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Saturday, January 28, 2006

Telenovela Alborada, #10

First: I have to start assuming you know who these people are.

Second: If you are new to Alborada, please visit my recaps in ORDER - see the bottom of this post for information.

Third: THANKS to the people who are writing to me, and helping with various questions, and cheering me on. This project is time-consuming! But worth it!

Here is a comment from last night:

I'd just like to say Congratulations to the wimpy Asunción for finally standing up to someone! And not just someone but the ever so annoying Ada who had to go and have a hissy fit and spill the frijoles to Hipolita!!! And also Congratulations to Diego for being the crying, throwing tantrum baby that Rafael should be!!!

And an answer to my question about "de medio pelo" -

My mother-in-law said a "de medio pelo" is someone who is neither good or bad... someone unimportant... I did a search online and found the translation "mediocre"...

For those who have been asking the meaning of "Alborada" - it means "dawn" - it's a poetic word.

And finally, for those who have been asking how long the series will continue, from njmotmot:

Here's a news flash from the official Alborada website. The novela is being shown in Mexico and is about a month & half ahead of us. The final episode was scheduled to air there on Feb. 10 but the finale has been extended another two weeks that they are going to achieve not by changing the plot but by extending the scenes of what they've already filmed. In other words, they are going to pad the episodes with material that otherwise would have ended up on the cutting room floor. More recapitulations and reactions I assume. I confess though that I go to the web site to see what is going to happen in the novela. I alway peek at the end of books too. I don't like to be surprised.


OK, now on to the recap.

Wednesday: Isabel steams around telling people Diego's running her off the estate. She's not worried, just mad: "I have enough money to buy a palace!"

Doña Juana, mortified, insists to Diego that he let Isabel stay. "No, she offended me! And over some stupid girl I took to bed!" He whines and screams, again and again, "I DON'T WANT TO!!!" and throws and breaks lots of things.

Juana goes to Isabel's room and says she can stay; Isabel says, "only if he apologizes in person." Juana says, "You know he won't do that, and we don't need all the mouths yakking about us right now." Isabel cheerfully says, "Forget it, I'm out of here." She tells Marina: "He'll end up on his knees, begging my pardon."

Handsome dimwitted Andrés, in civvies, shows up at Cristobal's (Palacio de Lara) where Andrés's family (the brutal Francisco, the wimpy Asunción, and Catalina, lately sprung from the convent) has been living since Diego threw them off "Las Tunas." They're eating dinner. Andrés tells them he's been fired by Gasco. His mom snivels, "this will upset Doña Juana," and his father barks: "You'll go back there tomorrow and demand your job back." Andrés says no, he'll find other work. His father insists. Andrés leaves. There is muttering about his love for Marina and about Catalina's getting married to Cristobal. "I don't want to marry a man who doesn't love me." Asunción: "Nonsense - I did!"

On the road, night-time, torches burning ... Felipe, leaning against his son Martin's coffin and twirling a crucifix, swears vengeance against the beach people - including Victoria the Pirate Queen.

Leaning against a tree in the dark, Luis tells Hipólita: "There's something I have to tell you that you're not going to like." What a dolt he is! She gets all upset and asks: "Is it something about Rafael?" "Well, partially." "TELL ME NOW!" [TELL HER NOW, IDIOT -- ed.] "No, it's not the right time." Coward. As I used to remind my toddlers constantly, "It's GOOD to tell!"

That same night: Gasco finds Ramon and the mute in their favorite booze-hole. He asks who hired them to steal Hipólita, they tell him it was Perla and who cares anyway, he tells them "this wasn't just one of Luis's casual lovers, she's the mother of his son." Uh-oh.

We cut to Esperanza barfing in the woods. "It must be the bamboleo (wobbling) of the carriage." [A great new word for my vocabulary -- ed.] Soon, all are embroiled in a traffic jam caused by the meeting of (1) Esperanza with her brother Santiago and entourage, heading back to Guevara's estate, and (2) the wagon - carriage - horse procession carrying Martin's coffin home.

Hipólita's first view of Esperanza, and vice versa. In unison: "Who Is That Woman?"

Martin in his coffin is taken home to his mother. She screams NOOOOO! and also the first words I ever learned in Spanish, because I learned Spanish watching telenovelas: "NO PUEDE SER!" (It Can't Be!!)

Luis takes Hipólita to Cristóbal's and leaves. Hipolita rushes inside; there is a swift hug-fest with mom, sister, and maid. Then she wants Rafael. She's horrified to hear Doña Juana took him to the castle. The overwrought maid (Ada) who's been sobbing and screaming ever since she saw Hipólita get kidnapped, sobs and screams tactlessly: "That awful Don Luis tricked you! He is the man who boinked you in Santa Rita! He is the father of your child! This has all been a giant trick to steal Rafael!"

Hipólita: TILT TILT TILT. TILT!! After collapsing briefly she steams over to the Guevara estate, steams past all the guards, snatches Rafael (still completely calm) from Juana, and starts screaming about all the lies.

Luis comes up behind her in an uh-oh moment as she is cursing them all. He tries to calm her but she hisses, "Rather than leave Rafael with you, I'll kill you. It was all lies! EVERYBODY knew but me!!!!"

Esperanza sees all this and later confronts Luis. "Is she one of your lovers? I have a right to know!" "Yes, you have a right to know. She isn't one of my lovers - she's the woman I love, and that boy is my son."

Then a lot of screen time is lavished on a guy in the plaza, wearing only a barrel, being pulled along by soldiers and pelted with produce by an angry crowd. Is this significant?

Walking through the plaza, Luis tells Cristóbal: "To Hipólita, I'm a beast." They see Diego, Antonio and Rodrigo sitting at a café. Diego hails them, insults them a bit, asks about the mine. After they leave, Antonio comments: "He wasn't as you described him; I thought he'd be more carefree." Rodrigo mentions his interest in Catalina; Diego boasts: "I am her father's feudal lord [sort of], I can get her for you."

Thursday: Many scenes of people reacting to Martin's death, and many of people telling Hipólita (a) she should at least listen to Don Luis or (b) yes, he is a wretch. Also many scenes of Hipólita crying and cursing Luis while saying she loves him.

Diego tells Doña Juana she can forget installing Rafael, Luis's son, as the next Count: it will never happen. Diego's then pleased to hear that Esperanza, Luis's wife, who has had sex with nobody but Diego in many years, is pregnant. He wants a varon (male heir). Everybody else, assuming Esperanza is inventing this pregnancy, rolls their eyes.

Esperanza's in quite a pickle. Luis, who hasn't had sex with her, will know this isn't his child. Diego slithers into her boudoir and suggests she tell everybody it's a miracle conception (like that of the Virgin Mary). Esperanza later mutters she can't say she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit...

Esperanza's brother Santiago has the worst hair in the series, there must be a whole tube of mousse in those greasy strands. He finds out - from Diego - that his sister is pregnant. Diego invites him out on the town but Santiago points out he is still in mourning - for his father Agustín, murdered as you may recall by Diego's own evil henchman Gasco. (Agustín was also the hysterical Esperanza's father, and ALSO Hipólita's father.)

Diego says "el muerto al pozo y el hombre al gozo" ("the dead to the hole and man to his pleasure") and promptly walks backwards and almost falls over a chair. Was that an oopsy and they just didn't want to waste film and run the scene again?

Aunt Isabel and the no-longer-innocent Marina, dressed in black on their way to Martin's wake, stop by to see Hipólita, but she won't receive them. Her mother scolds her for her arrogant attitude and for making enemies of everyone.

Victoria the Pirate Queen comes to see her mother, La Poderosa. She tells the dwarf: "That last woman y'all sent me caused problems and I thought it was better that we get out of there." She opens the curtains on her mother's bed. "Mother!" "Daughter!" "Mother!" "Daughter!" [My daughter and I rarely have interchanges of that nature. -- Ed.]

"Mom - I want to come back. It's been years now!" "It doesn't matter - that Santo Varon still lives and hasn't forgotten the death of his brother." "But we're hundreds of miles from the capitol!" "That doesn't matter, the Inquisition has a long arm, and all it takes is one person to recognize you." "I'll stay hidden." "You're not the type to stay hidden." "But I WANT to come back." "I'll send a note to Don Ignacio and we'll see what he says." I quote this to you because I don't think we're supposed to know what it means yet - except, remember, we saw that scene of La Poderosa as a young girl witnessing the burning of a Jewish family - and her face is burned, which is why I guess she stays in bed behind the curtain all day.

There's a nice private dinner at Diego's with a string quartet and a suckling pig. Antonio rolls his eyes at Diego's gauche boasting and later tells Rodrigo: "I don't like him - he's so sarcastic and spoiled." Diego promises to introduce Rodrigo to Catalina tomorrow.

Luis goes, at night, and bangs on Hipólita's door. He tells her he still intends to provide for Rafael, and to see him - she says "Rafael is mine exclusively." "No, this concerns all three of us. He's my son too. Don't even think about fleeing, I'll be watching." I swear, this guy has the worst way of dealing with things.

Adalgisa says to Hipólita: "Either we stay and you let him take care of us all, or we leave for Panama." Hipólita: "Yes! we could work!" Adalgisa: "Well, yes, I'm a servant, but what can you do? Wash dishes?" Hipólita: "Why not?" "With that face and those breasts? You'll be boinked in the corner by the first man who sees you."

Meanwhile, the brutal Francisco will not stop hammering away on his plan to siphon funds by marrying his daughter Catalina to Cristóbal. Even during Martin's wake and funeral he nags everybody he sees. He yells at Hipólita constantly, saying everything is her fault; that she should never have been born; that, because of her, Catalina's hopes of a good marriage are wrecked; that even her mother Asunción is sick of her.

Antonio, still trying to decide whether he wants to invest with Diego, meets with old moneyman Malaquias and says he's most interested in the vanilla plantation and wants to go see it. He then goes to see Juana, whom he realizes "holds the reins."

Juana has figured out that Antonio is Hipólita's husband; she and Modesta want him to take Hipólita back to Panama, leaving Rafael behind with them! She disingenuously queries: "Are you married?" "No." "Were you never married?" "Yes, I was." "So you're a widower?" "No." "Are you divorced?" "Yes."

Friday kicks off with Martin's funeral. The parade includes quite a few people in Indian garb with drums, rattles, conch shell trumpets, and feathers on their heads. Felipe and Carmela are escorted home. "This house will be a tomb without our son."

Cristóbal and Luis go to visit La Poderosa and ask for help finding the men "who killed an innocent man with the point of a sword." (Evidently this is very cowardly.) She just says, "these things happen." Leaving without answers, they muse that she seems to be an educated woman. "Why does she conceal her face? Is it deformed? Maybe she's hiding from something or someone." Cristóbal says he'll investigate.

Victoria looked much better as a Pirate Queen - now she has a hairdo like a fluffy ginger poodle and she bobbles in one of those low-cut dresses. Her mom, La Poderosa, narrates: "It surprised me how much he (Don Luis) looked like Carlos, the previous Count of Guevara. Carlos's wife Aurora and I were friends until JUANA interfered. Juana had an unhealthy affection for her own brother (Carlos, the previous Count) and imagined that he and I were lovers... after the fire in the chalana (?) in which Carlos and Aurora died, Juana denounced your grandparents (La Poderosa's parents) to the Inquisition for being Jews. I was between life and death with the burns." "Is she (Juana) alive?" "Yes, and that's why I don't want you in Cuencas. Juana threatened me - she said if I didn't 'disappear' she'd denounce me, too. She might know your name."

Nevertheless, Victoria is determined to stay; she says if she can't live at mom's house she'll find another place.

The plaza: Antonio and Luis cross paths, and Antonio says, "Diego has invited me to invest in his vanilla plantation but since you're a partner I want to talk to you about it first." They make an appointment for tomorrow noon.

As promised, Diego brings Rodrigo to meet Catalina; though Diego hasn't seen Catalina since she was ten years old, he acts like it's natural he's come to have tea and has brought a buddy. When Asuncion nervously mentions their misfortunes - caused of course BY Diego - Diego patronizingly says: "I'll find a way to help."

In the plaza after taking leave, Rodrigo says: "With that class of woman, you have to marry." Diego: "Nah, her dad's in ruin and for three centavos he'd sell you his own wife." Rodrigo: "Nevertheless, I wouldn't be comfortable..." Diego: "Well, if you don't, I will - I like the shape of her face." (Giggles.)

Cristóbal visits his sister, who runs the convent. She tells him Catalina likes him "that way" - and suggests: "You've left the order, you could have a family of your own." He says: "It's a little soon, I'm not sure of the direction of my life." Wimp. Then he goes to see Fray Alvaro (boss of the Inquisition) to make an appointment to discuss, once again, Luis's divorce. "Is Luis's wife Esperanza pregnant?" "No." [Ha.] Alvaro: "I'll speak with her."

The brutal and now also incredibly persistent Francisco gets excited when his wife Asunción tells him about Rodrigo's visit. "If he's rich, we like him. We need to find out who has more money, Rodrigo or Cristóbal."

Hipólita realizes this is the very Rodrigo who is best buddy of her husband Antonio. She starts making plans to run away.

Doña Juana yells at Diego for making vanilla plantation plans: "You can't do this without Luis's consent." "I didn't sign anything." "You gave your word." "Words blow on the wind." "The Count of Guevara always keeps his word!" "I'm not the Count of Guevara, I'm the son of his sister and a nobody." "Your father wasn't a nobody."

Francisco is back at the Guevara's AGAIN. He's back there nagging them several times a day. This time, Juana slams the door in his face, so he talks to Diego, who laughs at Francisco's assumption that Rodrigo was brought to tea to begin possible marriage discussions. Diego says the actual idea was more a cash for goods exchange - he thought Francisco, as a "gentleman in ruin," would be glad to get some money in return for his daughter Catalina's favors. Francisco leaves in a fury and gets drunk.

Esperanza natters shrilly to her brother Santiago, he of the absolutely worst hair. She doesn't want to see her friends, they all talk about babies, they surely are gossiping about her husband's bastard son... she beats on her brother and shrieks that he has to make Luis do something. She still hasn't told Luis she's pregnant.

Aurelio (house manager at the Palacio de Lara) (1) brings to Cristóbal Juana's request that he visit her in the morning; (2) mentions the strange tea-time visit, to Catalina, of Diego and Rodrigo (which makes Cristóbal jealous); (3) moans that Aunt Isabel's papers are absolute chaos (remember, she hired him to make sense of her holdings). "There are even boxes of papers coming from Peru which nobody has ever looked at." Cristobal: "Ahh, her inheritance from her Aunt Perpetua!" [I THINK.]

Cristóbal, bucked up by his sister's info that Catalina likes him, cheerfully eats a piece of fruit in Catalina's presence, says a few halting words of no import, and walks on by. Way to go.

I post the new update every Wednesday and Saturday morning. All Alborada recaps are now listed in the sidebar to the right - below the small picture of Modesta and Doña Juana, just above the elephant. Click on the numbers (ONE TWO THREE ... ETC) to find them!

Amor Real
Entre el Amor y el Odio


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48 Comments:

At 8:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Melinama. Are you bilingual? Or...how did you become SO fluent in Spanish so as not to miss a single word of this telenovela? Love your recaps! I am so grateful for these delightfully annotated summaries as I sometimes miss a word here and there or can't quite get a particular relationship.
What I am really wondering is how exactly did Juana manage to switch these kids? Are we supposed to know this and I just missed it?

 
At 9:12 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Hi Carole,

I don't think we've ever been told HOW Juana switched the kids. The last thing I knew, that old peasant dude had young Luis thrust into his arms by Carlos and Aurora as they were consumed by the flames.

As for how long Alborada is going to go on, I'm not particularly good at arithmetic any more... it interested me to see they decided to "pad" it to squeeze out some more air time.

 
At 2:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree, Santiago has bad hair but I think Rodrigo's hair, with the wig line across the middle of his forhead, is even worse. Plus, Rodrigo's head looks square and he walks stiffly making him resemble Frankenstein. *bleck*

 
At 10:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Melina. I don't want to take up too much space on this page, so just a couple....
1- BALANCE OF GOOD AND EVIL: In many of the telenovelas, they don't appropriately apportion 'good stuff' with 'bad stuff' within one program- es decir, we should not be too stressed out for the whole hour. When horrendous stuff happens, they should make sure that at least one really nice thing happens during that same hour. And maybe even have a whole hour where nothing completely gross or sad happens. Ditto for the balance of evil and good characters (Usually, they do a good job with that, though). They need to watch out for our souls and our blood pressure. So far, this has not been as much the case with Alborada. (but, I can tell by the annotations in your recaps, that you probably don't take it as seriously as I do :)
2- SPECIFIC ALERTS TO VIEWERS- We have every right to know start and stop dates enough in advance to prepare ourselves mentally and otherwise. I personally don't like these silly games like 'COMING SOON' (and then we wait 3 months) and ULTIMOS CAPITULOS (and then we panic). I mean if there were a policy, like once you see the words ULTIMOS CAPITULOS, you know there are 4 weeks left, that would help.
3- DVD - Oh how I wish they could make DVDs available for the entire show after it is completed, though I do understand that if they did that, it would interfere greatly with viewership as people would start ordering hugely popular ones that they had missed in the past and then stop watching Univision.

 
At 10:58 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry- I meant Melinama!

 
At 4:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Carole... I have to agree with you whole heartedly about the start and stop dates for the show... it would be really nice to know when they are scheduled to end... Although I always thought that if I understood Spanish better I'd probably be able to find out online... but maybe not. For the DVD's, many are available.. Amor Real and Rubi are a couple of the most recent to go to video. I've been thinking of buying Amor Real because I didn't watch the show... You can find these and other video's on Ebay!

Chou!

 
At 8:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ruth. The DVDs that are available are only EXCERPTS from the show. Someone gave me the one for AMOR REAL. Of course, there are approximately 100 episodes, so that would take far too many disks. Unless there is something new in recent months?? Just found a review from Amazon on the AMOR REAL DVD--See below:
...DVD condenses 95 episodes into a 4 1/2 hour sprint. Between the careful editing and the charismatic cast, the story is easy to follow and giddy in its swiftness. Fans of the full series may find that this abridged version undercuts the pathos of the original, but for the
uninitiated, it's a hugely enjoyable high-energy romp.

 
At 8:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ruth. The DVDs that are available are only EXCERPTS from the show. Someone gave me the one for AMOR REAL. Of course, there are approximately 100 episodes, so that would take far too many disks. Just found a review from Amazon on the AMOR REAL DVD--See below:
...DVD condenses 95 episodes into a 4 1/2 hour sprint. Between the careful editing and the charismatic cast, the story is easy to follow and giddy in its swiftness. Fans of the full series may find that this abridged version undercuts the pathos of the original, but for the
uninitiated, it's a hugely enjoyable high-energy romp.

 
At 8:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah, man! That is so disappointing! And I thought I'd be able to make up the shows that I've missed in Alborada by buying the DVD when it comes out. *ARGH*

 
At 8:31 PM, Blogger Jean said...

Whew! Great job again Melinama!
I thought exactly the same thing when I saw Santiago - what's with the weird hair!!
Chalana(?) - I can't remember where I found this out but I think it is some kind of a boat that was on the lake near the the house where Luis et al hid out after the convent fracas.
This is what I understand happened: The Count & his wife & Luis, their infant son were on this boat for some kind of celebration. Juana (and presumably her infant son, Diego) were not on the boat as her husband had just died. Isabel & her husband were not on the boat - they were in Europe. The boat catches fire. A servant (now an old geezer who lives at the abandoned estate) saved baby Luis but one of his (Luis') legs got burned. With everybody who could tell whose baby was whose dead, Juana did the switch. So Luis has a scar on his leg from the burn he got as a baby and the geezer on the estate saved a baby that got burned. Esperanza's father saw the burn or the scar on Luis' leg and figured out what happened, which is why he could blackmail Juana. Clear?
Concerning the extension of Alborada, I should have mentioned that the website said it was being done because of popular demand. The website also said that 160 1/2 hour capitulos were originally planned for Alborada. That's 80 hours, divide by 5 equals 16 weeks or 4 months. Alborada started here in the middle of December so I figure it should end around the end of April.
The DVD's they sell of novelas are not of the whole production. They are edited.

 
At 8:44 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Thanks again, njmotmot! I got most of that - but when did we hear about the scar? I wondered how the revelation was ever going to come about. I guess it will be the scar.

 
At 8:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

njmotmot, do you still have the first 3 weeks or so on your tivo? I missed them and would pay to have dvd's of them sent to me. I don't know what else to do to be able to see them, *argh*

 
At 11:24 PM, Blogger Jean said...

Sorry Ruth. The earliest episodes I still have on my TiVo are Dec. 21, 28, and from 1/4 onwards. I don't have a TiVo with a DVD burner. I could make a videotape of any of those that I still have, if you want.

Concerning the scar, For the Jan. 3 episode, you said:
"Second. Doña Juana tells her actual son (purported nephew) Count Diego that only Agustín, that libertine of a nobleman, could credibly blow the whistle on her cradle switcheroo."
I believe during that conversation, Doña Juana told Diego that Agustín figured out the secret by seeing the scar on Luis. I also recall the old geezer at the estate saying something about the baby he rescued being burned. It wasn't the first time he sees Luis but I think he was on another time too. We'll see eventually how the secret is revealed.

 
At 11:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you so much or your recaps. My spanish is limited, so they help me to understand a little bit better what is going on in this novela. Keep up the good work.
Christy

 
At 11:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi njmotmot! It would be great if you could make a tape of 12/21, 12/28 and 1/4 to 1/10. That's about 7 shows. Did it start on the 21st? I think I started watching it on the 11th. My email address is: staar_liite@ yahoo.com. First let me know how much you'd like for doing that. Then, if I can afford it and you're willing to do it, I'd send you the money... :)

 
At 12:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ruth. I remember seeing online last year a site for people looking for tapes of old and new episodes of tv programs they missed and there were definitely telenovela tapes on that site. Very sorry that I cannot remember name of site but maybe some clever GOOGLing will pull it up so you can get a hold of missed episodes.
PS- Now that I read your back and forth with njmotmot, I do remember the business about the scar on the Luis' leg so let's hope that somehow CRISTOBA, ISABEL or someone really smart (& nice) will see Luis' leg and start asking questions! Maybe the servant who prepares his bath will see since we are going to have to wait a LONG TIME till Hippolita sees that leg!

 
At 1:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank GOD!!! I found this blog!! I watched Amor Real in the past and I am hooked on Alborada!!! Does anyone no the website address for the official Alborada site that was mentioned above?? I bought the Amor Real DVD thinking it would be all the episodes, but I was wrong!! Good thing my mom taped all the episodes! She does the same with Alborada! Thanks!! By the way name is Gemma and my email addy is gberish@comcast.net

 
At 7:24 AM, Blogger Jean said...

The Mexican website for Alborada is:
http://www.esmas.com/alborada/

 
At 4:21 PM, Blogger Jean said...

I did some calculations that will probably turn out wrong but here goes. The episode of Alborada that will air tonight (Jan. 30) originally aired on Dec. 8 in Mexico. That means that Mexico is 7 weeks and 2 days ahead of us. If Alborada ends in Mexico on Friday, Feb. 24 as advertised, that would mean that it would end here during the week of April 17. We can begin thinking preparing ourselves for life without Alborada.

 
At 6:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet but for all those who LOVE the theme song, like I do, the release date for Plácido Domingos album (entitled Alborada) is February 7, 2006. :)

 
At 8:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ruth. So happy to hear that. Was wondering about the release date. I sent a request to iTunes that they add the song to music store so I can pull it into my ipod. But I got impatient, so today, I downloaded free software to my computer which allows me to convert these audio files into MP3 so I can pull it to my ipod NOW.
( song file can be heard on
http://www.esmas.com/alborada/tema/
Their server is over capacity today so can't play it right now.

 
At 10:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for doing this! I learned Spanish from novelas as well... and it helps to have a place to go and check my personal translation. I didn't watch Amor Real - my last one was Corazon Salvaje (so it's been awhile).

 
At 11:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chicky, I am exactly in your place. Missed Amor Real. :( I, too, appreciate these recaps enormously!! Have been improving my Spanish by watching the novelas, but need to check many things, and learn so much more through the recaps. Thank you, Melimana, for creating this site. I also feel like I have just gained a new group of friends...I love the comments and discussions, and I look forward to checking in everyday. !Bravo, Melinama!!

 
At 1:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Melinama et al
This is definitely a special community! I feel I have a lot in common with people involved with these fabulous telenovelas. I hope we can continue communicating when Alborada finishes.
MELINAMA, Please tell us in advance which telenovela you are going to be following after this since we ALL depend on your phenomenal recaps. Personally, I hope you consider Peregrina.

 
At 2:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Melinama, Carole, et al
Ditto on continuing communication when Alborata finishes, and on hoping you, Melinama, will consider following Pelegrina. Espero que si!

 
At 2:42 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Wow! Thanks for caring! Is Peregrina going to follow Alborada in the 9 pm slot?

There have only been two other telenovelas I've followed from beginning to end - "Niña Amada Mia" and "Amor Real" - and after each of them I took a LONG rest because it was hard to devote an hour a day to TV! But I have to admit I'm getting kind of addicted to you nice people who write to me ... I'd be sorry to lose it...

I'm partial to the semi-historical costume dramas - wish there'd be another one after Alborada -

 
At 3:06 PM, Blogger Jean said...

Peregrina is coming on at 8pm after Contra Viento y Marea ends. Since we still have a month and a half to go before Alborada ends, they haven't started touting its replacement yet.
I don't think it is fair to dump all the work on Melinama. I was thinking that maybe what we need is an email group for English speakers who watch Spanish novelas. Then subscribers could share information, summaries, questions, etc. I would love to chat with others about some of the idiotic things going on in Contra Viento y Marea, for example. Google has a group program and so does Yahoo. I can set it up if folks are interested. I have checked and I don't think there is anything out there like what we are doing.

 
At 3:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Njmotmot. My thoughts on your suggestion:
Alborada is supposed to end around mid April (2 and half months) and so maybe my idea about easing into Peregrina may not work since that's coming on 8pm slot
and will overlap --andmany of us cannot devote 2 hours a day to tv!
I think if Melinama and her daughter need a break after Alborada, at that point, we can see if anyone else on the list has good enough spanish skills (like you, njmotmot!) to offer sharing in recaps, offering to take over job IF they are too tired, or throwing out idea of sharing among 2-3 others. However, I think there are many in this FORUM who are not confident enough about their spanish to do that.
AND... may not be watching the same telenovela when ALBORADA finishes--in which case, I would definitely be interested in a forum for Americans who watch telenovelas and wish to "discuss" in English.

 
At 3:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ON ANOTHER NOTE ENTIRELY- it might be helpful for those who are using ANONYMOUS (which I do understand) to use some name, even if not real one, so we can address a specific person if need be.

 
At 4:08 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Does anybody know what Peregrina is about? Or does anybody know what's going to come on after Alborada?

 
At 6:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is a quick summary of Peregrina- and who knows how soon it's coming since during filming 2 weeks ago, the lead lady had an accident and had to wear a neck collar!?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/elsentinel/vida/orl-9140024jan27,0,4333319.story?coll=elsent-vida-feeds
I agree with you, Melinama on thos 18-19th century dramas. I'm totally hooked on their jewelry, their costumes, and their--at times--ridiculously-confining behavior!

 
At 8:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just want to agree with what everyone is saying... This blog really helps me understand some of what I miss too and I have to send out a big huge Thank You to Melinama!

I didn't realize how many english speakers watching novela's there were out there! It's awesome to be able to share my love of them with you all. Although I've studied Spanish a long time, I started watching them regularly about a year ago, I think. I started watching Amarte es mi Pecado a month or so into it, then I continued with Rubí, Apuesta por un amor, Contra Viento y Marea and now Alborada.

An email group or message board would be awesome. I would be behind that 100%!

As far as the 18-19th century clothing goes... I am hooked too and find myself almost wishing people still wore that kind of thing...almost, *heehee*.

I don't know what is coming up after Alborada but I hope it's either a period piece, like Alborada, or has Fernando Colunga in it... :)

 
At 10:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi! My mother in law and I are hooked but very confused. Who is Luis' mom and dad? Who is Dona Juana to Luis? His aunt? Who is Diego's father, Carlos the Dead Count? Did she have relations with her brother? Is Luis suppose to be the Count? And lastly, who is Isabel? A friend of the family or a real relative?
Was Isabel in love with Carlos the Count?
Thank you lots! We will both appreciate the answers you can give us.
-Colunga Fans

 
At 11:01 PM, Blogger Jean said...

Anonymous Colunga fans: Go back and read all the summaries and the posts afterward and then see if you have questions. Most of your answers are there. Links to all the summaries are on the right hand column above the elephant and below the picture of Dona Juana and Modesta.

 
At 8:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This telenovela is one of my favorite telenovelas because Frenando And Lucero are working together. What's going to happen next when Luis finds out that Hipólita is very serious hit and that the soliders took his son away.

 
At 11:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just started watching Alborada in mid-Jan, about the time Hipolita was kidnapped - have been taking Spanish but not nearly poficient enough to figure out all the plot! Alborada daily synopses didn't help - finally came across this blog - how great! Thanks for doing it.

 
At 10:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm simply tired of how they depict the women on the novela. It first commenced with Ipolita being somewhat strong and independent, but as the novela progresses she beomes the stereotypical female- submissive, constantly crying, dependent on men to solve her dilemma. I understand the time period but we need a strong female character. One who is willing to actually fight for herself, and stand up for herself. The only female characters in this novela who are strong are Luis' mother (who also happens to be somewhat of a vilan) and the female pirate (forgot her name) who is not a bad person but in hidding. The image of females in novela's has become sickening, they are always depicted as vulnerable in some way and in need of male help. I think this has got to change.

 
At 11:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ipolita gets hit in the head and she forgets every thing whats up with that?

 
At 4:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that they stereotype the women in the novela because it lets you know how it used to be and why women permitted that as you compare now women have really stood up and have been recognize. My great- gradma said that men were to be respected because they were the man of the house meaning they work hard and provide for the women plus if a man did a bad thing to a woman they were not punished, because he was always right.

 
At 10:16 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please tell me why the Spanish people don't put English subtitles for translation? I know for a fact you would get so many thousand more to watch it, as for me I have to wait the next day for my co-worker to explain some moments to me.

 
At 9:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cecile from Toronto:
Do English language soap operas have Spanish language subtitles? They don't in Toronto, anyway.

Did you know that Spanish is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese, Hindi and English, in that order?

 
At 11:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where Alborada began on Jan. 13, on TLN (Telelatino). Friday's episode matched your 10th recap, so we're quite a way behind.

Unfortunately there is no closed captioning on this program so I was delighted when I discovered your blog this week. Thank you so much for providing such great summaries that fill in the details I don't quite get--such as the details of Rodrigo's visit to Diego (the doctored dye) and how Esperanza's father knew Doña Juana wasn't the mother of Luís--and that are fun to read.

 
At 4:03 AM, Blogger melinama said...

Welcome to my new blog-friends from Canada, who are coming up behind! We were behind the people in Mexico and they kept coming on my blog and giving things away!

For us, the show is now almost over (it's April 13 and we have 14 episodes to go). I'm sorry to see it leave even though I'm exhausted from recapping it!

 
At 2:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sry I cant wait to see the final De Alborada
http://www.esmas.com/alborada/capitulos/515378.html

 
At 9:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Alborada is now on DVD. Border carries it with English subtitles.
By the way anyone knows where to get the jewelry on the show?

 
At 7:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Melinama. Do you have any recap from Corazon Salvaje and Ramona? I love your Alborada recaps.

p.s. Corazon Salvaje and Ramona are both novelas from Eduardo Palomo. Does anyone know where I can get Ramona on dvd?

 
At 8:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If anyone knows where I can get Ramona please respond. Does anyone know how many kids Diego had?

SOMEONE PLEASE RESPOND. I'M DESPERATE. I've been looking for Ramona for a long time and I can't find it.

- Colunga and Palomo fan

 
At 8:42 PM, Blogger melinama said...

Hi Jennifer,
I suggest you ask your question at the new telenovela blog we set up after Alborada ended: http://caraycaray.blogspot.com

 

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