reading shit about people being undecisive. I always warn people at work that one thing I cannot stand is when you come to me looking for advice simply because you cannot decide for yourself wtf you want!

I watch on a daily basis REDE TV (SUL), and sometimes a couple of others. I also watch GALICIAN T.V., and at least once a week, I watch either the Azorean RTP or some other Portuguese station just to be exposed to it. Ironically since January since I started doing this regularly and practice with tutors, attend language meet ups (both in Portuguese and Spanish), my fluency has increased tremendously and I've noticed how much more comfortable I am speaking both languages, unlike before. My comprehension level has been growing too. I don't know however, how well my pronunciation is with Spanish since I speak without thinking so much. I know it's not bad, but sometimes I wonder. I was reminded about this as I read an entry in linguaphiles about someone trying to take on a particular accent without proper exposure. Unlike my accent which I know is pretty much "standard" especially since I am exposed to various accents. I mentioned how my friend Luis, a Salvadorian whose accent is pretty much Mexicanized. I hear the difference from his relatives who live near him and damn! lol That's all I can say.

I know for my Portuguese, my accent has been pretty much carioca. My first prof. was from Rio, then I studied for a month if not less with a Paulista. Then since January I've had 1 Mineira whom I dropped, and 2 cariocas. So my accent remains the same, unblemished I guess. lol If anything, it has perfected but it was the paulista who actually perfected my accent. That was pre-1994. I think that's what gave the cariocas the impression, or they're convinced I have no accent. In other words, I sound Brazilian. They never said it was very carioca, but at least Flavia has pointed out the most that I have no accent. In fact, this past Wednesday she told Anglea, a Chinese peruana that I am modest. lol It had to do with my fluency and level. hahaha I told her Angela that I don't view it the way Flavia does. But it seems that other Brazilians, at least the paulistas that I met last Tues. have the same concept. I still laugh at the fact that when I first walked in, that one Brazilian asked if I spoke Portuguese, but the others asked if I were Brazilian whereas everyone else they asked "...you speak portuguese?" lol Filipe, Anizia, Luis (Anizia's husband) all asked if I were Brazilian. I don't think Maria Fernanda asked me that though. That's 3 out of 5 native Brazilians...I say that's pretty impressive. The private tutoring is paying off! hahaha Oh wait, that was actually based on phenotype actually. Anizia said I had features like those in Bahia, and Flavia agreed. hahaha

On May 23rd we have another Spanish meet up and Flavia is definitely coming again. She enjoys it, so that's good. I still get confused but have been able to hold a conversation, although brief phrases, with Flavia in Spanish. I of course am comfortable speaking Portuguese with her. lol I notice though, that her accent in English is very strong. lol I never noticed before, mainly because we don't speak much English when we are together. And if anyone speaks English, it's me, not her.

Then early part of June is the Irvine Portuguese meet up. Not sure what is going to happen with the closest one to me because Luis stepped down. Flavia offered to help me, and I told her that I'd prefer the organizer be a native speaker. Like the Samoan girl Leilani who stepped up as the organizer for the Santa Monica meet up, and now she's been AWOL. *sigh* So I dunno, we'll see. I'm not that type of person to put that kinda shit together. Bad enough the Irvine one is super far, but every meet up is always eating out dinner. Fuck, it becomes expensive and then it's too fucking loud in that type of establishment. I just want to fucking practice speaking! Ironically you have all these native speakers, including with Spanish and they prefer to speak their language. But whatever works for them.

Anyway, the point of this post was exposure! You cannot gain fluency without proper exposure. Only so much you can learn from books and tapes/cds/dvds as a means of interaction. But the best remedy will and always has been, a native speaker.

Well, this week for the gym is pretty much not good. Monday I did my upper body, yesterday my lower, but my diet was spoiled since Tues. And today isn't helping either since i was too tired to go to the gym (since Tues...it finally caught up with me) and felt under the weather since yesterday afternoon. But oh well, there's always next week. Plus I got paid so I have to find a way to maximize what shit I can buy with little money.

My spanish class got even more challenging as the prof. is giving us tenses that don't exist in the book. But that's good to know. Last night though she made us read a few text in the book and talked about it, in Spanish. So that was good, interesting and ironically I liked that. Normally I hate to talk about what I read. lol

I asked her what does Spanish 3 entail and she said basically more vocab., no new grammar/tenses, and nuances and uses and I think it'll involve reading and writing a lot. But oh well, we'll see. As long as I can handle my Speech, English and Math class this summer, especially this particular math class which will be a combo. of media and class time, I will be taking the higher level math during the fall on Saturdays and Spanish 3 Tues & Thurs. So we'll see how that goes. I should be taking my science classes in the fall, but not sure how the higher math class may affect me, so that's why. And I am certain the next level of Spanish class will take my time this time. No such thing as last minute homework 20 mins. before class and not studying. Especially if it involves learning new vocabulary. Hell, didn't study any vocabulary in this book anyway. lol

I think people who love cats so much are fucking weird! Just plain weird! Love the cat, that's all. Don't act fucking stupid por favor! lol

Going through the pics. posted at these various cat commmunities here on LJ, I can't stand it when people like to put a caption as if they're cat is speaking. And they begin to spell stupidly, like it's fucking cute, and worse...use poor English. What fucking idiots!

Thank the gods my cats are very multilingual and even in English they speak it purrrfectly! LMAO

but well worth it. I was FLYING on the freeway! I was 6 mins. over my return time, so I think there may be a fucking penalty. Fucking shit! And that's b/c I couldn't leave at the time b/c I had to wait for the fucking list to say that I paid the stupid fee for the meet up. Fo daze! And I told the organizer I was leaving 15 mins. PRIOR to this shit happening! Fuck! Then I had to fill up gas too. Fuck!

Anyway, a good brazilian showed up. lol He, like all the other brazilians asked me at first if I was brazilian! lol Why don't the ask the asians and the haole looking ones? Hmm. I laughed. I asked where was he from (his name was Felipe or Filippo, not sure) and he said Santa Catarina. I was surprised. He asked if I knew it but I said I see it on t.v. all the time but the fucker cut me off. lol Anyway, he spoke actually kinda fast, softly too, so it didn't help.

Maria Fernanda, the organizer, along with Anizia, a prof. of Portg., her husband and another guy (forgot his name too) who married a Peruana were all from S. Paulo. Sometimes Anizia had that funky R, but not as much. Maria F.'s R however..you'd think she was from Portugal. lol Oh, there was Serginho who is an American but as a kid grew up in S. Paulo. Another funky accent, americanized though, but he knew Portg. well.

I liked that Peruana where later she just gave in to Spanish. lol It's funny how we all understood each other though. *sigh* I can imagine the plantations back in Kualapuu, Molokai. lmao Then there were the others off to the side and I felt bad for them. They arrived early too but it seemed they were away from the native speakers and the native speakers were just into their conversation. It was at some Mexican rest. which I had no idea it was, and therefore it was loud and I wasn't, or COULD NOT spend money. Especially after transferring some money into my account earlier today.

So now I am here at work, missed my bus, so have to wait an hour. And tomorrow is my fucking leg day too! I didn't eat much at all today, not to mention the shakes. Watch tomorrow when I go to Pasadena with Flavia to meet up with the Spanish meet up group. lol I have lots to tell her about tonight though, so it'll be fun. Practice spanish! Practice portuguese...i'm ready to move!

Oh yeah, since they all asked if I was brazilian, I had to laugh at Anizia b/c she later said that I "seemed" brazilian. I asked why, if it was my accent. LMAO She said my features, seems like I'm a BAHIANO! LOL Shit, more I laughed! Then she talked about how people can or can't discriminate even in Brazil. She said w/ the Koreans or Japanese...they see themselves as Brazilians but some Brazilians will see them as that first, versus someone w/ my features. Of course that's after until they start talking to you, but that they are more likely to walk up to a person like me, with my features and speak vs. the other type. Thought that was interesting.

She even made her eyes SLANTED, you know when people pull their eyelids far to the side? lol She said I had almost that, guess like the indigenous people there, plus my complexion. *rolls eyes* hahaha Ok, I am moving....for good! lol

WORKOUT: Yesterday my workout was okay. At that time, it felt like I was doing good but I could tell the results afterwards that I didn't push myself as much as I should've. Perhaps on Friday I'll make up for that. I did try to increase my shake in-take but then I remembered how full and bloaded I'd feel so that when the next meal came around, I just couldn't take anymore. In fact, I threw my eating schedule off late last night. I forced myself to eat a little for my last meal of the day and on top of that, it was only some beans. I meant to take a protein shake to get my dose of proteins along with my carbs (beans) but damn, I was tired and anxious to go to bed to prepare for a "visitor" this morning. lol Anyway, to make matters worse, this morning I skipped a meal and then I felt like my stomach acid was eating through the lining of my stomach. So as soon as I got to work I drank half a shake and now trying to eat my oatmeal. My schedule will be off for the rest of the day, I just know it. Plus I am going to Irvine tonight so that'll impede my normal schedule. Not to mention tomorrow night too.

BATEPAPO: Tonight, getting my FLEXCAR and driving all the way to Irvine just to meet a few Brazilians and others to practice speaking Portuguese. You gotta do what you gotta do! lol Hell, I think for the amount I'm paying for the car tonight (only $20) I can just get my private lessons done with Marcos. But it's good to be exposed to others and hear the various accents, including people who are still learning it and have nasty accents. lol Tonight is Portuguese, tomorrow night it'll be Spanish and in Pasadena. On top of that, my tutor Flavia (a carioca) will be going with me, or I'll be going with her, however you look at it. So if there's anytime to get confused, or depends on how you look at it, take it as a challenge, it'll be then b/c we'll speak both Portuguese and Spanish. Well, I'll be damn if I speak Spanish to her, maybe to the others, but not her. lol It's either English or Portuguese, no Spanish with her, although we talk about some things in Spanish and give each other examples. Other than that, we both will get mixed up. I know she does and I do sometimes without thinking, just as she does. Hers is more pronunciation whereas mine is more of words.

ASIAN PI: Of course the timing couldn't be more perfect since this month or whatever was designated Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month. *rolls eyes* Anyway, on myspace the kids who are arguing that Filipinos are Pacific Islanders are at it again. Then you have some mexican/haole kid (15 yrs. old) talking about Asians with small weenies. lol Kinda disturbing actually b/c....well, I'll ask him myself later if he continues. He must've been disappointed to end up with Asians who had small weenies. lol That'll make him pissed off. Unless he really is gay. lol

PROTESTING: Yeah what else is new. Today in downtown the streets were being closed very early due to the Immigrant/whatever-else-you-can-think-of march/rally. That's why I changed my flexcar reservations to an hour later and a different location. I want to avoid that crap although by the time we go home it should pretty much be over.

Bad enough last week I didn't do shit. Today I was going to clean, but so far it's a no go.

KALEO: I realized that my brother Kaleo did add me back on MySpace, so I left a comment for him, not like that it will do anything. So now I have 3 of my brothers on myspace. Kaimi, Kaleo & Travis. I know Kaimi rarely checks his page although someone checked it recently. I think it was my niece who did that for him that's why.

HAWAIIAN/BQ: Since a few mos. ago after experiencing shit from Micah and a few others, I've really distanced myself from Hawaiian issues, and not a conscious effort too. Coupled with the fact that I started my Spanish class and meet ups for people who want to practice Spanish and Portuguese, I just realized while reading someone's myspace in Hawaiian that it takes more effort to comprehend what is written. I guess just being inundated with Romance languages makes me think differently. I also realized this while responding in Portuguese on ORKUT regarding some aspects of the Hawaiian culture and people asking for translations from Portuguese into Hawaiian. *sigh* In any case, I was reminded why I wanted to distance myself from stupid people while going through some of the Hawaiian groups on myspace, I saw the post where everyone asks "How much Hawaiian you?" Or something to that effect, like how much "Hawaiian blood" do you have? Geez, I guess I have the same amount of blood that any normal human being would have, right? I mean, if I bleed, does that mean I lose Hawaiian blood? Or am I really losing Filipino blood? Or some other type of blood, or does it depend from where I bleed? Why is it that Mexicans don't talk about how much Mexican blood they have, or Japanese say the same thing? What about Haoles, why don't we hear them say how much Haole blood they have or don't have? People, you really need to get out of that stupid frame of mind and stop trying to minimizing us! Or worse, for you BQ-Hawaiians....stop minimizing yourselves!

BODY: While in the shower I thought of how I wished I was at the gym working out. lol It's nice to see some tone coming back to my body. I didn't eat much yesterday and I only drank one glass of my protein shake. Today, I haven't had a shake yet and not eating as much either. I normally would take measurements and self photos today since I did that last week but I guess I can wait till Friday to weigh myself and measure since doing that over the weekend may not result in anything. lol Although I haven't been eating too much crap with the exception of Friday, had some capuccino cake but after a few bites I could tell the difference. So eating right isn't that difficult especially since I was pretty consistent before. We'll see how much "gains" I make by the end of next week. This is going on the 3rd week and usually by the 6th to 8th week after really being strict, you can see results. I mean REAL results. So we'll see since I haven't gained any weight yet.

SCHOOL: Last Thurs. the prof was sick so no class. That means, she'll push for more class time in order to learn whatever we need to learn. I can't believe that our final is on the 29th. That means, 4 weeks from now or actually 9 more classes to go! I won't be attending Tues. class since I'll be going all the way down to Irvine in order to "bate papo" with a few Brazilians and others interested in Portuguese. It better be worth it, that's all I know! I have to remember to bring extra cash since I owe the group organizer $3. Then on Wed., my Portg. tutor - Flavia will be going with me to the Spanish meet up. I hope that the gods allow Alex to show up this time. lol Hector is suppose to be coming again and hopefully Roberto (from Sardegna) will show up. Always an incentive to go to these things. lol Anyway, I registered for my summer classes. I am scheduled to bust my ass during the summer. Taking Speech in the early part of the summer, then the math class that I needed to take will be on Saturdays and then when the speech class is over, it'll be the advanced English class latter part of the summer. I am thinking of going w/ the math prof. that I liked (Karapetyan) and take 2 math classes with him (versus 1) and take Spanish 3 during the Fall. The math class will be on Saturdays, but we'll see. I want to verify with the counselors first to see if that's okay with the math classes. I don't want to take a math class that I really don't need. That's of course assuming I will pass my math during the summer, if I can handle it.

WORKOUT
Well, my legs hurt like hell now. What else can I say? I still have been weighing myself habitually. lol No change. However, I do see definition coming very quickly! So now it's just a matter of time before I bring back some mass, a little at least.

It's late right now, almost 11:30 and I go to the gym at 5:30 in the morning. Can I wake up? Hell yeah. Oh, I figured out why I had a hard time sleeping Sunday evening, worrying about getting up in time to go to the gym or rather not getting enough needed rest in order to have a good workout is what I really should've said. In any case, it was because I was drinking that coffee Sunday night at the meet up. That was smart. However, it seems that I am not really affected by lack of sleep but I am worried with the stress I am putting on my body, the quick, HIGH INTENSITY workouts could be detrimental to my kino.

And the problem with my diet, like before, is that I get tired of eating the same shit all the fucking time! I only eat the same stuff because I know how much I'm getting out of it. But we'll see. I bought lots of pasta, bought chicken, turkey/ham and salmon but tooooo fucking lazy to cook that shit. So what am I going to cook tomorrow night then? I have to throw out my other chicken. It's no good. I guess I can cook more chicken Friday evening?

Now that I think about it, I'm wondering what should I bring for lunch tomorrow? Guess I can have the turkey/ham sandwich. It's Farmer's Market day tomorrow and I can easily pick up an avocado and anything else I need. Oh wait, have to go to the grocery store tomorrow anyway. *sigh* What to do, what to eat.

SCHOOL
I pretty much decided to take math along with speech and english during the summer. It'll kill me, but this is what happens when you get sick and are forced to drop out of class, or take the class and can't stand the professor after the first 20 mins., or continually flunk. lol If all goes well during the summer, I can take my last math class during the fall. But then I looked at the other higher math classes that I could take. The prof. that I really had a good time with is teaching a math class which according to the chart, I need to take 2 of those to make it equal to the one high one. *sigh* He teaches both and as a fast track, meaning it'll go for 8 weeks and it'll be on Satudays for a number of hours, so it doesn't seem that easy. But I am really looking at that because I was also looking at the math classes in the fall (regular) if I decide not to take math during the summer. It's all the options that I weeded out or have tried and it's a "no go". So, not like I have any other choice but to try this one during the summer that'll go for 8 to 10 weeks I think. I think 8 weeks too because although it's 5 units, the hours are 3 hrs. each Saturday which is odd. Then the Speech and English classes are 5 weeks each and they run back to back.

So basically I'll take Speech and then later will be Math and then the Speech will be over and then I'll take English and I'll still be taking the same math class. I believe they finish about the same time. Then, assuming I will have passed (I should be able to tell after the 2nd exam or mid-term) if I can take the math class on a Sat. I'll double check my schedule to make sure that is one I can take which I believe is okay. Guess I'll have to verify with a counselor. And if that's then I can probably take Spanish 3 which is still 5 fucking units, twice a week, same time tues/thurs. I'm wondering what good will that be and...I may turn my History towards a Latin American area or something since I have a Portuguese background. I think that'll be the best option since it is my interest or something that I enjoy LEARNING!

My fucking Spanish class...kinda getting challenging finally. lol That's all I'll say. Before I was bored b/c I know the stuff. Still I know the stuff, but it is getting more detailed. That's why I'm wondering what more does Spanish 3 have to offer? And 4 too.

Bad enough I didn't gain any weight, but now I am not hungry. It started early this morning where I barely ate my bagel. I drank all of my shake, probably because I drank that first I got full quickly. Then I came to work, had very little oatmeal, then tried to eat a banana w/ peanut butter, couldn't finish that. Didn't have another shake yet either. Not fucking hungry! And last night, I could barely eat my spaghetti. Seemed so dry because I added too much noodles. lol Fuck. And then I didn't even drink a shake last night after I got back from the meet up. Oh well.

Ok, so I attended the Spanish Meet Up tonight. Juan Carlos seems like a nice guy. Hector, the boricua seems a bit cold. I dunno, he's okay, but not as open, at least not with me. And I spoke to him first, since he was there rather early.

But we had 12 people. It was loud in there! Marcos, the one who was suppose to head the meet up was stuck in Joshua Tree because his RV broke down and he can't even leave tomorrow until after they get the missing part. Oh well. I did meet a lot of interesting people. There's a girl Catherine, who is half Argentinian. I like her pronunciation. She didn't have the same intonation, so that was rather pleasant. lol Hector's accent, more so when he got excited, is what I like. I like the whole Caribbean accent.

There was a Haole guy who's an actor, or is into it. He arrived really late. As I was leaving he asked my name and he hung on to my hand. lol Well, we were in the middle of the handshake. He said he went to Maui, Kaua'i and O'ahu, so when I told him I was from Molokai (after he asked), he said it was a small island and I told him yeah. I was nervous when one of the girls said that we should introduce ourselves. Fuck. lol I hate that. Just not my thing. I don't mind talking, etc. but damn, that's like a personal thing and I end up being selective and all that good stuff.

I'm still debating whether I should attend the Portuguese one in Irvine. Very far from me and I know it'll take more than an hour to get there with traffic, but we'll see. Plus it's actually a school night but I know we won't have an exam, but rather the exam should be passed back at that time. So, I may go, depending if I have money to spare.

My head goes crazy though everytime I'm immersed in the language. I experience the same thing when I encounter people on the street and just speaking with them for awhile. I end up having remnants of it and want to continue. Go figure. And it doesn't help when you speak in another language about another language other than your own. Confusing as hell.

GYM: This week I did good at the gym and with my diet for the most part. I didn't expect to really push myself so soon, I was going to go easy at first, but I ended up really pushing myself, which is good, for me. High Intensity is the way to go for me! Plus I get out quicker. :) Just can't overdue it, or else. And I'll have to increase my carb intake too, of course the protein but I just have to watch what I take in. I have to also eat more. I've been eating 6 meals in addition to my protein shakes and my weight has not changed this week, at least not yet. I have to weight wait till Monday to check my weight. WAIT! lol I've been jumping on the scale daily that's why. Anyway, although I was eating as often again (and my stomach is back to craving the food very often now) I haven't been eating huge meals. At least 2 or 3 of them have been large but the others are like snacks. I'll increase it eventually, just takes time to adjust, plus my stomach still doesn't do well in the morning with the soy milk too. But right now, my body's aching like hell! But feels good! hahaha

KALEO: My cousin Trina on myspace told me that our brother (my brother was adopted by her parents) was on myspace. This girl has been silent for the longest time on myspace, but that's probably because of the shit she was going through with her mom's (my cousin) death. Her husband and her split up but her husband is dating my other cousin, her first cousin. lol Odd situation. Anyway, now I got to see my brother's myspace page, he has no photos of himself. Well, one very distant one where you can't tell who it is. lol Funny. So I requested to add him, we'll see if he accepts. Little does he know that the first 2 people on my friends list are our brothers of whom he never got to know.

MOM: My mom called, telling me...what else, focusing on my sister Kiola. I was telling her that I was checking out Kaleo's myspace and I ended up talking about their situation and she interrupted me to say why she was calling. Needing a favor of course. And that she wants to raise money for Her Highness and her goodfonahting husband's trip to Molokai next summer for the REYES family reunion which will be in August. I told my mom that I am doing our family reunion 2nd to the last week of July, also next year. She asked where. lol I told her Molokai of course, and then she invited herself. lol I said sure, why not? It won't hurt. We'll see if it actually happens though. My brother Kaimi will be going to the REYES family reunion too apparently and my sister and Kaimi (I guess) wanted my mom to go but she said she is no longer part of that family. *ay ka drama!* Yet she invites herself to go with me and then later she said that she could do something bad if I weren't there with her at the Reyes reunion. lol Shit, drama fo' daze!

SCHOOL/SPANISH/PORTG.: I got an 86 or maybe an 84% on my mid-term. Fuck! I butchered myself on the imperatives (Spanish). I knew of it, just wasn't thinking carefully. Plus I was out that entire week she taught them that. Oh, and tomorrow night I will go to the Spanish Meet Up, check out Juan Carlos and that Sky Aviator guy. LMAO Seems like a lot of girls decided to RSVP at the last minute too. lol So there are going to be almost 30 people there. That's a lot! Then May 2nd or so is the other Spanish Meet Up in Pasadena, where Alex should attend! hahaha Speaking of these meet ups, got a Portuguese on in Irvine on a school night. Not sure if I really am going to attend or not. I may. Then Luis from the Pasadena Meet Up told me about possibly renewing the fee since there is a fee to run those stupid things. I offered to help. And he asked for suggestions as for a place to meet up. I told him of possibly offering various times and days of the week to attract different crowds of people who normally can't attend for whatever reason. So we'll see how that goes. I don't want him to abandon it, especially since Pasadena is so easy for me to get to.

The stereotype, how ignorant Americans can be with other cultures and geography in general. While watching the Brazilian t.v. station I always watch - REDE TV, a show Amaury Jr. where this guy goes out and talks to everyone and anyone, Maury ends up in Miami and is talking to this guy who owns some type of fancy doll company or something. Anyway, Maury decides to translate (similataneously) what the guy was saying. The guy responded to one of Amaury's question with, "Well first I have to improve my Spanish" or something to that extent. At first I thought maybe he meant to get good at Spanish first before attempting Portuguese. Then I realize that he believed that, although mentioning tapping into the market in Brasil, that he assumed that in Brasil they speak SPANISH! Oh for crying out loud!

That's the subject line that I read here:

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/languagehat/157638.html

It mentioned the unification of spelling. It's not that bad really. But in that link, it mentioned the acute accent used in Portugal versus the circumflex in Brasil. So they quoted one person saying that it is the Brazilians who are attached to their hats (the circumflex). Stupid thing to say.

In any case, the different accents are used because they do have different pronunciations.

Laka and I jumped on the scale. Laka lost 3 to 6 pounds whereas I lost 9 since 2004. I can't remember if Laka was one weight versus the other which I believe was Nicodemus' weight. That's why I say 3 to 6 lbs. I think it is actually 3.

I went to the gym finally, again. We'll see if I keep up. I almost decided to go tomorrow instead but I knew that feeling that if I procrastinated further, I wouldn't even go. So I screamed and grunted at my workout, as usual. lol No, not that hard, but I will next week. :) I'm taking it easy. Yeah right, where I am shaking? Give me a break...it's pretty intense.

My stomach has been upset all day though. I expect it to pass w/in a couple of weeks. lol Ok, maybe by the weekend. I am getting used to eating a lot again, or trying to.

I was talking with a friend today about something I've mentioned to another friend about before. Culture, what is it really? This was brought about as I mentioned practicing the language, in this case Portuguese. I explained how some people tend to lack the cultural aspect behind the language, in which without it, they won't succeed in whatever they are trying to do, whether that is to pretend that they are something that they are really not (trying to exotify themselves making everyone believe that they're Hawaiian) or trying to be the authoritive figure in the mechanics of the language which usually tends to piss people off. Or, it could be the opposite where they try to grasp a culture but aren't successful because they lack the understanding of the language (in this case the Hawaiian culture) and still, come off with that paternalistic attitude as if they are the authoritive figure of the culture and would know more than the people who are a part of the culture.

Culture, is not one aspect of this and that, but a combination of everything. Language, history, tradition, people, etc. You cannot separate them from one another. You certainly could try, but you won't be successful. And I know this from experience as well. The fact that I'm not excited about the Spanish language but adore the people and culture. Kinda hard to understand them without the language. I mean, you do of course, but you don't realize how many more doors are opened by knowing the language. Same with Portuguese. I love the language, and the Azores, but never cared too much about Portugal nor Brasil. I finally accepted that fact and even the language, or understanding what and why things are the way they are has helped me quite a bit.

I think it has to do with the "me, me, me" generation and how everyone, the younger generation are all into themselves and believe that things are owed to them (like with the young people at work) and that they expect something out of everything and everyone. I wonder what they'll be like when they get older, or will it be them who will destroy the earth.

Preserving Hawaiian — one class at a time - Good article, the immersion schools' 20th anniversary (1983) and mentioning their success rate and how far they've come especially with the new doctorate program in the Hawaiian language. Oddly enough they would mention what critics (whoever they are/were) said about not having English or using it would hold these students back, which is why they boast their success rate. Look at how many students continue on with higher education versus what the public schools have been doing. And they pointed out that it's not like English is foreign to them which is true.

Hawaiian-language papers preserve past - and a video about it.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Apr/15/il/FP704150307.html/?print=on

I forgot to mention how Bruno and Luis, the Portuguese have their Ph.D., but I dunno what. Luis showed us where he works and shit that they do. Basically, some type of recognition where the camera or software is able to recognize things and either plays, or do say something. They were working on some scanner for shopping, like when you have heavy things and you have it at the bottom of the cart, this recognition program will tell you or actually send it to the cash register automatically. And they have toys of course, toy robots and how they maneuver around the house. Cool toys. I'm not sure if Isis, Bruno's wife is also a Ph.D. but they are a bunch of brainiacs! Very interesting though to see the company Luis works for IdeaLab. He actually worked with them then the section he was working in broke off on their own. Kinda complicated as he explained everything. That's why I got home just around 6 pm. We spent over an hour at his work place and hours at the restaurant. Odd how people would come later to the restaurant to eat a very late lunch.

Bruno's parents live in Macao and have been there for a number of years apparently including his sister who is 16 years younger than he is. lol Shit. So he has been to Macao a few times to visit them, and I think been to Maui once or twice because of Isis. They are very cool people to be around too. Oh, Bruno asked if my family has been in Hawaii for a long time. I know where he was going with that question but having experienced that stupid nationality identity with my coworker and verified by her stupid penpal in Portugal, I wasn't going to say to Bruno that I was "Portuguese" although I am. Fuckers. lol Anyway, it started out because I told him that Isis was born in Huelo and my great-great-grandmother was born there and the family lived there. Isis told me that she doesn't know of people being born there. How odd though that she was born there. Destinty I guess. Oh and Isis insisted on telling the PORTAGEE jokes. LOL Stupid. I explained to both Isis and Luis why the Portuguese got such a bad rap and learned that there are many Hawaiian words that Isis isn't aware of, like piko and luna. Plus the fact that I grew up on plantation (as Harris and I were talking about the day before), my pidgin can be stronger but I can't do that. Unlike that video I posted previously.

One thing I won't get used to with the Portuguese pronunciation is their double RR and initial R. Very, very strong! It always throws me off. lol Just weird.