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Ñapa
In addition to getting a lot of practice speaking Spanish during my two years in Colombia, I also got to do my fair share of eating. And while I’m incapable of mustering up much excitement for...
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Writing in books
I thought for a long time about how to incorporate Valentine’s Day into a post. Last year I wrote about an anti-Valentine’s Day backlash in Colombia, and that old post has been peered at by many fresh...
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Cursi
I went to a party the other night, and we were all having a merry old time. One of the guests started playing the guitar, and someone asked if he knew any songs by Ricardo Arjona. No, not Arjona, I...
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Haircuts
`Your hair wants cutting,’ said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.–Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland My hair had wanted cutting...
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Do not search for coconuts in Bogotá
From a comment on a recent Wall Street Journal article on Bogotá: Do not wear bahamas clothing, this place is cold (9K feet altitude) and do not search for coconuts (this is not a tropical island)....
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¿Te lo explico con plastilina?
Did you catch the play on words in my last post’s title? I grilled three friends on it, and none of them got the allusion. Hmm. I’m generally a person devoid of snark, but for the sake of education I’m...
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A Hard Freeze’s A-Gonna Fall
. . . right in the middle of a doctor’s appointment you’re interpreting, at least if your day goes anything like mine did. It was just a routine allergies visit filled with words I hear and interpret...
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¿Se te cayó una calza?
In Medellín, I knew this really wonderful woman named Uva. Her full name was Uvaldina, but most people seemed to call her Uva. And, believe me, her name was the least interesting thing about her. That...
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Spanish in the grass
Tu nombre me sabe a hierba de la que nace en el valle a golpes de sol y de agua. - Joan Manuel Serrat I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars. - Walt Whitman Hierba...
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Potholes
The word I keep running into the past few days (or falling into, if you will) is cráter and cráteres. I had no idea that crater in Spanish is simply cráter. Not the most melodious of words, but there...
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Thermostat
Is it getting super hot where you live, too? Ugh. Today and yesterday I went on walks that were more than an hour, and I got home absolutely drenched in sweat. It doesn’t help matters that I’m in a new...
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¿Estás amañado?
If you’re a foreigner who’s living in Colombia, surely this is one of the questions you hear most often. Taxi drivers, new people you meet, even old friends who are just checking in on you–everyone...
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A lanky man
I was just reading an article from El Tiempo, when a certain word jumped out at me. The story is about an American ex-soldier, Kevin Scott Sutay, who, against many warnings, ventured into a part of the...
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The funniest thing I ever said in Spanish
(This is subjective, of course. And, yes, I realize that I’m likely not even aware of the funniest things I’ve ever said, but I sure hope people went on to publicize my mistakes among their offices and...
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The Word Games
Did you hear about the latest uproar in Colombia? No? Why am I not surprised? It has to do with a disappearance, but not the kind that you’re used to hearing about. Instead of a person this time, it’s...
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Getting lucky in Colombia
Did you experience the Beanie Baby craze of the ’90s? I remember the first one I got was Lucky, the ladybug. I counted her spots and then consulted a book to see if she was valuable (ixnay), and was...
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Jíbaro
Denuncian que niños autistas están expuestos a ladrones, prostitutas y jíbaros Parents file complaint, say children with autism are exposed to thieves, prostitutes and jíbaros I was totally thrown off...
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Bogotá
hello, you. I hope it´s been a day filled with a warm sun and cool breezes and flowers of loud and lovely colors weaving their way through your day. that´s how my day´s been so far, anyway. I´ve been...
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My experience in translation, part two
I figured I would most likely end up getting a teaching job when I moved to Medellín in July of 2011, but I can’t say I was thrilled about it for a couple of reasons. When I saw a post on a forum for...
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My experience in translation, part three
Once we got the poetry out of the way, Edgar started sending me the good stuff: two spy novels. They were really more like spy novellas, as each would be about 70-80 pages in length in a standard book...
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