So, I’ve learned a lot of Spanish while I’ve been here.
I now know that if I’m at a restaurant, I can ask for “yellow” and get ice (“hielo”). But, if I say the name of a Lone Star city, Amarillo, I’m now talkign about the color. So, I have to be clear to not ask for “yellow ice!”
Just like adding an “o” to the end of each of my English words isn’t working. If I ask for more “salado” after finishing my greens, I’ll get the salt shaker and not any more crispy lettuce!
And, no matter how much I try to adapt to life in my new big city, I’ll never be able to live in an “apartado” here … because that’s a post office box!
And it’s not just because I’m a gringo that they don’t permit me to eat in the local “cafetera”…it’s because that’s the coffeemaker.
Instead, they will probably insist that I eat inside their family’s “soda” which is OK because it’s a road-side stand serving our favorite delicious dish — “casados” or “married peoples” in English.
So, when someone looks at my tired face and bloodshot eyes and sypathetically asks if I am “casado,” I have to remember to not answer regrettably “sí” because that means married…it’s “caNsado” that’s “tired!” And then I should probably go take a nap anyway!
Speaking of marriage, it’s not actually as embarrassing as I think it is to ask a hotel for a “cama matrimonial” (“marriage bed”) … that just means “double bed.”
After arriving in Costa Rica, we discovered that we’d named our dog the name of the national utility company — “Izze” sounded exactly like “ICE.” It’s like finding out the neighbors think you’ve named your dog “AT&T.”
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