Will work for Spanish lessons

I have felt the normal pace coming back some this weekend. Before I catch you up on this weekend, I need to tell you about my “Hondurism” for last weekend. [All of the Spanish translators I have worked with will especially appreciate this one.]

Last Sunday, I attended church at San Miguel (actually Mololoa) with the Kluge group, Karen, and Katie. Before church, Randy asked me to “play translator” to ask one of the ministers about some needs in the community. You know me, I LOVE to use my Spanish as much as possible. So, I jumped at this and did okay. We struggled some, but we seemed to get all the main points across to each other. After the service, Randy had me ask the two guys if they wanted rides down the mountain. On the way, he got the idea to just ask them to lunch. In the car, I noticed the “Hondurism”. Yet, I thought I was mistaken. At lunch, my suspicions were confirmed. Are you ready? Here it is…..When I speak in Spanish, I need a Spanish translator. Did you read that right? Read it again. When I speak IN SPANISH, I need a SPANISH TRANSLATOR. :) Only I could do this. Let me explain.

Earlier, I told you who all went. Among the group, I probably have the most Spanish—nothing to brag about (it’s not a lot more). But, let’s not forget that Southern accent (I love it in English…not with Spanish). I sat next to the preachers so that I could talk to them. Randy sat nearby to discuss more needs of the community. So, I was the translator for that. Well, in speaking to the two of them, I noticed one of them whispering in Spanish to the other what I had just said. And it wasn’t really any different. “Yo quiero…” “Ella quiere…” Sometimes he would swap the order of the words when I had messed them up; yet, they were basically the same words. It was humorous but a little frustrating. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and asked where they were from (I thought my “Honduran” dialect was too much of a difference). The one that could understand me is from Dominican Republic. The one that couldn’t (later he told me that he understands about 80%)…you guessed it…from HONDURAS!!! What’s up with that? 90% of my Spanish was learned here! I guess I just need to work on losing the Southern influence.

So there is my “Hondurism” for the week. How cute, huh? Just say it again…Jen needs a Spanish translator when she speaks in Spanish. I just have to smile.