Learn Spanish the way Diplomats do

Notes on Chapter One
EL PUEBLO QUE FUIMOS
"THE PEOPLE WE WERE"
Isaac Rogel

A mesquite tree. I've never seen a mesquite surrounded by green grass as in this picture--and I've seen a lot of mesquites! They are usually surrounded by bare ground, with maybe a couple of weeds and a cactus or two.

Notes on Chapter 1 "Rutila’s Ejido"

⁽¹⁾ The word "ejido" doesn’t really have an English equivalent. For that matter, the dictionary of the Royal Academy, the last word in correctness in the Spanish language, gives only a definition that applies to the ancient custom of "commons"—land held jointly by the community for grazing, etc. Because there is no precise English equivalent for ejido, we have left ejido in the translated text.

The ejido in the Mexican sense, and that of this story, grew out of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. as part of "land reform". The idea was to take land that was not in use, or land confiscated from huge pre-revolutionary haciendas, and distribute it to groups of landless campesinos. The most important part is "group"—the individual campesino had the obligation to do a share of the work of the ejido, and a right to a share of the profits. He did not, however own individually any land, and couldn’t sell his part.

The ejido has since its inception been a politically sensitive issue in Mexico, and several factors have combined to drastically reduce the number and size of ejidos. One is, of course, the political/business trickery as told in "Rutila’s Ejido". Another has been Mexico’s post 1990 movement toward a more capitalistic system, in which the semi-socialistic nature of the ejido is out of place. Finally, the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement opened Mexico’s market to low-cost American staple agricultural products (mainly rice and beans) which less efficient small-scale Mexican (including ejidos) producers couldn’t match.

Many former ejidatarios have joined the millions of Mexicans migrating, legally or illegally, to the U.S. in the past few years.

⁽²⁾ Joya in this story doesn't mean "jewel" as it usually does. It has a secondary meaning of a hole or depression in the ground. Possible translations would be "valley" or "hollow", but I've decided to leave it untranslated.

⁽³⁾ Libélula is a dragonfly, used here to describe a helicopter, which does look something like a dragonfly.

⁽⁴⁾ Rutila, Régulo and Donaciano are examples of old-fashioned names that are hardly used at all in modern times.

⁽⁵⁾ Nardo is a flowering plant, something like a lily.

⁽⁶⁾ The singular is used for bean (frijol) when referring to its cultivation or large quantities. As a dish on the table, it’s plural: frijoles. Because they don’t know Spanish spelling rules, many English speaking people think the singular of frijoles is frijole; likewise that it’s one tamale (should be tamal).

⁽⁷⁾ Campesino comes from campo, the countryside or a field. The word campesino is difficult to translate into English that would mean much to a present-day English speaker. "Peasant" is the dictionary definition; but peasants as such don’t exist in the English-speaking world today. A campesino might be described as someone who lives in the country, and makes his living from agriculture, usually working for someone else.

⁽⁸⁾ Barranca is another hard word to translate, perhaps because such terrain features are unknown in England and the eastern United States. "Gully" and "ravine" are in the dictionary, but may not mean much to Europeans and many Americans.

⁽⁹⁾ "Constable" isn’t a very accurate translation of Comisario Ejidal, but there really isn’t a good word in English to express the concept. The Comisario Ejidal is elected by the ejidatarios, and is both a spokesman for the ejido and responsible for preserving the peace.

⁽¹⁰⁾ You are unlikely to hear Buenos días les dé Díos in an urban environment. Piety is old-fashioned now in the Spanish-speaking world (as in most of the rest of the world with the exception of Mohammedans), but formerly "Dios" was called on in any number of situations. Si Dios quiere or Dios quiera (God willing) is still in common usage.

⁽¹¹⁾ Colonia is used in Mexico to mean something like a suburb, subdivision or development. It is rarely used in other Spanish-speaking countries, where barrio is used instead.

⁽¹²⁾ Ejidatario is a member of an ejido, and is untranslatable.

⁽¹³⁾ Literally, "make the account".

⁽¹⁴⁾ Literally, "it gives me rage". Me da rabia is a pretty strong way of expressing anger. Rabia also means rabies, which is not that different in some ways from English: "a mad dog" = a dog with rabies.

⁽¹⁵⁾ The mesquite is a pretty useless bush-like tree that grows in the southwestern U.S. and in Mexico. If not removed promptly, a mesquite thorn can cause serious problems.

Maybe I've been a bit too harsh calling the mesquite useless. This is an example of "fine" furniture made by Casa Mesquite. Mesquite also makes a good hot fire for barbecuing.

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