Hello everyone! It’s Amy.
I’ve been living with my Abuela for almost 3 years now and she has never had internet. Because, really, what would a 90-something Cuban grandmother need the internet for?
(Yes, it’s been hard on me, but – when I can no longer live without it – I just go to Mom’s house.)
Anyway, my Abuela is slowly learning about the "in-ter-neh." She’d heard it mentioned, but didn’t really try to understand it until the whole "Depende" thing started happening to her in Miami.
What "Depende" thing?
Every time someone says the word, "depende," everyone else in the room interrupts with a loud, "DEPENDE DE QUE?"
After a year of people doing this to her, she asked me why everyone always said it the same way. How do you explain talking eggs and bongos? Ugh. I promised her that, one day, I would show it to her and we left it at that.
But then, someone (not sure who) attempted to explain the concept of Google to her. It didn’t quite work. So she started saying, "Pregunta al Señor Google."
("Go ask Mr. Google")
Yes, MISTER GOOGLE. She thinks there is a little man sitting at a computer who is just waiting to answer people’s questions and help with with their searches. Obviously, "El Señor Google" is a very busy man. And a good friend of "Señor Internet."
Well, now that I’m working for my Dad and most of our work is web-based, it only made sense for me to have internet at home instead of commuting the whole 10 minutes to Mom’s house everyday. 😉
So I told my Abuela that "El Señor Internet" is coming to our house this week. Monday morning, the Cox Cable guy arrives with a modem and gets me all set-up. I’m sitting at the table in the kitchen letting him work when Abuela turns to me and says, "Oye, pero el Señor Internet es muy guapo!"
Great, my Abuela (who is more aware of my Single-status than I am) is thinking I should make a pass at the cable guy (who she thinks is Mr. Internet). Mrs. Amy Internet? I don’t think so.
After the cable guy left, I told my Abuela there was someone I wanted her to meet. I took her to Google and then typed in "huevos cubanos" as my search and we watched the following cartoon:
Her favorite is the one with the broken bongo.
Meanwhile, I’m on Yahoo Messenger IM-ing with Mom, but I have so many windows open that you can’t see the whole word "Yahoo." So Abuela asks me, "Porque dice ‘Ya?’ Eso significa que ya se acabo algo?" (For our English Only readers, "ya" in Spanish means something along the lines of "done, no more, finished." Abuela wanted to know if my computer was telling me that Internet time was over.)
She also wanted to know why I was touching all the little buttons so much. (She was talking about the keyboard.) When she understood that I was talking to Mom, she told me to ask if Mom had received the pictures from some cousin. Mom said she would forward the pictures to my email.
Once the pictures arrived 30 seconds later, my Abuela decided she wanted the laptop on top of her lap, because "that’s where it’s supposed to go, right?"
After she finished looking at the pictures and Mom’s blog and everything else, she called everyone she knows to tell them that "El Señor Google esta en mi casa."
That’s right, Mr. Google is in da house.
Amanda says
That’s awesome, Amy!It’s amazing how in awe the older folks are when it comes to the internet. It’s beyond their scope to understand how everything can be right there, just like that! I’m sure there will be something 40 years from now that the “young people” will be into, and we’ll react the same way.
class-factotum says
Ay que cute!
Pam Pensiero says
Hola Señor Google…soy Juan Martiñez. ¡Vamos a la biblioteca! ¡TE AMO!
Billy says
I LOVE this. I can’t get Abuela to go near a computer. I keep telling her I’ll set her up with an email address, but she won’t budge.Maybe I should begin by introducing her to Señor Google and see how that goes…
kristen Benson says
This is a great post. Amy, again, you prove you are your mother’s daughter with your wonderful writing skills. The other day I made myself an espresso and thought of you. You and your mom need to come over soon for coffee and the hot tub.
Marta says
Mimi,That was just hysterical! Good posting from you and kudos to Señor Google. =D
keb says
El Señor Googleis in da house – Brilliant. Amy, tell that new boss of yours (eric) the daytime job is getting in the way of yr true vocation: movie making / script writing. :>
Susan says
So stinking funny!My 85-year-old Mom iChats with us here in England. The main reason is so she can see her grandson! They have a blast together. JoMo always asks to talk to GaGa on the poot-poot (his word for computer). Since before he turned two he could say ‘iTunes’, ‘iPod’, ‘YouTube’ and ‘eBay’ (as in ‘MaMa got it for JoMo on eBay!’) 🙂