Sunday Morning

Aysha went to be early last night, thanks to not having an afternoon nap, and we watched "The Constant Gardener" with Sarah, a high school English teachers who is getting ready to leave.

I enjoyed the movie. It reminded me of "Memento" in that the way it was told was the movie's hook. I didn't find "The Constant Gardener" as appealing though. "Memento" is about a man with no long term memory. The movies begins with the last scene and then presents the rest of the scenes in reverse order back to the beginning. Like the main character, you are forced to try to understand the characters and circumstances without knowing how you got there. Each scene provides more insight on the scenes you've already watched and forces you to readjust your idea of what has happened and what each character is after. "The Constant Gardener" begins in the middle of the action, when the main character's wife is killed. Then you go back to the beginning to learn the circumstances around the death and are made to feel the suspicions and confusion of the husband. The second half of the movie provides the scraps of information that let you slowly discard false assumptions and follow the main character's discoveries about who his wife was and why she met her end. "The Constant Gardener"'s story is adapted from a John LeCarre novel and is typical of a Hollywood movie; a passionate activist faces off against a huge corporation motivated by greed that is up to no good. The movie has a good cast who give strong performances. It's worth a watch, but is nothing magnificent.

Aysha is copying more and more of wthat she sees. She started making the sign for frog yesterday and even tries to make the words. Most of her words are not distinct yet. The Spanish word for frog is "rana", which comes out as "nana", which is her word for banana. Or "vaca" (Spanish for cow) sounds almost the same a "papa" most of the time. She is letting us know more and more what she wants - she points, nods and shakes her head for yes and no, and uses a few signs and words too. When we've figured out that she wants something to eat or drink, she stands watching us get it ready and all the while make an unusual combination of laughing and crying that comes out in little bursts that make her sound like a little maniac. There is no doubt that she has moved into the communicative phase.

Karla is in the blogging on-deck area. She has been watching Aysha while I wrote this with the deal that she and I will change roles. Aysha... where are you?