In Spanish when there is a miscommunication we call it a malentendido which literally means "badly understood". For me, malentendidos usually result from people using words I don't understand or missing a transition between topics. However usually i am the only one who doesn't understand whats going on. And sometimes if I'm lucky the other person won't catch on that I'm not understanding a word they are saying. (Smiling and nodding gets you a long way...) But every once in awhile conversations come along where me and the person(s) i'm talking to are both confused and we have to rewind and start the conversation over again. Here are two of the funniest examples.
1. One night we went out with our rafting guides. I was talking to the Chilean guide who had lived in the jungle in chili for 15 years prior to moving to Arequipa to be a rafting guide. We were talking about the wild life in the jungle. I asked if there were a lot of insects and spiders. He said that there were many different species of insects and spiders he had never seen before but that they never bothered him. I must have tuned out for a second because the next thing I heard was something something something mono. Mono is slang for 'cute' but also means 'monkey'. I thought he was saying the spiders were cute. I said that they were absolutely not cute especially when they are big, to which he replied that they're pretty small for their species. He held his hands about 8 inches apart and said most of them are about that size to 1 foot. My eyes got huge with disgust and fear and all i could think to say was, "but they have so many legs!" His face flooded with confusion as he said, "they only have two.." So then I said "What are we talking about!?" to which he replied (in English - i think he felt sorry for me) "Monkies!" I laughed for a long time before explaining that I thought he was talking about cute monster spiders. Now he calls me mona chica now. I choose to believe he is calling me cute instead of a monkey.
2. The first night I was in Arequipa I was talking to my parents in the car heading home from the University. I was dead tired, and it was noisy from all the traffic. Lets just say my brain wasn't functioning in full and I was being slammed with constant spanish that i could only half hear from the constant honking of cars around us. It was overwhelming. So we're driving and papi is asking me all kinds of questions about my university and home and friends, etc. So he asks "Donde viven tus padres?" (Where do your parents live?) but i heard "Beben tus padres?" (Do your parents drink?) So naturally I replied "No. No beben" (no. They don't drink) But they heard "No. No viven" (They don't live). So mami goes hysterically with phrases like "I'm so sorry! What a shame! What happened! Are you ok!?" to which I replied "no me importa mucho" (I don't care much). I was confused by her overwhelming response. Mami and Papi exchanged a look of horror and I asked if I said some thing wrong. So then Mami bursts out with "tus padres son muertos?" (Your parents are dead?) The shock on my face was enough to break the ice and set the tone for our relationship the rest of the semester. We laughed the rest of the ride home. I think I apologized 7 times for the misunderstanding. Let is stand for the record that my parents are alive and well, but they don't drink and it doesn't bother me much.
Language is hard but i love learning : ) Keeps me modest.
1. One night we went out with our rafting guides. I was talking to the Chilean guide who had lived in the jungle in chili for 15 years prior to moving to Arequipa to be a rafting guide. We were talking about the wild life in the jungle. I asked if there were a lot of insects and spiders. He said that there were many different species of insects and spiders he had never seen before but that they never bothered him. I must have tuned out for a second because the next thing I heard was something something something mono. Mono is slang for 'cute' but also means 'monkey'. I thought he was saying the spiders were cute. I said that they were absolutely not cute especially when they are big, to which he replied that they're pretty small for their species. He held his hands about 8 inches apart and said most of them are about that size to 1 foot. My eyes got huge with disgust and fear and all i could think to say was, "but they have so many legs!" His face flooded with confusion as he said, "they only have two.." So then I said "What are we talking about!?" to which he replied (in English - i think he felt sorry for me) "Monkies!" I laughed for a long time before explaining that I thought he was talking about cute monster spiders. Now he calls me mona chica now. I choose to believe he is calling me cute instead of a monkey.
2. The first night I was in Arequipa I was talking to my parents in the car heading home from the University. I was dead tired, and it was noisy from all the traffic. Lets just say my brain wasn't functioning in full and I was being slammed with constant spanish that i could only half hear from the constant honking of cars around us. It was overwhelming. So we're driving and papi is asking me all kinds of questions about my university and home and friends, etc. So he asks "Donde viven tus padres?" (Where do your parents live?) but i heard "Beben tus padres?" (Do your parents drink?) So naturally I replied "No. No beben" (no. They don't drink) But they heard "No. No viven" (They don't live). So mami goes hysterically with phrases like "I'm so sorry! What a shame! What happened! Are you ok!?" to which I replied "no me importa mucho" (I don't care much). I was confused by her overwhelming response. Mami and Papi exchanged a look of horror and I asked if I said some thing wrong. So then Mami bursts out with "tus padres son muertos?" (Your parents are dead?) The shock on my face was enough to break the ice and set the tone for our relationship the rest of the semester. We laughed the rest of the ride home. I think I apologized 7 times for the misunderstanding. Let is stand for the record that my parents are alive and well, but they don't drink and it doesn't bother me much.
Language is hard but i love learning : ) Keeps me modest.
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