Lost in Translation Again

There have been embarrassing moments throughout the semester when I supposedly knew Spanish, yet was completely mistaken on the meaning of certain words. In my defense however, Spanish in Mexico IS different from Spanish in Spain. Even so, there have been two recent instances that taught me some more about Spanish vocabulary:

Throughout the semester Ignacio, my “little brother”, has felt free to inform me every time he is “constipado.” In my mind, he’s informing me he’s constipated…why I would ever need to or want to know that, I have no clue. But every once in a while he makes this weird face and tells me he’s constipado. One time at the dinner table he asked his dad if he was constipado and the dad said yes, and I felt kinda awkward. One time he asked ME if I was constipada and I gave him the weirdest look and said NO. APPARENTLY “constipado” does not mean constipated. It means congested. Aha! This new meaning makes a lot more sense now. He asked me if I was constipada right after I had sniffed. It’s good to know he doesn’t refer to bowel movements all the time.

Last week Pilar, my host mom, invited me to go to the family to a place outside of Segovia because every year they pick “piñas”. It’s their tradition. Piñas is pineapples. I’m not too familiar with the customs of Spain, but I’m pretty sure pineapple-picking in the middle of December is NOT too common in these parts. At first I thought I had heard wrong, but she kept saying piñas so I knew my hearing was fine. So, partly because I wanted to spend time with them, partly because I was extremely curious as to the pineapple-picking ordeal, I went with them on Saturday. Alas, piñas can mean pineapples, but it can also mean pinecones. Once again, aha! It makes more sense! It was so cute. We went through the forest picking up pinecones and twigs with lichen to decorate the bottom of their Christmas tree.

I really like I when misunderstandings clear up in non-embarrassing ways.