'Tis now the end of three weeks of Spanish language school, time to take stock. I arrived here speaking almost no Spanish, other than "Hola", "Grassy-ass", and "Taco". Last weekend in Antigua, in a smooth demonstration of my new language capacities, I confidently told the waiter in Spanish, "Two beers please, and I have nachos." Apparently accustomed to Spanish students, he wearily informed me in English that yes, the restaurant served nachos, and would I like guacamole with that.
I also have repeatedly mixed up the words for eggs and Thursday. This has resulted in Sarah busting a gut laughing while explaining to me that I just asked for "More beans and Thursday, please" while our host mother looks on bemused. In my defense, those words in Spanish are "huevos" and "jueves".
Sometimes I get confused about soap ("jabon") and ham ("jamon"). Hence my look of bewilderment when my host mother informed that I had left my ham in the shower.
Nevertheless, I came here with the intention of learning enough to be able to have a basic conversation with a patient who only speaks Spanish. I believe that I have accomplished that, though I would rely heavily on a medical Spanish-English dictionary. And, the patient might get a little worried when I ask him if he enjoyed his breakfast of soap and Thursday .
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2 comments:
Cass, I laughed out loud about the egg and Thursday mix up, but the best has to be about the ham in the shower comment. That is great stuff man. Keep enjoying your time there, Guatemala is a fantastic country. I will make it back there sometime, I just have to get a little cash and time off work first.
have fun and stay healthy!
Mark
I mix those up all the time too! Good to know I´m not the only one. Hope your travels are all going well and definitely hope we cross paths again!
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