perhaps forgotten by her mistress,

silent and dusty,

laid the harp.

So many notes slept in her strings,

as the songbird sleeps in the branches,

waiting for the snowy hand

that knows how to awake them!

Alas! – I thought – how often does genius

likewise sleep in the deepest of the heart,

and a voice, like Lazarus, awaits

to be told “Rise and walk!

Poem by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

and Clarissa, my Amigo Secreto.

NOTE: The game ended yesterday.

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It was at a final departmental lunch on Friday afternoon at a place called Bella Milano where we dined to an Italian menu where our secret santas were revealed. My head of department Belinda Carstens (who teaches German) was equally surprised to find out that I was the one who has been leaving cards and other gift items on her office table when she’s not there, with help of course from my co-conspirators Catherine and Sherry who work at her office.

Perhaps the most uncanny of coincidences, and the punchline of this post, is that Dr. Olga Bezhanova is also none other than Clarissa, my favourite blog commenter. And this is the point where I explain that I couldn’t believe it either, because, for sure, the matchings were so totally random. And of all people in my department, she was the first person I had eliminated from my mind as a possible suspect in this game for a reason I can’t explain. But as it turns out, I was wrong. Her continued presence on my blog had added to the riddle, and the eventual surprise, when the secret was finally unveiled. “Everyone (reading your blog) is going to think that you have only one colleague at the department now,” she says, and I laugh because she was right, even though we were sitting at that lunch table of foreign language colleagues numbering over twenty.

Thank you ClarissOlga! That was fun.

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Wasps and bees both suck the heavy rose.

Man dies, and the hot sand cools again.

Carried off on a black stretcher, yesterday’s sun goes.

Oh, honeycombs’heaviness, nets’ tenderness,

It’s easier to lift a stone than to say your name!

I have one purpose left, a golden purpose,

how, from time’s weight, to free myself again.

I drink the turbid air like a dark water.

The rose was earth; time, ploughed from underneath.

Woven, the heavy, tender roses, in slow vortex,

the roses, heaviness and tenderness, in a double-wreath.

Poem by Osip Mandelshtam, left on my door by my secret friend.

Note: I should perhaps tell you now that s/he has now left me three poems and about five gifts. There was the photo frame, then the class notebook, candy, then some pink scented beans (which first worried me because it felt like a feminine gift ), and a bottle of peach scented candles. Now I’m totally confused, not necessarily in a bad way. The game ends tomorrow when I should discover who my Amigo Secreto is, and finally make myself known to my own subject. It should be fun. It is taking place at a dinner somewhere in town, organized by the department of foreign languages.

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).

And you wait, keep waiting for that one thing

which would indefinitely enrich your life:

the powerful, uniquely uncommon,

the awakening of dormant stones,

depths that would reveal you to yourself.

In the dusk you notice the book shelves

with their volumes in gold and in brown;

and you think of far lands you journeyed,

of pictures and of shimmering gowns

worn by women you conquered and lost.

And it comes to you all of a sudden:

That was it! And you arise, for you are

aware of a year in your distant past

with its fears and events and prayers.

Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming

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On Monday, I received the first notification that I now have a strange Amigo Secreto following me, and strangely, I got the message through this blog. Ah-ha, someone must have told them that I have a blog, and he/she must now know a lot, or at least a little about me and what I like. In any case, I rushed to the department immediately after seeing the message left on this post, and found that not only was there a mysterious gift waiting for me by my strange friend, there were tonnes of letters that had piled up there since August, since I never knew of the existence of any mailbox at the department tied to my name. I picked up the random gift – an organizer with my name on it, signed in print by the secret friend – and headed home where I discovered the name of the person in the department for whom I’m also supposed to be a secret friend. Oh yeah, it gets interesting. I’m not allowed to disclose their name here either, just in case they‘re reading.

But it was a pleasant surprise again today to discover just another gift – this time a photo frame that says “For your Memories of the US of A” and signed by “Secret Friend”. This time I’m really impressed because, once again, I wasn’t expecting anything. I had just finished putting up my own surprise plan into action for my unknowing subject, hoping that they‘ll soon discover a mysterious gift on their office table sometime soon, also signed by “A Secret Friend”, which is me. I can’t tell you the gift and clue that I left for my subject’s attention, again just in case they stumble on this blog entry. The surprise didn’t end there. It was checking into my office just before class this afternoon that sealed everything and sent me to surprise heaven. Right on my door was Shakespeare’s Sonnet 30, one of my favourite poems, printed on a white sheet on top of which was “For Kola” and signed “From Secret Friend and William Shakespeare.”

I’m full of suspense. My amigo secreto definitely knows how to surprise, and I am indeed intrigued. All I can do now to pay back is to make my own subject even more mystified by my own silent stalking and stealthy surprising. Today was just one surprise for them. I intend to do more before the end of the week. I like it. I like it. I like this idea.

*Note, I’ve used them/they in this post to hide the gender of my subject, only for their own enjoyment of this seasonal mystery game, just in case they wander onto this page in a fit of wonder, boredom or both.

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****

Dear colleagues,

This is an invitation to participate in a holiday game called “Amigo Secreto”.  This is a Hispanic tradition and it is a lot of fun!

This game consists on having a random secret friend for the last two weeks of school.  During this time, you should keep in contact with your secret friend without letting him/her know who you are.  For this reason, you could leave funny notes, give candy or do anything creative, and deliver it in creative ways.

The game will end Friday December 11^th at a Holiday Lunch, where you will discover who your secret friend is.  This day, you should bring a small present of $5-10 labeled with your name and your secret friend’s name (The gift doesn’t have to be something new or bought, again be creative… it’s for fun!).

If you would like to participate in this game, please email H… at h…@siue.edu before Nov. 30.  On this day we will put all the names in a hat and randomly choose your “Amigo Secreto”.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

****

Let the games begin! *Drum rolls*

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