Stevie's Lost In Translation

If you know Stevie, as many of you do, then you know she LOVES to talk. She'll talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. She is by nature a communicator. She is also Sicilian, so you cannot expect her to suppress her vibrant verbal nature just because she doesn't know the language. Perhaps that is why she is learning Spanish so much faster than the average student.

Language is a funny thing. You take a bunch of letters and string them together to make a single word. Group those words together and you can verbally communicate just about anything.  Now, take those same words and try to translate them into another language with the intent of communicating the same message. This is where my lovely Sicilian communicator keeps getting herself into trouble.

For instance, when we were at the ferry terminal Stevie had a conversation with a nice old man. He asked if we had kids, and Stevie patted her belly and said "Ya No, Ya No."  Her intention was to say "Not Yet," but what she actually said with a big smile as she rubbed her tummy was "Not Anymore." And that explained the horrified look on the poor Catholic mans face as he walked away shaking his head.

Another example... My little lady has quite a temper, and for a while she was fond of saying "Tengo rabia," meaning "I'm enraged." Thanks to our friend Miguel, we now know she was actually saying "I have rabies," which I personally like a lot better, especially when directed at me.

We got a curious smile from a guy in Baja when Stevie said "Estoy caliente," intending to say "I'm hot" (because of the weather). What she actually said was "I'm horny." Despite the fact that she now knows the correct word is calor, all I ever hear is caliente, caliente, caliente.

Want more? There are many native Indians still living around Mexico and we've been interested in meeting indigenous people. Stevie, being fearless, has told these people... "Quiero mas aprender sobre indigentes," trying to say that she wants to learn more about indigenous people. Only "indigentes" means "homeless people."  I don't think they took it personal, but it's real hard to tell.

My favorite one of all was when Stevie was talking to a Mexican couple about surfing. She shamelessly stated... "Yo tengo mierda," meaning "I have fear"... except the word for fear is "miedo." Stevie, with all of her dramatic hand expressions, informed everyone that "I have shit".

I don't expect these moments are over. We've got too many countries to go through, and there are too many people for Stevie to practice on. At least I'm getting really good at reading facial expressions. At this point when I detect confusion, skepticism, or plain horror, I just break out the dictionary. TREE