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2002-12-27 : 6:23 p.m.
Pandora has my daddy
Listening to: the Verve Pipe (Underneath)
Well� Well� these past few days have been interesting in the least� From a conversation Danny and I had prior to my trip back home� to Christmas Eve at home� and christmas day� with friends present and gone. Interesting. Well I guess the most compelling would be the Christmas Eve dinner� See, in my house� like most Latin homes� the celebration begins on �Noche Buena� (the Good Night)� Christmas Eve� The whole day is spent in preparation for the evening�s dinner or feast- as it were� (But being that my immediate family in this country is only made up of: me, my parent�s, and brother� it�s only dinner for us�) Anyhow� so you�re suppose to spend the day prepping for the huge feast� socializing� nibbling on such and such� and Oh yes� plenty of wine� And that�s how the evening usually will progress for us. Albeit, on a much smaller scale� Dinner is then served at around 10:30 p.m. or so� and after all the munching� the gift exchange begins at the stroke of midnight� Such a moment, always makes me giggle� because I manage to reminisce about simple things� like the conclusion I came to as a child, in order to explain Santa�s separate and earlier arrival into the homes of Spanish kids�(See, our Santa arrived the night before, on the 23rd �)� Mind you� my mother egged this lovely theory on� Well first� Santa was obviously really spanish� and thus, loved the latino children more�(*laughing*) Second� the gringo�s (i.e. American folk) didn�t know that we received our gifts first� because Santa didn�t want to make all the other kids jealous! So there� tsk� tsk� Santa�s flippin� Latino kids� ha! But no� the more interesting bit came about while having dinner with my dad� I honestly cannot, for the life of me� remember how the conversation even got to that point� (In all likelihood, because I was in a bit of shock�) The tid bits that I had understood of my childhood� IS COMPLETELY WRONG� For one� my stay in Ecuador� (the country were I was �technically� born in), I only had resided in for about a month� (much shorter than what I originally understood.) Two� after which I moved to Chile with my mother for a while� I subsequently� (get this) arrived in the states at nine months� Uhhh� that�s a few years difference there� And I arrived on September 11th� �Your kidding me?� I ask. �Nope� September 11th, 1977� and that same day your Visa expired� it was a huge ordeal� if we hadn�t gotten you out then� we didn�t know how we were going to do it.� Get little ol� me out- that is� Both of my parents were already in the states� and they could not� return to the country� having to leave me behind with one of my grandmothers. The government had claimed that certain taxes had to be paid� that hadn�t been, before I would be released� so they refused to let me out. And although, the money was being pooled, (to get the taxes paid)� no one could leave or come back into the country� and a nine month old couldn�t exactly travel on their own� So to make a long story short, some �gringa� woman over heard my dad flipping out about it, at (his then) work. She was a bit moved apparently� My dad said her exact words were: �Give me a few minutes�� And left for a bit� to then return and say: �Okay� tell (my grandmom�s name) I�ll be there tonight�� So yeah� this lady paid for her own trip to go and return� all in one day to retrieve and save little old me� and although, they barely knew her� they had to trust her with little ol� me� whacked, ey? So in one day� she traveled down� scooped me from my grandmother�s arms� and after few lay overs later� had me back with my parents in the states� all in the span of 24 hours. We then got into some twist of political conversation� when my dad began exclaiming proudly, how Chile is the only Spanish nation with minimal debt and corruption� and comparably better in some cases in the states� Which is true� the research� (however debatable) shows such inclinations� However� being the proper devil�s advocate that I am� I asked him, if he hadn�t realized, that it was very much due to the huge American presence (albeit, cohort/CIA style)� and although the country is doing excruciatingly well� �we are speaking of country that still practices censorship� and has a government that doesn�t allow it�s people the privilege of viewing any and all American, or otherwise international �risqu� films.� �As a matter of fact�� he moves forward. �A law was just passed, two weeks ago abolishing all media censorship�� Yeah� he thought he had me� �Ummm� Papi� with all due respect� it�s December of 2002� a bit over due� ey?� He starts to do this little teeth grind action� when he starts to feel pestered� But I continue� (Hell, the man himself- taught me to gloat, at a good conversational chess move�) �And besides� forget a good blockbuster� why aren�t they pulling aside those responsible for the thousands of human rights violations that occurred during Pinochet� why the lag? Why? Because that would mean blowing the whistle on key American politicians of the time� Say like� Kissinger? Now that�s not very �free�� ey?� Yeah� his teeth did some extra grinding� And then, I don�t know where the impulse came� but the questions just spewed off my lips� �Papi, where were you during the coup?� �In Texas�� (I knew this already� but I had to start with the a proper lead-in question�) �Was the U.S. embargo already in place then?� �Yup� ehh� I was researching and buying plane parts and equipment.� (Remember kids� we�re talking about military aircraft�s here� �Equipment��yeah�) �Oh� and the Coup was�.?� I�m playing doop here� With a dead stare, in my direction. �1973.� (And I already know from previous investigations, that my dad was in fact was still in the air force, up until he left for the states� ) �So�� I imply, �You arrived in the U.S. in�?� In a soft voice, �1976.� That�s three years of military activity� Mmmm� He got really quiet at that point� and that all too familiar sad and sullen look washed over his face� as he dropped his head a bit� and began fidgeting with his fingers� then hands� It happens� every single time� I get too close� And every single time� So my dad can smile� I just wish I knew� what he�s seen� heard� All trapped in this Political and Humane Pandora�s box�
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