Language Barriers

I’ve come to realize in Mexico that a pretty good measure of how fluent you are in a language is how well you get the jokes. It’s happened several times that we’ve been in a tour group with Mexicans where the guide will make a joke, or so I assume, because everyone but the Americans will laugh. I usually end up laughing too, because the site of 20 Americans looking at each other trying to figure out what happened is almost as funny as whatever it was the guide said.

In my art class a couple weeks ago I realized that the language barrier, like most things, is two-sided. I’m the only American in the class, and my classmates were asking me if I understood their slang and swear words. I explained that I was getting better, but a lot was still over my head. They told me that they watch mainly American movies, so they have a pretty good grasp on American slang. They then proceeded to demonstrate.

“F***,” said the girl next to me. “That’s a really bad one, right?”

I laughed. “Yeah, that’s a pretty bad word,” I said. Then the rest of the class joined in, going through a list of every curse word they knew. Before I knew it, the professor had joined in too. At this point I was cracking up, and at first they thought they were saying them wrong.

“No,” I explained, “it’s just not that common to hear in class.” They realized how ridiculous the situation was then and we all had a good laugh.

Another time something is lost in translation is during movies. We went to see Gone Girl here, which was in English with Spanish subtitles. We noticed that the rest of the audience was laughing at different parts than we were (not that there was that much laughter; NOT a funny movie), and it was obvious that some of the references just did not translate well.

Stories like this have been some of my most educational moments in Puebla. It’s incredibly eye-opening to live in another culture, especially one with a different language, and I’m hopeful that one day I will get the jokes. 🙂

Guanajuato, Cervantes Style

I keep checking Mexican states off my list; this past weekend we headed to Guanajuato and Queretaro (probably my favorite to say) to see a little more of central Mexico. We started on Friday at Peña de Bernal, a monolith that dominates the landscape for miles. From there we went to a vineyard and winery which had a very Tuscan feel and was a nice place to relax after the hike.

On Saturday we moved on to Guanajuato where we started the day with the mummies of Guanajuato. The conditions of the climate and the soil caused many bodies in the area to mummify naturally, and there is a museum dedicated to them in the city. We also went to a museum that was formerly a prison used by the Spanish Inquisition here in Mexico. There was some interesting history, but the atmosphere of the museum was different from what I expected, with tour guides dressed as monks, Halloween-style spider webs everywhere, and fake skeletons strapped into the torture devices. Both of these museum bothered me a little bit, but I felt like I got my first glimpse of the slightly more cavalier Mexican attitude toward death, which I will probably be seeing a lot more of with Day of the Dead coming up.

From there we headed to the mine of La Valenciana. This was one of the large silver mines in Guanajuato, which was another interesting slice of history. There is a church built over the mine, but we weren’t able to go in because there was something going on inside. For the end of the day, we made our way to the town center. The centro is pretty different from Puebla’s because the town is built right into the valley and the surrounding mountains. The streets are much narrower and more winding, so you never know when you’re going to turn a corner and find yourself on top of the city with a beautiful view.

Even better, there was a Miguel de Cervantes Festival going on this weekend, so we got to see the town at its best. The streets were packed with tourists, locals, and the occasional minstrel dressed in Renaissance garb. There was lots of live music and street food, and a group of us decided to take a tour led by a group of the aforementioned minstrels, one of whom broke character with his gauges. He had some mad cape-twirling skills, though, so it was all good. They took us on a tour of the city’s winding back streets, pausing regularly to sing traditional Mexican songs and tell us stories about the area. We finished the night with possibly the best quesadilla I’ve had here yet, and of course a heartbreaking loss to FSU. (Was is though? We’ll never really know …  Either way, love thee Notre Dame!)

Just us and some minstrels, chilling in Guanajuato. 🙂

On Sunday we went to another town, San Miguel de Allende. This is a popular spot for Americans to retire, so while the town had a Mexican feel I did see a fair number of other gringos.  There were some incredible churches (of course) and a great handicraft market. We ate at a cool café with a rooftop view and wandered into a courtyard featuring a fountain with lily pads, an orange tree, and a Starbucks, and then headed back to Puebla.

Although the Festival Cervantino was the highlight of my weekend, I loved seeing the landscapes in these states. Its very rugged and mountainous, and the towns really seem to meld in with the landscape instead of sticking out or altering the natural setting; it’s incredibly beautiful. Who knows? Someday I might join the ranks of American retirees in San Miguel de Allende.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post. My iPhone got stolen a music festival in Mexico City a couple weeks ago, so any pictures are stolen from someone else.