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Translation help!

Through the years I have become pretty familiar in Spanish by necessity... I am still not at the place that I would like to be in regards to speaking and writing, but I am very proficient in reading. It is the rare occasion when reading - books (non-fiction), newspaper, letters - that I must pick up a dictionary or ask my wife for a translation or understanding through context.

Long ago before my wife, I had a serious novia. We separated for reasons too complicated to explain, but it was the stuff of novelas - and when doing so, there were many issues between us that went unexplained and unresolved. The relationship was very passioante and intense ("el hombre que desperto en mi tantas emociones"), after which I moved on and so did she. She is married, the quality and her happiness of which I have no idea, a relationship that I assume came about fairly quickly sometime after we seperated, followed by 2 kids.

Recently however I was surprised to receive a letter from said ex-novia. There is an idiomatic expression in it that I can't quite pin down, and it's bothering me: "arenas movedizas"... OK, "shifting sands". To offer further help with context, she describes the many difficulties and decisions facing her in the end which she attributes to our break-up - but states the lack of love was certainly not one of them. She then ends her thoughts abruptly with the phrase: "Estoy entrando otra vez en terreno de arenas movedizas, y sé que no debo hacerlo."

I understand it to mean either dangerous or forbidden territory, or perhaps something like "water under the bridge". Of course I can't ask my wife. And for the curious, I am interested not because I am considering hooking up with her again in the least, but because there has been almost no contact between us in the years since we broke up, and I am wondering what could be going through her mind to contact me after all this time that would compel her to write.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

By costajunkie on Jul 14, 2006, 01:54 in Friendly Talkzone.

webmanco says on Jul 14, 2006, 04:51:

El diablo es sucio y la carne es débil She is having hard time in her marriage and by saying she is in "arenas movedizas" she is looking into having an affair or trying to start once more a relationship with you or anybody else for that matter.

El diablo es sucio y la carne es débil

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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costajunkie says on Jul 14, 2006, 09:03:

Seeking an affair? Perhaps... however This was sort of my first thought. However, there is more, so much more to the story. I said that there was ALMOST no contact between us, but it doesn't mean that she contacted me out of the blue. We had exchanged messages in the past on occasion just to be civil, but almost always the correspondence inevitably turned into something grosero y feo, each one of us blaming the other for the final outcome.

In brief, she felt that she knew me well enough in what I considered too short of time to make a commitment to marriage and kids, especially considering the fact that I was newly divorced and had a job that took me around the US and the world with very little time to actually spend at home with my kids from my first marriage - let alone a new wife.

By the way, she had a multiple entry visa so she had no use for me as someone who could facilitate her move to the US (she lives in the US married to gringo).

Seeking an affair? It's possible, though there are other conflicting signals in the letter that cast doubt on this (unless these signals were some kind of "red herring" to make me believe otherwise). If this is case, I'm certain that she wouldn't want just anyone, especially to have sex solely for the physical aspect of it. I would believe unhappy in her marriage to be more likely. Anyway, there's so much more to the story, and I really want to avoid the overwrought personal details of this past relationship if possible.

More than anything, I would like to know in what context one would use "terreno de arenas movedizas"???

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jul 14, 2006, 16:29:

I would use it if I was considering moving away from an established relationship. It sounds like she is considering other options but hasn't quite made up her mind.

Cheers,
Desi

Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone
else's life.

-Kobi Yamada

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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