My Not So Good Spanish and Note about Felipa

Achocalla, Oil 16 x 20 on Canvas
Bolivia painting by Jo Castillo

A while back, I commented on wetcanvas.com, something like "say hi to the rest"  and was reminded of a story.

I was raised hearing Spanish all my life and have a large vocabulary.  I never spoke much until we went to South America .. I just listened and answered in English.   When speaking Spanish, I don't think in Spanish and and have to translate as I go.  This makes my grammar a bit weird.  My accent can be off as well that way.

When we went to Bolivia the first time, the office had hired us a temporary maid, Felipa. She was asking what she should feed the gardner and herself. I was trying to tell her, in Spanish,  that she could always use the leftovers and make fresh soup, salad or whatever she wanted to. I used "los restos" for leftovers, thinking "the rest of the food". She looked at me very surprised at first, then couldn't keep from laughing. "Los restos" in Spanish is like "human remains" not the remains of a meal. Sigh.....  Good thing that Felipa was used to "not so good Spanish."

Temporary Felipa ended up working for us for many years and traveled with us to Chile and Peru.  She was a good person.  She had not attended school past the third grade or so, but she could read and write well enough to communicate with me and complete a beauty school course in Chile.  She could remember everything I told her about cleaning products, food or the way we did things.  She adapted to most situations very well.  She worked with her beauty school degree in Bolivia.  She even traveled to England and Spain on her own during the time we came back to the States between our time in Chile and Peru.  She went to England on the advice of a cousin but did not have a work permit which the cousin failed to tell her she needed and failed to help her get into the country.  She went on to Spain and worked there long enough to get herself back to Bolivia.

Felipa was not a live in maid and arrived about 8 a.m. each day.  By 10:00 a.m. you would never know we had a party the night before and left the kitchen and dining room in a mess.  She cleaned, washed clothes, ironed and did the shopping by early afternoon.  I was the cook, but she always left potatoes peeled and the vegetables all clean.  If we did need her to stay the night and care for the kids she was always there.

She supported her two children on her meager income.  They went on to college.  Her daughter became a dentist.  Felipa was very resourceful.  She knitted items to sell.  She supplied all my friends with the most elaborate Barbie clothes.  She was definitely part of our family and was loved and respected.

Her birthday is August 23.  Happy Birthday, Felipa.