{"id":2738,"date":"2020-01-06T08:53:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T14:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/?p=2738"},"modified":"2020-01-07T17:02:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T23:02:15","slug":"i-think-spanitanglish-is-a-real-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/i-think-spanitanglish-is-a-real-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"I Think Spanitanglish is a Real Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Spanitanglish understood here … and also has yummy farinata!<\/p><\/div>\n

I noticed\u00a0an interesting\u00a0glitch\u00a0in my brain when I\u00a0visited\u00a0the Azores earlier this year,\u00a0and\u00a0also\u00a0during a recent trip Greece. It seems that because I have been spending so much time traveling to Spanish-speaking countries in the last 10 years, I automatically just start speaking Spanish almost as soon as I step off the plane in any non-English speaking country.\u00a0 “Excuse me” almost instantly becomes “con permiso<\/em>”\u00a0and “sorry”,\u00a0“lo siento<\/em>”\u00a0and “help me”, “ayudame<\/em>“.\u00a0 That’s all well and good in Central America and, well, Spain, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0weird that\u00a0my brain makes my mouth say words in Spanish\u00a0even if I see the Greek alphabet!<\/p>\n

And something\u00a0extraordinary happened in Italy last week.\u00a0 I spent the flight to Milan re-learning pleasantries, common phrases and numbers and a bunch of other fun things in Italian (kudos to the Emirates personal entertainment system!)\u00a0so I could hit the ground running with “parla inglese?<\/em>“, “grazie mille<\/em>“,\u00a0scusi<\/em>“, “aiutami<\/em>“, “dov’\u00e8 il bagno, per favore<\/em>” and\u00a0<\/span>“abbondanza<\/em>”\u00a0to augment my\u00a0very\u00a0advanced food vocabulary “focaccia<\/em>“, “carciofi<\/em>“, “coniglio<\/em>“, and all those phonetic Brooklyn bastardizations from my childhood like “basta fazool<\/em>” “gabbadeels<\/em>” and “ba fungool<\/em>“.\u00a0 But now this brain glitch seems to have mutated into something I might want to trademark (watch out Esperanto<\/em>!)\u00a0 It just mixes up Spanish and English,\u00a0and then adds the beautiful\u00a0Italian pronunciation\u00a0and\u00a0BANG,\u00a0Spanitanglish<\/em>! Sometimes\u00a0I change\u00a0“por<\/em>” to “per<\/em>” but only if my brain\u00a0lets me. I try to throw in some Italian words like “biglietti<\/em>” but only after “Quisiera comprar un<\/em>“.\u00a0 I quickly learned how to say “Para llevar<\/em>” in Italian, but inconsistently and honestly it really didn’t matter.\u00a0 9 out of 10 people in all 5 towns that were subjected to this new language spoke English\u2014you think that would stop me from trying.\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 Years ago, when I was in Greece and practiced and rehearsed\u00a0gyro preferences for my colleagues so I could order in Greek from the gyro guy\u2014one with onions, two\u00a0without, two with yogurt, one without, two with cucumbers, one without.\u00a0 I remember slowly reciting the order\u00a0while\u00a0the gyro guy leaned on his elbow, perfectly poised to cut me off\u00a0sometime after\u00a0my mangled\u00a0attempt at “D\u00fdo g\u00fdro chor\u00eds kremm\u00fddia” <\/em>with a\u00a0bored “Just tell me what you want in English”.<\/p>\n

Efforts to try and communicate in Italian in these towns do not go unnoticed and I do believe are genuinely appreciated.\u00a0 Even Spanitanglish<\/em> if that’s all you can muster!<\/p>\n

I arrived in Manarola on December 26th, in the evening.\u00a0 It’s the fourth Cinque Terre village\u00a0starting\u00a0from the direction I was coming from, which I’m going to guess is northwest.\u00a0 Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.\u00a0 I\u00a0did want to visit the villages in order, but gave up that weird\u00a0OCD\u00a0plan (mostly because I found a beautiful apartment on Airbnb in Manarola).\u00a0 It was a long travel day and I was excited to get to my apartment and stroll around the fourth village at night. As we pulled into\u00a0Monterosso, the first village, the train filled up quickly with obvious tourists. What? I was already anxious because I forgot to validate my ticket in that platform machine thing at Sestri Levante and I was hoping the conductor wouldn’t come by before my stop and yell at me or fine me.\u00a0And now this? I purposely visited in the off-season, but I guess Christmas is pretty on-season, everywhere.\u00a0 Then another swarm of tourists shoved on at Corniglia, the third town, and I have to admit, I was a bit scared. It was already dark, where the hell were they going? Am I going to have to wait on lines? How am I going to find Giovanni at the train station?\u00a0 I was hoping they were all going to La Spezia, but I totally forgot about a pretty popular attraction in Manarola…Mario Andreoli’s magnificent\u00a0presepe.\u00a0 Ahhhh, ovviamente!\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>This life-size nativity is built on vineyard terraces above the town and is composed of more than\u00a0300 light sculptures that Mario started\u00a0with just one\u00a0cross almost 60 years ago.\u00a0 Every year since 1961 he added more figures and every year on December 8th, the nativity comes to life for the Christmas season with a big inaugural celebration!\u00a0 Mario is\u00a0close to 90 now and doesn’t\u00a0create the\u00a0sculptures anymore.\u00a0 There’s plenty of info on the web about this unique annual installation, this\u00a0is a cute one\u00a0https:\/\/www.italianways.com\/the-manarola-nativity-and-marios-lights\/ and Mario has a facebook page too https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/presepemanarola\/!\u00a0 I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him around the village,\u00a0maybe next year!<\/p>\n

My Airbnb host, Giovanni, miraculously found me and Stanley in the herd and led us up the hill to his apartment.\u00a0 Manarola is\u00a0a small place, there’s pretty much one street and few lanes that wind up and then over to other villages.\u00a0 The apartment was right past the church square (yes, the bells rang multiple times a day) and the view from the terrace was incredible! Unobstructed frontal view of the presepe<\/em>\u00a0at night and during the day, an amazing view of the town and the sea.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFull presepe from Giovanni’s terrace. Not only his apartment gorgeous, this view is from the couch in the living room, from the floor to ceiling doors to terrace. Stunning.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI need a telephoto lens for my new camera. This is the closest I could get. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSame view in the morning…see all the little figures?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIl Porticcolo, I ate here twice! Wonderful food and even more wonderful staff. Super patient with all the obnoxious tourists.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI had a light meal here after I got settled into my new apartment. \n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMerry Christmas everyone!\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis was molto delizioso\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tClose up of baby tentacles, so tender and yummy\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tManarola marina at night.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Giovanni carried my work bag, which actually weighs more than my life bag, and gave me a quick rundown of this season in Manarola, pointing out shops and walking paths that would be open.\u00a0 After getting settled in and taking a million pictures of the presepe from my new terrace, went out for a quick stroll and bite to eat at Da Aristide<\/em>, 1 of about 3 restaurants open in the village this time of year.\u00a0 Had to work the next day,\u00a0but had a bunch of hours to explore Manarola in the daylight!<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI keep meaning to look this up…these were all over all 5 villages. I’ll look up tomorrow and report back.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLoved this little place I passed by every day, open at the oddest hours. They sell voodoo there.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tInside the 13th century Chiesa di San Lorenzo, beautiful square at the top of the town.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPrayer candles, always so haunting\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFishing nets, saw so many fisherman at all hours of the day.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the way to Corniglia\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tView from the coastal path to Corniglia, which was closed\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnother view\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCliffside, above-ground cemetery. Now I don’t think I’d mind so much being in a box if the box were here!\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tUp close and personal with Mario’s sculpture\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThey’re so great up close in the daylight!\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHanging out on vineyard terraces\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe light is so fun here, wish I still shot b\/w film\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI was looking to see if I could find a legend for all these figures\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWinter vines\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnother view of village people\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSo Giovanni’s apartment is on the top floor of the first pink building to the right of the church.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tView of Manarola from the sky\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBehind the scenes\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOh yeah, you have to walk up to get here\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnd up…\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnd up…\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAnd then you get there! Hooray!\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHooooooooray!!\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis was around 1pm and I underexposed just a wee bit, but looks like it could be sunset\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tVineyards that look like they just fall into the sea\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHave to go back to work now, continuing on this path to Corniglia on Saturday…more Manarola to come\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks for reading, more Manarola and Corniglia domani<\/em>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Giovanni carried my work bag, which actually weighs more than my life bag, and gave me a quick rundown of this season in Manarola, pointing out shops and walking paths that would be open. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cinque-terre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2738"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2815,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2738\/revisions\/2815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}