i have purchased spanish lessons. private, one-on-one, 8:30am spanish lessons. my teacher's name is jorge, de colombia. when i initially spoke with raul gonzales, of the gonzales language school, i requested someone who would work on my conversation and not speak english with me. grammar i can do on my own. i need my speaking spanish only time.
jorge doesn't speak much english. he speaks haltingly and of course with an adorable accent. he's probably in his 50's, with a son my age and a daughter in high school. an example of jorge's english follows:
me: "cuando una cosa no está mucho dinero"
jorge: "ahh! cheap? cheap?"
me: (excited) "si si si!"
jorge: he proceeds to write it on the board to make sure we're for sure on the same page.
"s h e p."
me: i nod.
sometimes, however, when he writes an english word on the board, he asks me if it's correct and i'll fix it, or praise it accordingly. mostly, we're buddies. the conversation drifts along as it would with any friend.
friday, we started with what i do when it's cold out, hot out, etc. then we moved on to the neighborhood that i want to live in once i arrive in Chile, called Bellavista. (in the south american pronunciation, it is more like bejabista, which makes me think of bouillabaisse.) i describe the neighborhood, the two collinas (hills) y el zoológico! (very excited about that one.) the discussion then progressed to the ridiculous number of activities i pursued as an over-achieving child. after the swimming came up, and he found out i swam "la mariposa" (butterfly), he mentioned that he once had a girlfriend for two years who was a swimmer and swam butterfly in the pan-american games. this got us onto relationships. i discussed my recent one, which got us into the feared south american "machismo."
now. the machismo is the type of man found in all countries where men are beautiful and flirtatious, namely france, italy, and, clearly, south america. however, unlike general guys whom will sometimes admit to having a wife/girlfriend etc, these machismos love to take advantage of the beautiful women around them by seducing as many as possible.
they do this in a variety of ways, mostly by praising, spoiling, whispering lovely things into the ear, and certainly without wearing la argolla de matrimonio (that would be the wedding ring.)
jorge speaks vehemently against these men.
"lillian! these men are very very (think berry berry) bad and are lars.
me: "qué?"
j: "lars. de don't tell de truth!"
me: "oh, LIARS!!! cómo se dice, liars?"
j: "MENTIROSOS! los muchachos de sur americana son mentirosos!"
i love this new word. it sounds dirty and sneaky just saying it. fitting for its definition.
i have heard of this phenomenon, so i ask jorge, "if they're so sneaky and clever, how am i supposed to know if they're mentirosos or not?"
jorge continues to tell me that i must speak with the women. ask people, "take notes" (i couldn't believe it), and follow up. if he asks you to go to a bar with him, ask someone else if it's in a good part of town. basically, one must do thorough homework prior to making out, or you might be chased down by a wife or mistress. latina women are fierce.
jorge then says: "lilliana. soy un papá. tengo dos hijos, y te dico la verdadero. no dices 'si' a la primero hombre qué dice 'hola.' Tu debes tener paciencia, paciencia. Hablas con las muchachas, preguntas sobre el muchacho. tu estás joven (young), y debes estar tranquila."
so. no saying yes to the first man i meet. i have to take notes and talk with the ladies. at least this will force me to be VERY selective. i'm looking forward to the challenge.
