BETH PALMER (journalism student) writes:
Spending three weeks in Mexico knowing three years' worth of basic Spanish has led to laughable moments, as meaning is lost in translation. Here’s a recent highlight:
The child who thought I was crazy
In Guanajuato, a lush and colorful city comparable to Italy’s Florence, I sipped Cuban coffee in a café called El Conquistador. I dipped a fresh chocolate-iced cake donut in my steaming cup.
The tiny shop had six chairs, three tables, and as much open floor space as bathroom. Soon that entire space filled with a family of five, dragged in by the youngest daughter who wanted a donut. The pig-tailed girl of about five years walked up to my table, towing a blond doll about half her size.
“Donde compraste este dona?” she asked.
“No se,” I answered, assuming she was wondering how much my donut had cost.
She looked startled, her brown eyes wide, and just walked away in silence. Then, realizing her question actually meant, “Where did you buy that donut?” I laughed out loud. I had answered, “I don’t know.”
As her father bought her a chocolate-iced donut like mine, the little girl held on to his leg but kept looking back at me with obvious confusion and wonder.
“Why didn’t that crazy lady know where she bought her donut?” she probably thought. “The crazy lady is sitting in the café where she bought the donut!"
Posted by awiens at July 23, 2007 5:17 PMThat's very funny. I have the same problem too. I have 10 years living in this country and my first language is Spanish and sometimes I have to read lips to understand what the people tell me, but most of the time I say "yes" to everything and I make people crazy with my answers.
Now you know how hard it is to live in a different country.
Luis Espinosa.
I have to say that I found that very funny. Actually, I could imagine that coffee shop very well, given that I'm from Celaya, a city in the state of Guanajuato. I hope you can stay for the festival called Cervantino; it's beautiful. I've been living in the U.S. for two years and those things have happened to me as well. In fact, I was looking for the information for international students. I would like to transfer to Columbia so I can study music. Now I'm studying English here in Chicago, but in order to be in Columbia College I would have to get a scholarship. So, congratulations for your interest in learning Spanish and if you know about any scholarships for International Students please let me know. :-)
Posted by: Francisco at August 1, 2007 3:24 PM
