Spanish - Spanglish...oh jeez I'm confused!
Trip Start
May 20, 2010
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100
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Trip End
Sep 05, 2011
Mendoza, Argentina
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Day : 237
Temperature : 30 degrees
Weather : Mostly Cloudy
OK, so we have recovered, mostly, from our wineries tour from the other day, and since we had to cancel our Spanish lessons as a result of our over-indulgance of the red stuff, we have had to knuckle down and seriously get some work done on the old Espanol. This is why we have been having 6 hours of classes between us per day! Crazy! Just when I think I have mastered one tense our teacher Adrian throws another tense at me. This is such a complicated language...I mean, why have a dozen different ways of saying the same thing when just one way can do the same job. And how on earth am I supposed to recognise a verb when it contains only one letter of the same verb when it is used in another tense...I mean, it's like a completely different word! And what's all this gender stuff?! Fortunately, Adrian has endless patience as I contort my face in a manner of confusion and say for the umpteenth time, "but why....."?! But as I have been told numerous times I must taking things "poco a poco".
We have managed to get out and about and see a little of Mendoza between lessons. There is such a strong culture of taking a Siesta here that everything, and I mean everything, shuts down at lunch time and doesn't reopen until late afternoon. The shutters are pulled down, the lights are switched off, the tables and chairs on the pavements lie empty where a few hours before they were full of people chatting over coffees, and the previously bustling streets become deserted. It's so different to what we are used to and you really have to think about what you're going to do that day and plan accordingly.
We've also had a chance to sample some of the local food whilst we've been here so far. One of my favourites is Dulce de Leche....which is a kind of a thick-sticky-sweet-milky caramel goop which comes in a jar and is totally delicious spread on almost anything. Or, even better, just stick your finger in a jar, scoop out a huge dollop and enjoy like a kid! Just don't use those same fingers on the laptop afterwards! Yes, I am speaking from experience here, and yes, Kevin did have go mental! Anyway, Dulce de Leche is so popular here in Argentina that they have Dulce de Leche ice-cream, which of course we felt obliged to sample, Dulce de Leche biscuits called Alfajores which we have yet to try, and even Dulce de Leche flavoured breakfast cereals! Another Argentine favourite is the Empanada, which is similar to a pasty (ie Cornish pasty) and it can be filled with meat or vegetables. One thing that has been difficult to find here (apart from money - since all the ATM's and banks in the city have run out of money twice since we have been here, resulting in a mini mass panic and endless queues at the banks - but that's another story!!!!!!) are fresh vegetables. The veggie stalls at the side of the streets are few and far between, and the vegetables in the supermarket are so old and rotten that stores in the UK would not be able to sell them.
And now for the Spanish.....
Dos dias atras yo compre los boletos para el omnibus a Malargue. Viajamos manana y sale el omnibus a las nueve y treinta de la manana. El viaje dura seis horas. Como no duermi bien la noche atras, voy a acostarme temprano. Necesito dormir bien. Bueno, es todo mis amigos! Hasta luego.............
(I don't have the little accenty bits on my computer...or I haven't figured out how to add them yet...so you'll need to let me off the hook on that one! Otherwise please feel free to correct me on my many mistakes which I will probably have!!)
Comments
Keep up the Spanish and ...hasta la vista.
Honestly guys, 3 hours a day is toooo much!!!! When I had Thai lessons 1 hour a day was the max I could cope with. You cant retain the info. Good luck and keep in touch.
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