July 29, 1972 Sat.
Dear Flowers:
I finished “A Gift for the Boys” yesterday. I read on “The Super Jet Girls.” Sleeped in today. In the afternoon we went swimming. Didn’t have to much fun. Vans were there. I watched David bowl a few bits. I painted my nails. Karron & Sarah came over at night time. I watched the “Miss Universe Contest” Miss Australia won. Girls all tall shortest of 12 semi-finalest was 5’5”½.
BYE!
Note: Karron & Sarah were the girls from Illinois visiting our neighbor across the street, Tina Lugos.
It was a big thing to watch the Miss Universe contest. This one was the first one to take place outside of the continental United States. It was held in Dorado, Puerto Rico, with Bob Barker being the master of ceremonies. This was the first time someone won from Australia. Kerry Anne Wells was not crowned by her predecessor Miss Georgina Rizk from Lebanon due to travel restrictions and fears of terrorism. She was crowned by Miss Universe 1970, Marisol Maralet, from Puerto Rico. I found it interesting and encouraging that the contestants were all tall (Kerry was 5’-10”) as at the time I didn’t like being tall.
July 30, 1972 Sun.
Dear Flowers:
We went to the supermarket before church. We picked up Mr. Alfredo Albornoz for lunch. We went to the C.C. Had the pwek buffet. We played ping-pong a short while. Bengi was there for awhile. Alejandro Hugart asked David if his sister (me) was there, & when he saw me all he said was hi! Mom & Dad left us there to 5:10. Talked with Becky’s friends Cynthia & Lauren. Watched the cars go bye. I went over to Tina Lugos went for a walk. Watched T.V.
BYE!!!
Note: I don’t remember who Alfredo Albornoz was but he must have been a friend of my parents. I also don’t remember Alejandro.
I love how I spelled pwek instead of puke. I guess I didn’t like the buffet.
July 31, 1972 Mon.
Dear Flowers:
We have to sick people in our house today. Becky & David. I’ve been lazy today. I read most of the afternoon on “The Super-Jet Girls.” Its a marvelous book. I talked to Simmon & afterwards I went to Simmons. Mom went to sell America-Nica tickets at super with a Mrs. Ring but Dear Old Mrs Ring never showed up & Mom can’t speak Spanish to well so she didn’t have much luck selling. I watched T.V. Dads leaving tomorrow to New York. Pray he comes back safe. Got letter from Missy.
BYE
Note: I’m surprised my parents let me read The Super-Jet Girls. They probably had already read it and knew that although the cover implies it is a sex-romp story it really was a tamer well-written women-oriented romance story.
I felt so bad for my sweet Mama trying to sell tickets for the event and not speaking the language very well. Mama understood quite a bit of Spanish but never felt confident speaking it. It’s much harder to learn a language when you are older than when you are kid. My siblings and I sometimes spoke in Spanish when we didn’t want her to know what we were discussing. Amazingly she understood and we often got in trouble!
Susan, you were truly an avid reader. Funny, your spelling for pwek. I was going to ask what kind of buffet that was… ha!! Your life experiences are so rich and eventful even before your sophomore year in high school! Love it!
My parents spoke Spanish in Costa Rica, Chile & Venezuela. Dad’s grammar was better but he had a gringo accent. I think people understood mom better because she had a good accent. You’re right about it being easier when you’re younger.
The language thing is interesting....it's always a matter of "need to know". Mom learned 2 or 3 basic words to communicate with the maids, otherwise she just got one of us kids to translate. In the folks' social circles, English, tho sometimes broken, was spoken for her benefit. Like y'all, we lived in several L.A. countries, each with it's own dialect and slang, Puerto Rico being the oddest, with it's "Spanglish". She was happiest there, as most people there speak a little English.
I’m very taken with your phonetic spelling; and very relieved you clarified that the racy book cover does not accurately reflect the contents. Neither of us would ever read a racy book, would we? Well, there was Forever Amber…..
Kh
Love how you watched the cars go “bye”! Were you waving back?