Week 3 Thoughts: So many words describing the scenery! Esperanza needs to work on her attitude or sheās going to have a hard time making friends in her new environment. Itās cute that she seems to be interested in Miguel, although Iām curious if itās out of genuine attraction or simply jealousy since Marta is showing interest in him.
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Iām back home from Japan, but the book wasnāt waiting for me like I thought. My order of the book may have gotten lost. I guess Iāll have to read this in e-format instead. Will join you hopefully soon when the jetlag is gone. 
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Finished week 2! I kept telling myself, āoh, Iāll read it tomorrow!ā and before I knew it it was Friday. 
Iām planning on also reading week 3 today, just a touch early; we have relatives coming to stay with us and I wonāt have access to my usual computer.
Week 2
We exchanged week 1ās horticultural vocab for fire-related vocab! I think āen llamasā is my most unexpected word for that category; I would never have guessed its actual meaning. And on one hand while I appreciate that tĆo Luis is a moustache-twirling villain, on the other itās almost comical how unlikeable he is. Perhaps itās just because everything weāre presented is filtered through Esperanza; Iād love to read a section from the perspective of her mother or Hortensia.
Perhaps itās for the best Esperanza doesnāt seem to have much idea of whatās likely going to be in store for her in her new life; itās going to be quite difficult, I assume, and at least she hopefully wonāt be too anxious about it ahead of time.
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We start week 3 this weekend. Weāre reading the chapters - Las guayabas and Los melones.
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And done with week 3. Was losing quite a bit of steam there by the end, but I made it. 
Week 3
In California already! Iām glad weāre moving along at a quick pace. Itās interesting to see Esperanza slowly realizing how privileged sheād been up until now. I donāt blame her for not wanting to let the little girl on the train hold her doll; Ramona had a point, but that doll is basically the only thing Esperanza owns now and is a memento of her father, so again I donāt blame her.
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Week 3
Catching up - just finished Las guayabas (one of my favorite fruits by the way!), second only to Las maracuyas (o parchas as they are called in the Carribean) passion fruitā¦
My thoughts about this chapter: Esperanza is having a rough time, having lived a very sheltered life thus far. We can start to see her eyes opening a little bit by the end of the chapter. Is anyone else wondering how they are going to take care of the chickens while they are traveling?
Where did the guayabas appear in this chapter?
When they took the cart from the ranch to where they could get on to the train more safely, the women were hidden under a false floor and then the cart was filled with bags and bags of guayaba. I cannot imagine being confined to such a tight space like that - I could feel panic just reading about it.
Of course I am way behind looking up words. Still in Las Papayas (week 1) - it is paying off though because I am beginning to see some repeats of words I learned, for example āalisarā (to smooth).
One thing I am finding helpful is for words that donāt quite make sense with a dictionary search, I am plugging them into Google image search.
For example, āonduladoā per the Collins dictionary means rough/uneven - but the image search makes it crystal clear particularly ācabello ondulado.ā
I need to ask my work colleague about ātejerā vocabulary.
From what I can tell, ātejerā refers to knitting/crochet AND weaving (oh and maybe spinning) and āganchos de tejerā are actually crochet hooks - which makes the description of the stitch as mountains make a whole lot more sense!
One last thing - the description of the pepinos on the train has made me want to walk over the park for some mango con limon y chile con sal! If I can figure out how to post a picture, I will share with the group!
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Week 3
Couldnāt find Anza in the dictionary, and then clicked the second time it came up that itās just a contraction of Esperanzaā¦ 
Itās all told in a simple, childrenās story way, but what a frightening experience for Esperanza. Especially the initial escape and hiding under the guava.
It feels like itās going to be tricky for her if people are going to treat her like a fallen princess in LA.
The descriptions of California were great, loved all the colours of the hills.
Have others read Grapes of Wrath? I donāt remember a lot about it except the people escaping the dust bowl of Oklahoma to seek work in California and having a really tough time. I donāt think life is going to be easy at all for young Anza!
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And time to move onto week 4. This weekās schedule is las cebollas and las almendras.
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I have! Been a while, but I remember enjoying it quite a bit.
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I read Grapes of Wrath in high school (quite awhile ago now! 
) - may need to revisit, I remember really enjoying the book then.
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Week 4
Las cebollas
I read this chapter this morning. Itās funny how different book club books have overlapping themes at times - the opening section arriving at the huts reminded me of Nos llamaron enemigo, when the Japanese families discover their new accommodation at the internment camps.
I was thinking this was a not too bad a house for the two of them to live, before realising (like Anza) that this wasnāt just for the two of them, but two families were going to have to squeeze into here.
Poor Anza has a lot of readjusting to do and a lot to learn! Changing and washing the nappies sounds like an unpleasant job. I think the moment that got me was when she plunged her arms up to her elbows in the water and the water turned coffee coloured!
The two areas I struggled a bit with vocabulary this week were the names of different types of household items/fixtures (e.g. estufa, mostrador, catre, tinas) and, bizarrely, a variety of words describing how people do their hair!
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Week 4 Thoughts: Iām glad that Esperanza is growing and learning despite the hardships that sheās facing. I loved the part when Miguel and his dad showed her and her mom the roses they brought all the way from Mexico! There was quite a bit of vocab I didnāt know describing the camp and the work that people were doing. However, I can safely say that I know the word for strike now!
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Week 4: Esperanzaās adjusting better than I would have imagined, honestly. Iām glad sheās quick to recognize her own mistakes and isnāt afraid to take advice or help. Marta and her friends are a ticking time bomb. 
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Onto week 5!
Chapters: Las ciruelas and Las papas.
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Week 5 Thoughts: I hope that Esperanzaās mom gets better! How scary. Iām glad that sheās doing what she can instead of just wallowing in sadness, but I feel bad for her. She has so much to shoulder and sheās only a teenager.
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Week 3 Los melones
So this is where I really start getting behind I just finished looking up the vocabulary for the second chapter (week 1). I am reading comfortably enough that I am able to read ahead even without doing the in depth vocabulary look-up, but now I am even a week behind on the reading. Oh well. Looking forward to going back and reading everyoneās thoughts on this section.
Thoughts about this chapter: I found it really interesting to learn how they separated people from different cultural backgrounds into different camps to prevent them from organizing together. I predict that Esperanza and Marta are going to become friends in the end.
Where did the melons appear in the chapter? As they get close to the camp, they pass trucks full of just picked melons. When they arrive, it is a melon farm - and there are lots of melons left behind still after picking that they are allowed to take. This does not seem to be their final destination.
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Week 5
So, life continues to be really tough. That dust storm sounded horrific enough but the motherās illness resulting from spores in the soil is clearly very serious. Iād not heard of valley fever (coccidioidomycosis) but reading the Wikipedia article it sounds like its quite common in that part of the world, and perhaps has even had a resurgence recently. Good on Anza stepping up, sheās already come a long way from the girl who didnāt know how to sweep the floor!
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Week 6! Are we really on week 6? Doesnāt feel like we are penultimate week for this book!
This week: Los aguacates, Los espƔrragos
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Week 6 Thoughts: This felt like scary echoes to todayās situation in a lot of ways as the strikes and their consequences really intensified. I like that the story is showing Esperanzaās mixed emotions and personal motives as things get more complicated. I wonder how things will wrap up next week?
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Week 6
Los aguacates
I liked the word āespigadasā used to describe the asparagus - tall and slim.
For a group of readers containing several with a Japanese interest, it was good to have a character from Tokyo this week - Sr Yakota and his mexican friendly store! I really liked the sound of this store with its mixture of Japanese and Mexican ingredients for sale, decorated with Japanese lanterns and piƱatas.
Iāve seen lots of sweets and chocolates brought as gifts for the nurses and other staff on hospital wards. But Iāve never seen them presented in a piƱata - thatās a nice touch!
Los espƔrragos
Like NihongoLearner19, it was hard to read this and not draw comparisons with current events in California.
The situation for these workers in this period of American history is so sad and scary. My memory of Grapes of Wrath is things being a lot worse that the situation Esperanza has found herself in so far. We can now see that future coming - thousands of desperate workers descending onto one area. People are going to be malnourished and starving soon. Itās going to be interesting to see how Esperanzaās story concludes. And also to read the authorās notes after the story.
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