Hey everybody,
Cuzco (or Cusco- after a bit of confusion, I have decided both are actually used equally) is awesome!!! We are staying in a very cute hostal that is a five minute walk from a small local market, which means that every morning for breakfast we get up and walk to the market for some freshly sqeezed juice. This morning´s was awesome- the put beets and carrots in it! Then for lunch, we go back to the market and split a menu, because they are way too big to finish alone. You start with this giant bowl of soup- today´s had several chicken feet, and then there is the actual meal- normally meat and rice and potatoes, followed by some kind of dessert. And all this for the low price of 3 soles (1 USD).
After about a week of being generally confused, and having no clue how to articulate most of our thoughts, we decided some spanish lessons were in order. Luckily Cusco is the most touristy town we have been in yet, and there were a multitude to choose from. We decided to go with a school called Mundo Antiguo- not sure of the significance. As it stands, currently, we do four hours of lessons a day, by the end of which, our brains are fried past the point of recognition. As a result, if this post makes no sense, it is because our spanish lesson finished about an hour ago, and I haven´t had my nap yet :) We are learning a ton, though. I can now have a conversation as long as it is only in the present tense, which is a very exciting accomplishment. Today we learned the conjugations of all the irregular spanish verbs, plus how to use pronombres directs y indirects which is not the same as in french!! Ahhhh!!!! The bad news about these very intensive Spanish lessons is that we are left with absolutely no energy to explore the touristy sites at the end of the day. We sleep, eat, and breathe Spanish.
Yesterday, we did make it to the plaza armas, where I was accosted at least ten times by young boys wishing to shine my shoes. Apparently they are in a horrifying state of uncleanliness, and they just cant seem to fathom why I would refuse to let them make them "muy bonitos". I also got chastised by the police for putting my shoes on the bench. I was thinking that perhaps some new shoes might be in order. Around the plaza de armas, there are literally dozens of touristy souvenir shops. There are also ladies dressed in traditional garb holding llamas so that tourists can take their picture for a small fee. The weird thing is that people pay for this. It is a bit disconcerting to be in the tourist centre because all the signs and all the menus are in English, giving it an atmosphere that is almost European. We decided that there must be more to Cusco than immediately apparent and so we walked perhaps ten minutes past the plaza and lo and behold normal peruvian life!! It is just bizarre. One block and it is as if you are in a different world.
A couple of days ago, Em decided to get a watch bracelet made for her by one of the street vendors, and so while we were waiting to pay one of the other guys came up to me and started chatting, which was fine. But then he conned me into trying on some of his jewelery- I should have refused more vehemently. And then he decided to take a picture of me while I wasn´t paying attention!!! Ahhh!! I was a little weirded out, mostly amused though. So far my brown skin has definitely been working in my favour as Em gets way more attention than I do, which is fun for me, and not so fun for her =)
As far as reading goes, I have already finished All that matters, my stroke of insight, and I am halfway through the 3 musketeers. What am I going to read when I´m finished!?!?!? Suggestions anybody?
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Read Outliers if you can get it and don't forget audio can be uploaded!
ReplyDeleteRappers and Kids please stop reading.
To be fluent in Spanish immerse yourself in the Top-10 Swears:
1. Joder! (hho-DErr): You forgot to bring your phone out, Joder! You have to wake up early tomorrow, Joder! It’s just part of everyday’s life and used in many power-packed sentences like ‘Que te jodan!’.
2. Mierda! (mi-err-da): The lightweight "chit' of swear words. It makes a perfect combination with many words to give a better impact, such as ‘Come mierda! (chit-eater!)’.
3. Gilipoyas (hhi-li-PO-yas): Used frequently to describe bastards, the word ‘Gilipoyas’ is simply served as a retorting cuss. When someone pisses you off you call him a ‘Gilipoyas’.
4. Qué Cabrón! (kehh cabrON): In reality, ‘cabrón’ refers to a big male goat, with giant horns. As the old Spanish saying goes, a man whose wife is cheating on him is called a ‘cabrón’ i.e. his horns are growing. So everyone started using ‘Que Cabrón!’, to swear at others. It’s quite a mild cuss, and often used just as a sarcastic remark instead of a real curse.
5. Los cojones! (los co-hho-nehs): The Spanish men are known as ‘Machotes’ (macho men), and so, besides the toros (bulls) and the corridas(running of the bulls), they love to show their masculinity by adding the word ‘Cojones’ (literally means ‘testicals’) to their colorful language. It tends to be used more like the word ‘Bullshit!’ in English, in occasions when someone is trying to give you some crappy excuse, you would respond with ‘Los Cojones!’
6. Me cago en todo lo que se menea!: My personal favourite of all. It is long yet powerful! It cracks me up. It actually means ‘I shit on everything that moves.’ (strangely unvulgar) ‘Me cago en…’ is a very commonly used cuss, and can be combined with anything and everything that comes to mind, like ‘Me cago en tus muertos’ (..on your dead relatives).
7. La madre que te parió!: Top on the list of most frequently used curse would be this. It literally means, ‘the mother who gave birth to you!’ ‘Me cago en la madre que te parió!’ is dropping a huge swear bomb!
8. Hijo de puta (e-hho-deh-PU-tah): Your friend gets a promotion – hijo de puta! Your sister is travelling around the world- hijo de puta! Translated to the English swear word, ‘son of a bitch!’ it’s used in the exact same way but ten times the frequency.
9. Tonto del culo: Slightly milder than all the previous curses, this translates to ‘an idiot of the ass’, and used to refer to how stupid/silly someone can be. It’s useful in all occasions.
10. Puta madre (poo-tah madre): Used to curse but positively as a form of exaggeration, it can be used to describe how good something is. Eg. ‘Esta fiesta está de puta madre!’ (This is a f***in good party!) ‘Puta madre!’ is often used to express great satisfaction, eg. ‘Barcelona won! de puta madre!
Hola Antonia, I'll be reading of your adventures with envy....enjoy yourself and continue to share...I love it. Thinking of you and wishing you well. Your neighbour Bev
ReplyDeletespanish is so pretty! after this all that is left for you to conquer is italian....then if you were a man and took me out to dinner and mixed french, spanish and italian together...i would marry you.
ReplyDeleteas i read of your adventures in peru with emily i wonder...who in the world is emily? did you plan to travel with her or is she a random person you picked up on your trip? anyways i hope you are enjoying eating/reading/exploring/learning!! eee soo exciting =)
ps- get new pants...and shoes.