LANGUAGE BARRIER
After two and a half years living in Mexico, my Spanish should ROCK... but it still needs lots of help. Unfortunately, I spend more time with Canadians and Americans than I do with Mexicans. I am ashamed of this, but I suppose it's true that when in a foreign country that those people flock together that speak the same language.
I was fortunate enough to meet another cruiser who is Mexican. Susana from Gold Eagle and I agreed to meet periodically to trade language help to one another. She was instrumental in teaching me great colloquial Spanish words, pronunciations and inflections. For example, JUEVOS in Mexico does in fact mean eggs... but it also refers to a man's... well, you get the idea. So, a way not to become the brunt of a joke is to use the word BLANQUILLOS. Now that's something I never learned from the textbooks! In turn, I taught Susana better pronunciation and shared some US colloquial slang. We laughed so hard!
As for Jim... he has a fraction of the Spanish language that I have, though in fairness he spoke not one Spanish word when we met. He has improved immensely. However, he even admits he needs more practice... and there is no doubt in my mind. For example, we spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon familiarizing ourselves with Los Mochis yesterday. We stopped and had lunch at a typical Mexican cafe inside one of the mercados. The menu was on thew wall behind me. I had Chili Rellenos (one of my all time favorites). Jim asked me what was BISTEK. I told him it was a thin slice of beef steak usually smothered in a sauce.
"Are you sure?" asked Jim.
"I'm positive. I've bought it from the butcher before."
So, Jim ordered and said, "Bistek Hidalgo Ranchero, pro favor." When it arrived he took one bite and glared at me.
"It's liver!" Jim hates liver. His mother used to serve it and he hated it then. From his expression it was clear he hated it now, too.
"No it's not... it's beef steak." I took a bite. "Uh-oh... it's liver."
"You told me Bistek was meat. You said you knew what it was. You were wrong!"
"No I was not wrong... BISTEK is BEEF STEAK."
I turned around and read the menu on the wall behind me and turned back to Jim.
"You ordered BISTEK HIGADO. You didn't order just plain BISTEK. Higado must mean liver." I was trying to stifle my laughter.
My Chili Relleno was fantastic. The cost for both our plates was about $3.75 each for a large portion of delicious food. I asked Jim why he ordered the HIGADO instead of the regular BISTEK. He replied that it was 2 pesos less. I told him he deserved the liver for being SO CHEAP!
I had only eaten half my Chili Relleno, so I let Jim finish my lunch. We wrapped up Jim's order of liver and took it back to the boat with us. I think it tastes delicious... mild flavor with onion and pepper Ranchero sauce. The kids tried it and decided they hate it, too. So for dinner last night I ate liver and shared it with the only ones who wanted some... the begging kitty and dog.
