a Spanish lesson

I've been learning Spanish for a loooooong time, and man, would Ms. Nobles be proud to see where I've gotten after those first few, rocky years.  And still, every once in a while, a word or saying grabs me by the heart or makes my ears perk up in curiosity.  So, I thought I would share a few of my favorites.




burbujas-- This is just my favorite Spanish word.  It means bubbles, and it's fun to say.  Burbujas.

me encanta ______-- this is an oldie, but goodie.  Me encanta chocolate.  Me encanta la playa.  Me ENCANTA el tango.  Me encanta is roughly translated to mean 'i loooove' or 'i really, really like        _(blank)_'.  but actually it is a reflexive verb, so "I" am really just doing the receiving...it literally means '_____ enchants me.'  Chocolate enchants me.  The beach enchants me.  The tango enchants me.  Yes.  Poetry used in everyday language.  Spanish is pretty enchanting.

como cuesta-- This is a saying used to describe something that is difficult to do.  Como cuesta to climb up this hill.  Como cuesta for the clothes to dry on the line during rainy season.    Recently i heard the phrase from one of the first grade teachers talking about teaching her students to read.  Como cuesta to teach 40 students to read with such limited resources, and limited time.  Literally como cuesta would mean "how it costs" and i'd say that dedicating oneself to teaching is pretty darn costly.

desayuno-- i like this word, meaning breakfast, not only because it is my favorite meal here but because it's literal translation works in English and Spanish.  ayuno means 'fast'...as in... not eating.  and the prefix des basically just makes the word the antonym of the root.  (is this getting too nerdy?) so anyway.. un-fasting..  and in English... break-fast.  Break the fast. 

embarazada-- This words makes the list as the best false cognate.  For you non-Spanish speakers out there...What would you think this word means, if you were guessing?  Embarrassed?  Yep, that's what most would think.  Nope---pregnant.  It means pregnant.  It does lend itself to some great stories, and lots of laughs, especially when a male accidentally uses it.  Then, they end up really embarrassed, or avergonzado.  Tricky, that one.

Que le vaya bien-- Hmmm..This is kind of the equivelant to saying 'Have a good one!' It is a general well-wishing for someone...anyone, actually.  That is the cool thing about this phrase.  Everyone seems to say it, from best friends passing one another on the street to perfect strangers. I may not know you, I don't know where you're going... but, que le vaya bien. 

And finally...
desahogarse-- there's that 'des' again. ahogar is to drown and the se makes it reflexive so all together it is to 'un-drown-oneself'.  I've witnessed this a few times here.  One night after dinner, my host mom and I got onto the topic of Guatemala's violent past and she just started spilling stories out of her memory: neighbors who had family members 'disappear', her own family having to lock the doors at 4:00 one afternoon and pretend like they weren't home all night, after her mom decided that she wasn't going to help the guerrillas by supplying food...better to stay nuetral, and alive.   I listened for well over an hour. 
Then, about a week ago, a man stumbled up to the door of the homework center and apologized again and again for the bother, but 'they' had robbed his shoes..and did we have any shoes we could give him?  This time i watched, and I saw my co-worker and friend apologize that that had happened to him, and told him that he didn't have any extra shoes here, but he did at home...and if the man came back he'd have a pair of shoes here for him.  Then he listened again as the man repeated everything and apologized more for the embarrassment.   After a while, he went on his way and we solemnly closed the door.  "Sometimes they just need you to listen to them,"  says Angel, who was truly an angel that day. 
And today, after saying goodbye to my mom and cousin who were visiting (more on that later), I started talking to one of the custodians at the foundation.  She asked about my mom and our visit, and then said, "You know I lost my mom this year?"  I told her that I did know that...and that I was sorry.  And then I listened... as she described the sensation of not being able to breath, of drowning, when the doctors told her that it was too late.  That she was angry with God and fought with God a lot after her mom 'was taken'.  ...of how she waited 4 days for the burial service because she couldn't bear to let go...  She needed to tell.. not me.. not anyone.. just to get it out, really get to the surface and take a big gulp of oxygen, so as not to drown.  In the almost 10 months that I've been at the foundation, I had never gotten past surface level conversation with this woman, and here she was, un-drowning-herself with me. 

Weeelll.... this got a little heavier than expected.... but Spanish is rich.  Rich! See?!  That is another one!!  Rico.  It may be used to describe financial status, but most often it is used to describe food.  The only word in English that I can think of that one would use 'rich' to describe is cake.  And it's true.  But here tamales are ricos, coffee is rico,  mangos are ricos, and I could go on and on and on.

But that is enough Spanish lesson for today. 

So for now, buenas noches, good night.

Watching the market wake up

 watching the market wake up

is like watching a little chick

with wet feathers

peck away the shell, piece by piece

and enter into the bustling shuffle of life.

it is the feeling of stretching our your limbs after sleeping for hours

on a bus.

it sounds like the beginning of a rainstorm

whent he first few pelts of rain

break the moist silence,

complete with rolls of thunder as car motors

and old school busses

warm up the cobblestone.

it smells like a kitchen once you add just the right ingredient

like toasted cilantro

and all of the flavors begin to mix in the air.

it tastes like the first bite in the break

of a nightly 8 hours fast

buttery avocado

bright yellow egg

comforting,

energizing,

fresh, and

oh

so

good.

Weekends in Guate

Let me pre-preface this by saying that at placement event wwwwaaaayy back in March 2010, Marcia (our then-future-coordintor) introduced herself and the Guatemalan placement by saying "If having a nightlife is important to you, then you might consider somewhere other than Guatemala.  (She is very diplomatic.) 

Now let me preface this by saying that my nickname here (in VARIOUS circles, in English and in Spanish) is grandma, or abuela.   This is partly because I am a passionate sunscreen advocate and partly because, well, I'm what some (and all who are part of the Antigua-nightscene-circle) would consider... lame.  We've even created a new verb, "abuelear", which means to turn-down an invitation to go out or do anything considered socially cool, at least by young-adult, US citizen standards.  (Ex:  Are you abueleando on me? Yes, yes I am.)

But let me tell you what form that takes on weekends and judge for yourself!

This weekend actually began Friday morning, as I met co-worker and friend, Elly and headed to the annual Common Hope Employee field day at the Antigua soccer stadium. (Insert mental picture:  Open-air soccer stadium, green grass, with a background panoramic view of mountains...oh, and volcanoes.)   By 9:00, over 100 employees were on the field doing a warm-up that put Richard Simmons to shame.  Then began the silly, group summer camp games, kickball tournament, and ridiculously competitive pvc pipe hurdle relays.  After a delcious grilled meat/guacamole sandwhich thing and a quick catnap in the sun (a flea spotting brought that to an abrupt end) the kickball tournament was indefinitely postponed to make room for a soccer game .  I had ganas to play but seeing that I would have been the ONLY girl, and any 3 year old in the stadium would have more skills/experience than me, I decided to join the pep squad (loosely named).  Things quickly picked up when we grabbed a couple of ozarka-like water containers and used them as drums...always a party.
Afterwards, a couple of friends and I shared a cerveza, on a terrace, in the sunshine, surrounded by mountains...and oh yeah, volcanoes. 

The rest of the weekend was re-tran-qui-lo (very calm).  Katharine was in town from Xela, so she got to experience what it was like living with my familia.  Lots of sitting around the table talking about anything from politics to the apocolypse (which here don't appear to be all that different), giving birth (humans and animals), and sharing stories (turns out catching locusts is universal)...  Piling into the living room to watch the Guate v. Mexico Gold Cup game (which turned into a discussion about Mayan, Aztec, and Incan cultures)..  Lots of reading/sleeping in the hammock while listening to the rain on the tin roof (which is now one of my favorite sounds)... and food.  Here is what a weekend of food looks like in my house:

a surprise cappuccino (it was from a packet, but really good!)
chicken soup (NOT from a packet, or can)
eggs, black beans, and toasted tortillas
fried chicken, noodley stuff, and tortillas
tamales (pause)
white beans and pork (yum..the majority of my Sunday was dedicated to learning how to cook this deliciousness) and tortillas
fresh strawberry and banana liquado (smoothie)
cheese, black beans, and toasted tortillas

So,  if there are any future Guate YAVs reading this, fear not!  What one lacks in an adult social life here, you make up for in... beans and toasted tortillas!.. and family, and beauty, and love.  And for this abuela, that is anything but lame.