A few days ago, Dave and I celebrated a different sort of graduation here in Oaxaca. In the last 3 weeks, we have managed to survive (and perhaps even reap some benefits from) 80 hours of Spanish instruction at Becari Language School (not including time spent on homework).

It has been a quite a while since either of us have taken part in formal schooling of any sort and, at the outset of this, we were both a little skeptical about whether or not a few weeks would really be “enough” to teach us anything truly useful. I am happy to report, though, that we are both amazed at the progress we’ve seen in each other during this time. We’re still a long way from anything resembling fluency (those conversations on existentialism and revolutionary philosophy may have to wait a while yet). However, we are able to communicate our basic needs and have simple conversations with people who have the patience to speak slowly and use simple words.

Our teachers have been excellent and have managed to keep our classes quite interesting throughout these past weeks. Mercifully, we have not had to suffer through the Spanish equivalent of “See Dick Run”. Instead, we have spent our time learning of Mexican legends, local customs and important celebrations. The local culture is unbelievably rich and there is clearly much to draw from in terms of teaching fodder. In fact, Dave and I thought some of our most notable discoveries were worth sharing:

• Food is incredibly important to Mexicans in general and Oaxaqueños in particular. I could probably dedicate an entire post to food (and perhaps I will at some point) but it is interesting to note that the frequency of meals here is at least as impressive as the quality of the food. We have decided that Oaxaqueños put “Hobbits” to shame. Traditionally, Oaxaqueños enjoy up to five meals in a day. These include a light breakfast (desayuno) upon rising followed by a heartier breakfast (almuerzo) later in the morning. Unlike Canada, lunch (comida) is the biggest meal of the day and is typically taken between 2 and 5 pm. Many businesses actually close at this time so people can go home to eat with their families. The evening meal (cena) is a lighter meal eaten around 8 or 9 pm. It would not be unusual to have a later snack-like meal before bed. There is a name for this too but I can’t recall it now for the life of me. It is also worth noting that there are a pile of verbs associated with eating and I think almost any meal-name may also serve as a verb. For example, it is actually more appropriate to say “I breakfasted” than to say “I ate breakfast”.

• Mexicans love a good party. Although, I think we had a healthy appreciation for how much Mexicans enjoy “fiestas” prior to this trip, it is fair to say that has been further reinforced by the near-daily use of fire crackers (cuettes) and frequent parades through the streets.  
  I wish I could say that I’m exaggerating for comic effect, but Dave and I (and even Chester) are now desensitized to the crack of “cuettes” at 6:00 am. Our teachers, however, assure us that there is nearly always a good reason for the celebration. The most common rationale is that it is tied to the Saints Calendar. Because Mexicans are overwhelmingly Catholic, there is apparently some saint or other to celebrate and honor on nearly every day of the year. They have admitted, though, that it is primarily just that everyone enjoys a good party. In any case, I firmly believe that this obsession with partying is evidenced by the number of words in the Spanish language to describe their festivities. Here is a taste:

• una fiesta = any party or celebration
• una feria = party involving a parade and/or other fair-like activities
• un desfile = parade that is large and often military in nature
• una procession = parade that is religious in nature
• una calenda = the most common type of parade – I believe that it must include dancing ladies carrying baskets of fruit on their heads to qualify as a calenda (I’m not joking)
• un faral = a person in a parade carrying a large globe like float above his/her head (this may indeed be another criterion for a party in the streets to qualify as a “calenda”)

We have also learned some tricks along the way to help augment our limited vocabulary. I am especially fond of using “cognates” (words which are very similar between Spanish and English) when I speak. Sometimes when I don’t know the word for something, I attempt to “spanishize” the English (or French) word and see if it results in any sort of recognition (e.g. “directly” becomes “directemente” and “frequent” becomes “frecuentemente” (Dave’s rule: you must add at least 2 syllables)). I estimate that I have an approximate 60-70% success ratio with this and I have decided that, overall, there is little risk in trying this tactic. If the person I’m speaking with can’t understand English, I figure that my pretend Spanish words can’t result in a markedly less favourable situation. It is worth noting, however, that I have stumbled upon a few actual Spanish words that do not have the same connotation as their very similar English cognates. Some noteworthy examples are “excitante” and “embarazada”. Much to my surprise, “excitante” does mean excited but not in the way we would typically use it (as in, “I am excited to go to the parade”). Apparently, one should only use “excitante” if describing their level of sexual arousal…enough said. Similarly, one should not claim to be “embarazada” when embarrassed by something foolish that may have happened (i.e. using the wrong Spanish word). It turns out that, in this case, you are actually announcing to everyone that you are pregnant.

As a side note, our Spanish lessons have also shed light on some of our earlier interchanges. Some of you may recall our laundry fiasco from a few weeks back when nearly all of our clothing was AWOL (for a bit longer than anticipated) after it was taken away to be cleaned by the local laundress. At the time, we thought that the laundress’s name was “Orita” because whenever we inquired about the missing clothes, the caretaker mentioned “Orita” several times before going to check on the state of affairs. We now know that “ahorita” means “right now” and we suspect that our inquiries were actually met with explanations that the clothing was not ready “ahorita” but that he would indeed check on it – that he would go “ahorita”…either that or it was our smell that brought about the need to leave “ahorita”.