#fuerzamexico
Literally translated from
Spanish, fuerza means strength. In
the context of the events that occurred after the earthquake, other possible
definitions might be:
Power to the people.
Keep going.
We’re with you.
Or this:
If I wish for someone to have
the energy to overcome hardships, that's the word I'd think of.
#fuerzamexico
Far Flung Places
On Tuesday, 19th of
September, 2017 at about 1:20 p.m. we stopped believing that walls would
protect us.
Shortly after the "all good?" text messages were
sent and the phones beeped back "Yep you?", we examined the debris
like we weren't real. We stared at the stones that rested, crumpled on the sidewalks
and wandered around as a post-apocalyptic haze etched itself into the city's
skin.
"All good" was replaced with, "Fuck, did
you see...?," and YouTube videos of flapping doors and rising dust blazed
across our screens as the addresses of fallen buildings flew at us from the rising storm of news
reports.
Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees
Alvaro
Obregon #286, 7:45 a.m., Tuesday, 19th of September, 2017
I arrived.
I was late.
Not 'Mexican' late, just normal late.
Teaching
English is boring.
Well.
It's not.
Well.
It can be.
It can be at 7:30 in the morning.
Meh
late. It's early. Whatever. Let me finish my coffee in peace.
“Hi Jorge! Sorry! I’m running 5 mins late! But I’ll see
you soon!”
It’s never 5 minutes.
It’s always more.
I knew it would be more.
My phone chimed in.
“No problem”
No punctuation. No emoji.
I didn't know him well enough to know if it was actually
no problem, or impatience.
Whatever.
I'll arrive and I’ll teach well.
I teach well.
And I taught
well.
Idioms
Below is
a list of common English idioms that are often used in business situations. In
the right hand column, there are the definitions of the idioms. Match the idiom
with their correct definitions.
Far flung places
Money doesn’t grow on trees to become successful or popular quickly
Eat someone alive
No reason not to
Take off
Out of touch
My exercise didn’t look like this.
‘Cause I’m so freakin’ “creative”. I wrote mine on small cards.
One idiom per card and another set for the definitions.
I’m good like that.
I take language out of the book and off the page and
place it into people’s hands with tangible objects they can hold. Whether you’re
3 or 33, (and he was 33), language learning is not an exercise of grammar
rehearsals or eyes in books. We need to hold our words and feel their texture
and investigate their shape. What colours do they make? What tastes do they
leave on the tongue? Language resides in the body, not only the mind. In fact,
if you get the mind too involved, you’re fucked.
They were yellow cards. I’d handwritten them quickly
before I left.
I was late because I was handwriting on the yellow cards.
Take off — to
become successful or popular quickly
Example:
Jorge’s career had taken off very well.
He was successful and cared about money.
So we didn’t have much in common.
He was intense and fidgety.
And I could be too, but had spent most of my life trying
to avoid being like that.
He, on the other hand, seemed to embrace it.
He sometimes acted like I didn’t have anything interesting
to say and his phone or emails were more important than the class.
Oh how wrong he could be. I was freaking fascinating.
Well.
He was probably right.
The emails and phone messages were probably more
interesting than the class.
Error: Sorry I didn’t listen you.
Correction: I didn’t hear you. OR I didn’t listen
to you.
Then he’d ask me to repeat the question and his stories
would begin.
Error: The unique reason for working, when I
was younger, was money.
Correction: The main reason for working, when I
was younger, was money.
Present Past Past Participle
Teach taught taught
Error: I proved Mexico, before my girlfriend
arrived.
Correction: I tried
Mexico, before my girlfriend arrived.
Error: I am a lot competitive.
Error: I am a lot of
competitive.
Correction: I am very competitive. I am really
competitive.
What is the difference between:
a)
I learned
a lot about him
And
b)
I learned
a lot from him
The dog is big.
The dress is beauty.
The plan was developed.
He was born in Spain.
He spoke definitively.
But also with an understanding of the complexity of this
world.
He was sharp, funny, sarcastic. He swore.
He swore!
It was such a relief.
He swore in English and it felt like home.
He talked a lot.
So do I.
He wanted to build an airport.
I like travelling.
He liked that I used the whiteboard.
I really like writing on whiteboards. It’s a perk of
being a teacher.
“You are the second person to use that whiteboard,” he
said. “The first was me.”
It somehow felt like a privileged position.
He loved being inside of airports and the feeling of
going places, of travel and movement and seeing new things.
He used to travel a lot for work and would try to squeeze
in a bit of sight-seeing and experience when he could.
He would return to Malaga when he was old and ready to
retire. To slow down now, was not an option.
Mexicans weren’t ambitious, Spanish people were. And I
thought of all the Spanish stereotypes that my Mexican friends had reiterated
that were being lived out right in front of me.
Idiom: He smashed the exercise.
Definition:
He answered everything
correctly.
He liked it and thought it was useful.
That was something. That was good.
Out of
touch
[10:05,
6/9/2017] Sarah Kay: How did it go with Jorge?
[10:07, 6/9/2017] Me: Great, I think! With every
new class/student
I usually do a conversation
class to see
where they're at, get to
know them and
understand why they want to
learn English.
____________________________________________________________________________
[7:31, 12/9/2017] Me: Hi Jorge, I'm outside the
Valora door.
[7:32, 12/9/2017] Me: I believe it's locked.
____________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday,
19th of September, 2017
[7:28, 19/9/2017] Me Hi Jorge! Sarah here. I believe
I'm running 10 mins late -
but I am on my way!
[7:28,
19/9/2017] Jorge Gomez Sale: Ok, no problem
____________________________________________________________________________
[13:32, 19/9/2017] Me: All good sunshine?
[13:36, 19/9/2017] Nicole: Yes! On the 4th floor, we
felt it bad.
A lot of stuff cracked on the floor
[13:36,
19/9/2017] Nicole: We are all outside now
[13:36,
19/9/2017] Nicole: You???
____________________________________________________________________________
[13:32, 19/9/2017] Me: All
Good?
[13:44, 19/9/2017] Sara: Yes. Luckily we were
outside. No warning. You ok?
____________________________________________________________________________
[13:33, 19/9/2017] Me All
Good??
[13:41,
19/9/2017] Lorenza: Yes. You?
____________________________________________________________________________
[13:33, 19/9/2017] Me: All good??
[13:33,
19/9/2017] Laura: All good. I was on the metrobus.
Felt more like a metroboat...
[13:33,
19/9/2017] Laura: You?
____________________________________________________________________________
[14:51, 19/9/2017] Me: All Good?
[15:29, 19/9/2017] Gerardo: Only lots of material
damages. All that's important is ok.
____________________________________________________________________________
[16:07, 19/9/2017] Me: All Good?
[16:10,
19/9/2017] Enrique: All good
[16:10,
19/9/2017] Enrique: Yourself?
____________________________________________________________________________
[13:58, 19/9/2017] Me: Everyone ok?
[13:58,
19/9/2017] Blanca: everything ok w/me and my family
[13:59,
19/9/2017] Blanca: Thanks Sarah. I hope everyone is ok.
[14:07,
19/9/2017] Sophie: In Coyoacan and okay here.. sending love to
everyone
[14:23,
19/9/2017] Galia: Im ok but scared
[14:25, 19/9/2017] Me: Me too galia! 🌺
[14:27,
19/9/2017] Gabs: Me and my family also ok, sending my love to
all!
[14:27,
19/9/2017] Aranza: Let's put together our thoughts for all
those trapped in buildings
[14:27,
19/9/2017] Aranza: La roma was really a disaster zone
____________________________________________________________________________
No Reason
Not To…
____________________________________________________________________________
[12:51, 20/9/2017] Me: Hola Jorge - I am sure
you are receiving plenty of
messages about the earthquake.
A friend of mine sent this
through and I thought of you.
I hope all is well with you
and your building
[12:51, 20/9/2017] Me: Hola! Necesito de su apoyo y
red.
Están organizando a
ingenieros civiles
y arquitectos que vayan a
revisar edificios
porque protección civil no
se da abasto.
Necesitan voluntarios! Mi
amigo forma parte
de quien está organizando
todo esto,
que se pongan en contacto
con el.
Alfonso Rivero: +52 1 55 ******
Hi! I need your help and network.
They are organizing civil engineers and
architects to assess buildings.
They need volunteers! My friend is part of the
organization of this group, get in touch with him:
Alfonso
Rivero: +52 1 55 ******
No response.
____________________________________________________________________________
To Eat Someone
Alive
Thursday 21 September
Sarah, My
name’s Damian, I am a colleague of Jorge’s. He is still trapped in the
building. I am responding to his emails. We’ll wait until next week.
Regards,
[9:21,
21/9/2017] Sarah Kay: Fucking. Hell.
[9:45, 21/9/2017] Me: Fuck
Call to the emergency services:
«Hola. Me llamo Lizeth Cruz
y estoy con Jorge Gómez. Estamos vivos en
Álvaro Obregón 286»
“Hi. My name is Lizeth Cruz and I am with Jorge Gomez. We are
alive in
Álvaro Obregón 286”
[20:16, 21/9/2017] Sarah
Kay: A glimmer
of hope
[9:51, 22/9/2017] Sarah Kay: I went to the building this
morning.
[10:00, 22/9/2017] Me: How is It?
[10:03, 22/9/2017] Tamsin: Are you able to help? What
are they asking for?
[18:04, 22/9/2017] Sarah
Kay: They really
need dog boots.
[16:27, 23/9/2017]
My Sister:
Has he been found?
Me:
No news yet but I will keep
you posted xxx
[14:28, 24/9/2017]
[09:13, 25/9/2017]
[12:49, 26/9/2017]
[7:08, 27/9/2017]
[13:35, 28/9/2017]
[17:55, 29/9/2017]
Time of
writing.
In memory of
all those who lost their lives,
their loved
ones, their homes or places of work on
Tuesday 19th of September, 2017.
#fuerzamexico
Post
Script:
Jorge’s
body was eventually found at Alvaro Obregon 286 and was returned to his family
in Spain.
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