In this exercise, you need to watch the short film “Éramos pocos” and answer the questions with full sentences.

1. Where is Julia?

You could answer:

*Julia se fue de la casa, y su familia dice que está de viaje.*
Julia has left her house, and her family says she is on a trip.

2. What has happened to Joaquín’s slippers?

You could answer:

*Julia arrojó las zapatillas de Joaquín por la ventana.*
Julia has thrown Joaquín’s slippers out the window.

3. Why are they going to pick up grandma?

You could answer:

*Van a buscar a la abuela porque no saben cuidarse solos.*
They’re going to pick up grandma because they can’t look after themselves.

4. Why does Joaquín think grandma has figured out the plan?

You could answer:

*Joaquín cree que la abuela se ha dado cuenta del plan porque lo mira raro.*
Joaquín thinks that grandma has figured out the plan because she is looking at him weird.

5. What does Joaquín call his wife for?

You could answer:

*Joaquín llama a Julia para pedirle perdón.*
Joaquín calls Julia to apologize.

6. What does his wife say?

You could answer:

*Julia le dice que está con su mamá ahora mismo.*
Julia says she’s with her mother right now.

7. Why does Joaquín look at the photo album?

You could answer:

*Joaquín mira el álbum de fotos para ver fotos de la abuela.*
Joaquín looks at the photo album to see pictures of grandma.

8. What does Joaquín discover?

You could answer:

*Joaquín descubre que trajeron a la abuela equivocada.*
Joaquín discovers that they brought the wrong grandma.

In this exercise, you need to watch the short film “Éramos pocos” and answer the questions with full sentences.

1. Why do you think Joaquín and Fernando are incapable of living without a woman?

You could answer:

*Son incapaces de vivir sin una mujer porque nunca aprendieron a hacer las tareas del hogar.*
They are incapable of living without a woman because they never learned to do household chores.

2. According to Joaquín, why is the tortilla so important?

You could answer:

*Es importante porque hace mucho que Julia los dejó y no comen nada.*
It’s important because it’s been long since Julia left them and they haven’t eaten anything.

3. Why is Lourdes so happy despite working so much?

You could answer:

*Lourdes está contenta porque está en una casa, no un asilo, y porque se enamoró de Joaquín.*
Lourdes is happy because she is in a home, not a nursing home, and because she has fallen in love with Joaquín.

4. Why do you think Joaquín doesn’t say that the woman is not his mother-in-law?

You could answer:

*Joaquín no dice que la mujer no es su suegra porque quiere que los siga cuidando.*
Joaquín doesn’t say that the woman is not his mother-in-law because he wants her to keep taking care of them.

5. What do you think about the ending of the short film? Do you think the characters are cheating each other or helping each other? Why?

You could answer:

*Pienso que los personajes se están engañando unos a otros, porque ambos tienen un plan que el otro no conoce.*
I think that the characters are cheating each other, because they both have a plan that the other doesn’t know about.

6. How is the title related to what happens in the film?

You could answer:

*El título se relaciona con el corto porque se relaciona con la frase “éramos pocos y parió la abuela”, que significa que ocurren cosas malas de forma inesperada.*
The title is related to the short film because it relates to the phrase “we weren’t many and grandma gave birth”, which means that bad things happened in an unexpected way.

In this exercise, you need to watch the short film “Éramos pocos” and imagine what Joaquín’s wife is like, and what her life is like. Then, describe her in pairs, thinking about why she left, where she is now, whether she’ll return to her family, and whether you think she is still doing household chores.

You could say:

*Julia es una mujer decidida e independiente. Se fue de casa porque se cansó de hacer todo en la casa y que Joaquín y Fernando no hagan nada. Ahora está en la ciudad, viviendo sola y trabajando. Sigue haciendo labores del hogar, pero sólo para ella. No creo que vuelva nunca con su familia.*
Julia is a decided and independent woman. She left her house because she got tired of doing everything and of Joaquín and Fernando doing nothing. Now she’s in the city, living by herself and working. She still does household work, but only for herself. I don’t think she will ever return to her family.

In this exercise, you need to watch the short film “Éramos pocos” and think of a conversation between Julia and Fernando, in which she explains why she left, and says that it was necessary for her mental health and wellbeing. Think of these questions:

* Does Fernando agree with his mother’s explanation?
* Does he forgive her?
* Does he really care that his mother has left?
* Does Julia regret it?
* Was Julia really sick when she left home?

So, you could write:

* **Fernando**: *¿Hola? ¿Mamá?*
**Julia**: *Hola, hijo. Te quiero explicar muchas cosas. Perdóname por irme, era necesario para mi salud mental. No podía vivir más haciendo todo para tu padre.*
**Fernando**: *¿Por qué nos has dejado, mamá? No lo entiendo.*
**Julia**: *Fernandito, era necesario para mi bienestar. Siento mucho que no lo entiendas, pero tiene que ser así.*
**Fernando**: *No creo poder perdonarte jamás. Te necesitamos.*
**Julia**: *Deben aprender a cuidarse solos. No me arrepiento de irme. Eso les enseñará.*
**Fernando**: *Apuesto a que ni siquiera estabas enferma cuando te fuiste.*
**Julia**: *No, no lo estaba. Solo estaba harta. Adiós, hijo.*

* **Fernando**: Hello? Mom?
**Julia**: Hi, son. I want to explain many things. I’m sorry for leaving, it was necessary for my mental health. I couldn’t live any longer doing everything for your father.
**Fernando**: Why did you leave us, mom? I don’t understand.
**Julia**: Fernandito, it was necessary for my wellbeing. I’m sorry that you don’t understand, but it has to be this way.
**Fernando**: I don’t think I will ever be able to forgive you. We need you.
**Julia**: You must learn to look after yourselves. I don’t regret leaving. This will teach you.
**Fernando**: I bet you weren’t even sick when you left.
**Julia**: No, I wasn’t. I was just tired. Goodbye, son.

In this exercise, you need to choose one of these two situations and write a letter.

1. You’re the old lady that pretends to be Lourdes (in the short film “Éramos todos”) and you decide to write a letter to your family explaining why you left the nursing home with another family.

2. You’re an old person that has just moved into a nursing home. Write a letter to your family describing what you miss about living at home and what you like about the nursing home.

If you chose the first option, you could write:

*Querida familia:*
*Perdón por asustarlos. Tuve que irme del asilo. Una situación inesperada ocurrió: llegó un hombre con su hijo, y creyeron que yo era su abuela. No pude decirles que no. No quería estar más aquí adentro comiendo comida barata de asilo. Ahora estoy en su casa, cocinando delicias todos los días. Ellos no saben hacer nada, pero no me importa. Creo que fueron a buscar a su abuela para que los cuide, porque no saben cuidarse solos. Está bien, puedo hacerlo por ellos. Además, el padre es un galán.*
*Estoy bien, no se preocupen por mí. Con amor, la abuela.*

Dear family:
I’m sorry I scared you. I had to leave the nursing home. An unexpected situation happened: a man arrived with his son and believed I was his grandmother. I couldn’t say no to them. I didn’t want to be in here anymore, eating cheap nursing home food. I am at their house now, cooking delicious dishes every day. They can’t do anything, but I don’t care. I think they went looking for their grandmother to care for them, because they can’t look after themselves. It’s fine, I can do it for them. Besides, the father is a handsome man.
I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Love, grandma.