TO YOU SWEETHEART, ALOHA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y6F8M1GJRg
     Click the above link for a recording of an emotional "Adieu."
It is quite a feeling to be on "YouTube" memorializing a very emotional moment.  Our Isabel, the "Voice from the Kitchen" saying a very poetic "Good Bye" to our colleagues who had assembled for the First International Gathering of La Salette Laity in France last September 1 - 10.  The smile is missing because of the deep emotion that was filling her heart and soul.  You read some of my reflections concerning the type of people who attended this Gathering in yesterday's post.  Today, we received this recording from the colleague who sat next to me during the entire proceedings.  This is a still photo of her during a performance a week earlier.
The sound is not too clear, so here are the lyrics for your pleasure:

To you, sweetheart, Aloha,

Aloha, from the bottom of my heart,
Keep the smile on your lips,
Brush the tear from your eye,
One more Aloha, then it's time for goodbye,
To you, sweetheart, Aloha 
In dreams I'll be with you, dear, tonight,
and I'll pray for that day 
When we two will meet again,
Until then, sweetheart, Aloha


Great thanks to our colleague and friend, Pierre Zaessinger

BABEL, QUITE A TOWER [PART DALAWA]

A true, proven method for an adult to learn another language, even if presented to you with tongue in cheek.
Tricks on how to become fluent in a language that you just have to learn.

1. Be convinced that it will be a great challenge
2. Do not give yourself less than one year [Trust me, you can't do it faster than a baby. I know.]
3. Make a friend from the country where your new language is spoken
4. Stop hangin' with mono-lingual Anglo-Saxons
5. Turn your computer language preference on to the one you want to learn
6. Laugh a lot
7. Buy the newspaper or a weekly magazine in the "other" language.
8. Watch "native" TV  [Computer streaming news from the country of your choice is a good idea]
9. Dream
10. Clown around  [Be childish, actually, and you'll absorb more while being silly]
11. Drink [I've known how fluent people can get when they are "oiled up."]
12. Go to "native" restaurants and ask to sit with cool people who don't know English
13. Get mad [I have a personal story about how effective emotional intensity can be as a help to get your point across in a new language.]
14. Be a dictator  [Be hard on yourself and on your teacher.]
If you want to learn an easy language, befriend a Brit, listen to the BBC and read "The Tablet."