My diary - November 14-16, 1972
- Susan Fisch Good
- Sep 5
- 2 min read
November 14, 1972 Tues.
Dear Flowers:
Went to school! Nothing expectactory! I wore my contacts. No school tomorow official holiday! Had my tennis lesson. Renfro; Scot was there. He told us all about Mrs. Haynes dying of cancer. I felt sick listening. Watched T.V. Soledad ended & new one Un Lucesita. So far same people as Esmeralda. Went to Drama meeting at 6:30 & 8:00. Michelle & I are competing for the same part. As Nellie. Will see who get it. She will probably but ya veremos.
BYE!!!
Note: I was trying to use the word spectacular, but it came out creatively.
Scott and his brother Hugh were in my brother’s class. I didn’t know Mrs. Haynes, but her son, Bill, was in my class.
Lucesita was a Venezuelan telenovela about a young country girl who goes to the city after her mother dies and finds work at the house of a wealthy family, only to discover that she is the illegitimate daughter of the patriarch. He soon dies but changed his will to leave everything to Lucesita. The family disposes of the will and kicks her out of the house. After a series of tragic events, she gets justice and lives happily ever after. I love how it was the same actors from the previous “Esmeralda” telenovela.
Ya veremos means we will see.
November 15, 1972 Wed.
Dear Flowers:
Inauguration of Beisball Internacional! NO SCHOOL! I took a bath, washed my hair. Read abit on April Lady. Watched T.V. Outlining Science most of the afternoon. 35 pages!! Watched T.V. Nothing new!!! Daves at Boy Scouts. Dad & Mom at a dinner a Sandra, some British Lady. Got to study for Spanish test. Wish me luck.
BYE!!!
Note: I spelled baseball half in English and Spanish: béisbol.
A.N.S. (American Nicaraguan School) was a significant proponent of teaching us how to outline, which proved helpful in college.
November 16, 1972 Thurs.
Dear Flowers:
Spanish test hard!!! Today was alright. I checked out books for prepotory in little library today. At recess watched boys play basketball. Took a shower. Went to skin doctor with Mom. He took some blackheads from my face. Watched T.V. Studied for Science.
BYE!!!
Note: My complexion was a mess in Managua. Grateful that my parents took me to a dermatologist. I am also grateful to Doña Mercedes, our seamstress, who taught me how to steam my face with manzanilla tea (chamomile), which helped prevent scarring.
I'm always expectatious of your latest entry!
We did lots of outlining too. I wonder if they still teach it.
The tropics was not kind to acne....my face was a moonscape at 14. Rare in Latinos, I guess due to their darker skin, I remember girls in my class making fun of it, assuming I didn't bathe regularly. Shoulda had our curandera neighbor mix up some elixir or another, since the heavy doses of tetracycline prescribed by my German dermatologist wasn't too effective. Both he and my Mom seemed to take sadistic pleasure in popping my blackheads & zits; my Mom, with her smokey fingernails, the Doctor, with an array of precision instruments of torture.
More useless Spanglishisms: There's apparently…
Susan, I wish I would have kept a journal like you. So many of my memories are incomplete, and now being the only one of five left, I have no one to fill in the blanks.
You are such a special person for so many reasons.
MJ
I love the use of your version of spectacular and your Spanglish spellings ! As much as you watched Telenovelas, did you watch any American made Soap Operas? I'm a year behind on Days, but can watch some on streaming! Imagine that! ( I can't use that expression without thinking back to The Long Christmas Dinner play 😉 )
No one, dear Susan, will question the fact that you do lots of things creatively; that is irrefutable!