1 Year & 12 Words

Today marks the day of our arrival to Argentina one year ago.

As you know, there have been low lows and high highs.

(Just like life anywhere, really.)

We are thankful for this year. It has brought us much closer as a couple, a family,

and it has shown us the creative ways that God provides.

We are making lots of new friends, learning a new culture and language, and growing in grace and humility.

As a result of intentional contact and honest communication we have become even closer to friends who now live 5,812 miles away.

Back in May, a good friend of mine from Santa Barbara emailed me the following:
"What are your five most favorite words you have learned in Spanish since being in Argentina? I’m thinking they rank high because of the meaning, the cultural context, the way it rolls off your tongue (or others). Learning and speaking Spanish is such a HUGE part of your life. I want to know more about your life."

It was a great question for me and my answers represent much of our life here. The following is my edited response (I had 7 favorites):

Esperar: "To wait" AND "to hope". Since it means both, it has opened up loads to me in my Bible reading (don’t worry, they’re not all as spiritual as this one).

Me da piel de gallina: Literally this means “It gives me skin of a hen.” However, figuratively it means “I have the chills” (or "goose bumps", or as bilingual Argentines say, "goose flesh").

¡Ojo!: Literally means “eye”, but here people pull their skin down below their eye and say “¡Ojo!” as a way of saying, “careful” or “look out!” If you're into fútbol, you will see South American players doing this to each other.

Permiso: This is what people say before entering your house. It’s like asking permission and they say it before entering a new room or any new place in your home. The correct response is “Sí, pasá, pasá.” or "Yes, come in, come in." It is very polite. My kids have not gotten a grasp on how or when or why to use it. (They’re basically culturally rude most of the time.)

La Cola: This word is funny. It means “tail”, “butt”, or “line”. The boys like to say “Cuidado con la cola” and then smack their butt. In Spain it would be very offensive to refer to someone’s butt as a cola since it literally means tail; the Spaniards do not like to think of themselves with a tail.  And if you think of the expression hacer cola you can think of us standing in lllooonnnggg lines at the bank, the grocery store, the bus stop, or at any the infamous DNI government offices.  (However, I get ahead of myself.  Clearly hacer cola belongs in the "least favorite" list below.)

Puede ser:  This means “It can be” or it’s asked as a question “could it be?” You can use it any time, anywhere and feel like you know what you’re saying.

¡Que feo!:  “How ugly!” We use it all the time. Kind of like, “How lame!”

This isn’t a word, per se, but I love the way people kiss when they meet and greet. It’s very warm and not at all creepy. I love how Andrew offers his cheek (face) when he meets a new adult or how a child comes straight at me with pursed lips and an expectant side glance while waiting for my dip-down to give a kiss and an hola.

And, of course, here are a couple that make my "least favorite" list of the day:

Hospitál/Hótel/Honor/Honduras…: Basically any word that is the same in English and starts with an H. Las haches no suenan en español. (The h’s don’t have a sound in Spanish.) Whenever we use a word that begins with an H we have to be very intentional about not making the H sound… Hugo (Ugo) makes fun of us. (In a nice way, of course.)

¿Me estás jodiendo?: Argentina is the only country where this means “Are you kidding me?” which is totally fine. The problem is if you say this in any other Spanish speaking country it means “Are you f-ing with me?” Yes, the f-word. Because I know this, I do not like hearing it and since the boys know that, they say it often.

Por/Para: Either word represents “for”. There are other translations for them too, like “through”, “by”, “on behalf of”. But I can’t ever get them right and saying them wrong can be translated into an embarrassing situation.

Necesito hacer pis: “I need to go pee" or literally, "I need to make pee." It just sounds feo to my English-listening ears. "Pis" in Spanish sounds very similar to "piss" in English and I still get a little red in the face and shocked when someone says it. I know that sounds prudish of me and I don’t know why it embarrasses me so much. I prefer to say “¿Puedo pasar al baño?” or, literally, “May I go into the restroom?”

So, there you have it wrapped up into a dozen or so words.  After receiving my answers, my friend responded:  "I absolutely LOVE this!  Not only did I find out about the words that are becoming part of your conscious, but I got a little glimpse of how you are interacting with the new culture...Friend, you are dear in my heart. I wish there was an English phrase that expressed a deeper sense than that, maybe there is one in Spanish?"

She's right that there is a Spanish phrase that expresses this better: amigo querido. This past year has shown us that our true home is in Heaven and that God is kind to give us such special friendships here on Earth. 

Chau for now amigos queridos.