Friday, September 26, 2008

Another fun translation

Well, supposedly we're supposed to get the internet today, I'm not counting on it though, because if there's one thing that six weeks of waiting for internet in Colombia has taught me, it's to not get my hopes up. I remember learning this lesson in Puerto Rico too, but I'd since forgotten it...I spent too many years in Chicago I guess.

My roommate Tina just called the Telmex guy who we've been dealing with, the one who doesn't seem to know anything and doesn't do his job very well. He's been saying for a week that someone is coming today (by the way we had a choice of either today or November 17th...I thought that was a joke, it wasn't) but Tina just called him and he seemed to not know anything about someone coming to install it today. Ridiculous.

Anyway, other than that ongoing annoyance, things are good here. The weather is still 85 and sunny everyday, which is just fantastic. The mountain views are gorgeous, did I mention that I can see them from my balcony at home? And the Spanish is coming along. I have my good days and my bad days with it, sometimes I'm right on and can understand everything and even think of words I'd like to say in response...and other days I don't understand a word and I can't seem to think of one word I've ever learned in Spanish.

This is the first weekend since I moved here that I don't have any obligatory meetings, workshops, or outings. So, I'm really excited about that. I've purposely been noncommital to any planmakers because that's just the way I am and also I am going to relish the time to do whatever it is I want to do this weekend.

There was one cute story from school this week, one that I can recall at the moment. This student came in and we were sitting in a circle in the classroom getting ready to do a community circle activity. Anyway, this kid has trouble remembering to raise his hand and he blurted out (as he was motioning that his stomach was very bloated) that he felt like he was "embarassed." There had been a bake sale that morning and the kids were all sugared up, so he was trying to say that he felt pregnant (embarazado). I had to explain that I've made the opposite mistake of saying I felt "embarazado" when really I meant embarassed. I wonder if there's any way to find the origin of those two words to see if they come from a common one? That would be interesting. Amy, why don't you get right on that, since you're my researcher for statues in Colombia.

1 comment:

Amy said...

I have found many answers to your embarrassed/pregnant question, but I don't understand any of them. I have, however, learned what a cognate is. The problem with these two particular words is that they're false cognates. Anyways, here's something that someone blogged on some site. I don't know if it's true, but it's the easiest explanation I could find:

The first definition (historically, I’m sure, since it’s not the most common use) of embarazo in Spanish is “obstacle, impediment,” the second being “state of being pregnant.” The original sense of embarrass in English, up until 1828, was to “perplex, or throw into doubt” which further derives directly from “obstacle” and “to block, to bar.” It’s easy enough to see how we could be embarrassed (modern sense) by someone or something blocking us or perplexing us (original sense). So all that remains is to connect being pregnant with being blocked or obstructed. I don’t want to assume it’s as simple as a baby growing inside you is a rather obvious obstruction.