Spanish Scale Of 1 to Awesome

There are some contrasts with Jacqueline's life and mine.

For example, while she is an intrinsic and necessary part of the human rights movement in a country, I spend my time watching spanish telenovelas (La que se avecina is THE BEST), learning the fifty million tenses of español and musing over the differences in linguistic formality between France and Spain.

For example, in french you had the familiar "tu" and formal "vous." Ever cautious google/most textbooks give you phrases using vous, which is why foreigners often come out with the equivalent of "Might I inquire of yourself as to where I might encounter the bathroom?"

In spanish, you have "tu" and "usted." But while usted is de rigueur in Central and South America, it is rarely used in Spain (according to my host family/professor, don't eat me if you think I'm wrong). My professor told me that during the dictatorship of Franco (forgot Spain endured a bloody dictatorship for almost 40 years within living memory?... It's worth taking a look at), there were strict rules about how to address teachers, figures of authority, even your own parents. When independence and democracy arrived with a vengeance in the 70s, an informal liberation took place.

Which leads to people speaking much more casually to each other.

And now for a bit of Spanish that I've learned, misused, and then learned correctly.

The Spanish Scale of One to Awesome

Vale- Okay/alright.

Bueno- Good

Muy Bueno- Very good

Fantastico- Fantastic

Tu puta madre- English has no equivalent phrase, but I think "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" comes fairly close. While Jacqui is going around saying "Insh'Allah" I'm traipsing about using this phrase vicariously.

This was what I made for lunch. It also coincided with a huge shock...

Courgette is zucchini... I grew up in a multilingual household, and because of that, my vocabulary gets a little mixed up. My british father always cooked courgette, and my american mother always cooked zucchini... And I never quite registered that they were the same thing.

And finally, a small anecdote from my night yesterday. I went out with a couple friends, to see a little bit of nightlife (the first time this stay, as I've been... cautious/tired). We went to an ice bar, where they give you complimentary coats and mittens, and then a discoteca where you have to pay to leave clothing behind.

After these two rather crazy experiences, we found ourselves chatting with an irishman under questionable influences. He mistook me for his "Uncle Thomas" but came back strong with the best line I've heard in ages.

"Sorry, it's not you that looks like a man, Thomas looks like a woman."

Ireland ftw...