Category Archives: Spanish
Keep your plumbing in tune…
For lack of any real Scotch here, I toasted Robbie Burns last week with some Sortilège, which I had brought over to my Barcelona hostess as a “uniquely Québécois gift”. It’s liqueur that mixes Canadian whisky and maple syrup — … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Spanish
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Palabritas del maldito día
I learned a few new Spanish words yesterday — ones I’d rather not have had to learn. Among them: la fiebre (fever); el malestar (discomfort); vomitar (pretty obvious); la diarrea (also needs no translation, but should not be confused with … Continue reading
Las persianas
Why don’t we have these in Canada? Sure we all know about “Persian blinds”, but it seems nobody in our cities actually has them (they’re more a country-cottage kind of thing)… Here in Spain, it seems every building has them. … Continue reading
Posted in Spanish, Travel
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Palabritas del día — alcantarilla
Well, I quickly polished off the chapter of las palabras de la vivienda, and have moved on to las de la ciudad. Here are a few from today’s studying… la alcantarilla — sewer. Lovely, eh? I put it in here … Continue reading
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Palabritas del día — silla
Here come more fun vivienda words and expressions… I’m racing on to the final page of that (remarkably useful) chapter. la silla — chair. Cuando me han liberado de mis responsabilidades, sentí que no era yo para silla ni para … Continue reading
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(Demasiadas) Palabritas del día — mesilla
Still racing my way through las palabras de la vivienda (about 75% done). Aquí estan algunas: la mesilla — bedside table. I remember it as what you’d get if you crossbred una mesa (table) and una silla (chair). A table … Continue reading
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Palabritas del día – cubertería
la cubertería — cutlery. Esta cucharilla mía forma parte de nuestra cubertería. — This teaspoon of mine is part of our cutlery. Not sure this sentence makes a whole lot of sense, but it does rhyme…somewhat. el despacho — study, … Continue reading
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The Grapes of…New Year’s?
Huzzah! It’s 2006! Aargh, turns out I missed out on a number of quirky and superstitious Spanish traditions. Funny that such a Catholic country has such strong superstitions. I just heard about one in particular, alas too late for 2006 … Continue reading
Posted in Just...life!, Spanish
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Palabritas del día – escurría
The “End of Food” has come at last… It’s been awhile since I did one of these vocabulary posts…but just because I wasn’t posting doesn’t mean I stopped learning my vocab! No…in fact, today I finally finished the last of … Continue reading
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El caganer — the great equalizer
Is there anything missing from your pastoral Nativity scene? “Nope, nothing,” you say. Are you sure? Let’s do the tally: you’ve got Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, some shepherds, an angel or two, some lowing cattle and maybe even a trio … Continue reading
Posted in Spanish, Travel
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