Distant Cousin: Reincarnation Chapters 25-30

[BrassMan]

Chapters 25-30

We've reached a fairly straightforward action-packed part of the book, now. The typical questions would probably be too high school-like, so instead I'll invite your comments and observations, if you would like to make some.

In chapter 25 (4255), Darcy goes home briefly to get the pod and be with her family. We see a fair bit of their family life. Any observations, perhaps?

At the end of the chapter we see Coombs getting things together for the mission.

In chapter 26 (4448), Darcy packs, and visits with Abuelita before heading out to meet Coombs.

In chapter 27 (4631), Coombs and Darcy meet and head off on their mission. Matt takes the kids shopping. The Hindi they speak with each other is accurate, if anyone wondered.

Chapter 28 (4784) is fairly dramatic: Darcy makes her first foray alone into a foreign country. How did she know who to seek out? Did you enjoy her encounter with the professor, and her surprising arrival and exit?

In chapter 29 (5016), Matt tears his kids away from playing with their new purchases to go help Abuelita set up for All Soul's Day (which she calls El Dia de los Muertos, as do Mexicans). Was there enough information there to show why the twins might consider it a creepy custom, and also why is isn't at all creepy?

Coombs and Darcy assess what she has learned from the professor. What is Darcy's most immediate problem?

In chapter 30 (5211), Matt and the twins go to the cemetery to spruce up the family plot, another All Soul's Day custom. Darcy makes her second foray on the ground. What does she learn, and how does the holiday help?

Coombs and Darcy then visit a third location where the action picks up considerably. What did you think of what Coombs did, and then how Darcy handled his elation?

[jpmorgan49]

In chapter 25 (4255), Darcy goes home briefly to get the pod and be with her family. We see a fair bit of their family life. Any observations, perhaps?

The children are very well adapted and smarter than the aveage kids.  The twins are doing fine with their Dad but miss their Mom.

At the end of the chapter we see Coombs getting things together for the mission.

Coombs is collecting all his "Goodies", explosives, for his adventure to Russia.


In chapter 26 (4448), Darcy packs, and visits with Abuelita before heading out to meet Coombs.

Matt doesn't ask many question and Ana packs the few items she will need, flight suit and her Thoman Cape.

In chapter 27 (4631), Coombs and Darcy meet and head off on their mission. Matt takes the kids shopping. The Hindi they speak with each other is accurate, if anyone wondered.

Coombs is in awe of the "Pod"  Things are loaded and they're on there way.  To put even a bigger smile on Coombs' face, Ana lets him fly the Pod.

The twins are all excited because they're going shopping for cell phones.

Chapter 28 (4784) is fairly dramatic: Darcy makes her first foray alone into a foreign country. How did she know who to seek out? Did you enjoy her encounter with the professor, and her surprising arrival and exit?

Ana makes her humble entrance to the professors house.  She is alone, but a Lynx is nearby.  She sure adds to the mystery that she is the ancient queen come back to save the people. When she leaves, they wait and follow her footprints only to find them suddenly stop, and shes gone....

In chapter 29 (5016), Matt tears his kids away from playing with their new purchases to go help Abuelita set up for All Soul's Day (which she calls El Dia de los Muertos, as do Mexicans). Was there enough information there to show why the twins might consider it a creepy custom, and also why is isn't at all creepy?

The twins weren't too sure about the All Soul's Day celebration, they didn't really understand. Once they started hearing about the celebration and found out they actually got to participate, they thought it was cool...

Coombs and Darcy assess what she has learned from the professor. What is Darcy's most immediate problem?

Ana now has a contact and a location of where the weapon is located, but first she needs sleep and then of course FOOD....


In chapter 30 (5211), Matt and the twins go to the cemetery to spruce up the family plot, another All Soul's Day custom. Darcy makes her second foray on the ground. What does she learn, and how does the holiday help?

The twins find a couple of friends that want to watch the "pouring of the whiskey". Ana finds more people that believe she is the ancient queen come back.  To make it even more impressive they were celebrating All Souls Day when she entered...

Coombs and Darcy then visit a third location where the action picks up considerably. What did you think of what Coombs did, and then how Darcy handled his elation?

Ana and Coombs find the warehouse where the weapon is stored. Between the two of them the charges are planted and detonate as planned. Coombs celebrates by giving her a Big Kiss.  Ana allows the kiss, and thanks Coombs and said she would like him to meet her husband someday.

[Monica of NY]

     In chapter 25 (4255), Darcy goes home briefly to get the pod and be with her family. We see a fair bit of their family life. Any observations, perhaps?

This is a family not unlike some contemporary families-Ana leaving from time to time on business trips and Matt taking care of the kids. He allows Julio and Clio that more adventuresome space that fathers seem to be more comfortable with.  The part where he allows the twins to ride their bikes (30mph max) with he and Ana (who voices some concern) following in the truck is an example.  As a family, they really seem to behave more like any other.   The discussion that Matt and Ana have concerning the twins' education and socialization is the type that most parents have, without the Thoman comparisons, naturally.

     At the end of the chapter we see Coombs getting things together for the mission.

   
Coombs really seems to be getting into the preparation for the mission.  What else would one expect from someone with his background?


     Chapter 28 (4784) is fairly dramatic: Darcy makes her first foray alone into a foreign country. How did she know who to seek out? Did you enjoy her encounter with the professor, and her surprising arrival and exit?

She was told who to contact by Kondrakyin, the one who thought that Ana was the legendary queen returning to save Sedlakia.  Her meeting with the professor was fun to read.  I loved the arrival of the lynx and how it simply accompanied Ana to the house and back to the pod.  I liked that the professor did not waste much time second guessing what she might be about before he made the call to his associate who might know the location of the weapon.  Her arrival and exit was mysterious to the professor and his daughter.  She seemingly appeared from nowhere and after leaving their house, Ana's tracks led to nowhere.

 In chapter 29 (5016), Matt tears his kids away from playing with their new purchases to go help Abuelita set up for All Soul's Day (which she calls El Dia de los Muertos, as do Mexicans). Was there enough information there to show why the twins might consider it a creepy custom, and also why is isn't at all creepy?

At first I didn't understand the reason for the "creepy" tag, but I thought that since Clio and Julio spoke Spanish, maybe the literal translation was what Clio was reacting to. I do not speak the language, but if "muertos" means dead or death, I understand.  The explanation of All Souls Day is really lovely and is not creepy at all as it commemorates the lives of the family members who are no longer living.

Coombs and Darcy assess what she has learned from the professor. What is Darcy's most immediate problem?

She needs better protection for her nearly frostbitten feet, sleep, and "fighting food".

In chapter 30 (5211), Matt and the twins go to the cemetery to spruce up the family plot, another All Soul's Day custom. Darcy makes her second foray on the ground. What does she learn, and how does the holiday help?

She learned the location of the weapon.  The people believed, as Kondrakyin, that Ana was the return of Anina,the queen. Since she appeared to these people in a chapel during the holiday and drank from the glass on the altar ( as they believed a thirsty spirit might), she was thought to be the queen's spirit.  Given that, I would think that they would be more than happy to offer whatever knowledge they had regarding the whereabouts of the weapon. 


Coombs and Darcy then visit a third location where the action picks up considerably. What did you think of what Coombs did, and then how Darcy handled his elation?

Coombs was great.  His feat was as impressive as any espionage thriller's hero and a truly exciting ending of the chapter.  I think Ana did not, at first, know what to make of the celebratory kiss.  She handled it as I thought she might.  Ana reverted back to a bit more formal position and inserted her husband into the moment.   

[BrassMan]

There are some pictures of the Trans-Mountain Road that Matt and Darcy love in the Distant Cousin photo album. They don't do the scene full justice, though. The views are overwhelming from up there. A friend who's a serious amateur bicycle road racer has raced over that road several times. He tells me that on the ten mile-long downhill stretch where Julio and Clio went 30 mph on their kid bicycles, he and his friends were doing 60 mph. That's when you want well-balanced bike tires!

The matter of El Dia de los Muertos might need a little more explaining. My wife tells me it was a Mayan custom which Catholics conflated into their observations, as Catholics have done with so many other traditions--Christmas, Easter, etc.  We're not Catholics, but denomination isn't really the point. The point is to simply remember one's family, one's ancestors, and friends. It's a genuine holiday, and not a sad one in Mexico, or in areas influenced by the Mexican custom, like many hispanic areas of the U.S.  Around the world, All Soul's Day is the same celebration, and it's often similar, but probably not with the sense of joy and celebration that it is in Mexico. Some pictures will make the point.

I've come to enjoy the little altar she sets up in our home. The marigolds are traditional.




My wife is a Spanish prof. Here are some of the altars her classes have set up. Some of the photos and remembrances are of family members, some of movie stars or singers, and so forth.







Several years ago, she traveled to Cuernavaca, near Mexico City, to witness the event in full Mexican style. Here's where you can really see the flavor of the holiday.









The food and drink are usually just tokens, in case the ancestral spirits they hope will be present might be hungry or thirsty. I have to admit that I do not know if this practice is the same in south central Caucasus, where Sedlakia is, but for the purposes of our story I assumed it was.

[jpmorgan49]

Thanks for the info Al!!
jp

[BrassMan]

I do run on, don't I? 

Tomorrow I'll see if I can get the discussion points for the next chapters up.

[marianneg]

As you said, this section is pretty straightforward, so just a few observations:

Ana's kinship with cats seems to extend to wild cats, namely lynxes.

I never doubted that your Hindi would be accurate, BrassMan

Things certainly aligned so that she had the impact on the Sedlakians that she desired.  Perhaps there was something to the Anina legend

Julio seems to have inherited Ana's sensitivity (ie., knowing that the bully he had a run-in with was angry and why).

I was wondering when Ana was going to bring up the fact that she was married.  It was pretty obvious that Coombs was developing a bit of a crush on her.  Frankly, I think she led him on a bit.

[Anju No. 469]

In our pueblos, not only do they go to the cemetery for the "celebration", but many altars are built in the street in front of the houses.  Some streets are quite famous for their decorations.

Lots of mariachi's, tequila, food, dancing, family time (very important!)

[BrassMan]

In our pueblos, not only do they go to the cemetery for the "celebration", but many altars are built in the street in front of the houses.  Some streets are quite famous for their decorations.

Lots of mariachi's, tequila, food, dancing, family time (very important!)

I spared everyone more pictures that my wife took while she was down there--street vendors selling food and decorations, family parties and altars, even kids in Halloween costumes. Our Halloween observation has leached into the Mexican Dia de Los Muertos celebration, and no one seems to care. In our family, I myself have learned to enjoy digging out things ancestors owned or would have liked, looking at their pictures, and enjoying the flowers and candles. It made sense, once I understood it. And it helped make the story flow, too. Cool, no?

[BrassMan]

One more. Gotta do it. My wife brought her class back from Mexico yesterday, and she just had to add this piece to her collection. Is this a representation of a seller of chickens? Or of a socialite with a ridiculous chicken hat? Whatever, it's typically Mexican.

[jpmorgan49]

Very Nice!!!