Talking of Life in
LaMarina MAS DESPACHIO, POR FAVOR ! STILL AT IT By John McGregor If you don’t know what the first bit above means, then you : a. Can’t be arsed to learn Spanish. b. Are bothering to learn, but you havn’t got that far yet. c. Want to find out…if so, read on.. Mas despachio, por favor actually means ‘slower, please’, or generally used as ‘can you speak a bit more slowly please ? ’( I might get it if you didn’t speak so fast ! ). Thing is…have you had a go, or is it just point a) that applies to you ? If you have, then you know it’s not that easy, is it ? I know, because I’m not that thick ( honest ), but I’ve been at it ten years, on and off, and I’ve still got loads to go before I consider myself able to say ‘Hablo espanol’ ( I speak Spanish ) with any conviction. Here are one or two of my experiences trying to learn the lingo… When I first bought a place here, I needed some building work done. Nothing too fancy, some slabs and a few steps at the back for a small patio. Everyone around seemed to use and recommend the same bloke, called Harry, a surly Londoner, on the grounds that he was cheap, but definitely not cheerful. We agreed the price and I said I would come with him in his heap of a car to the builders yard to buy the materials needed. In a self-inflicted cloud of dust we swept into the very small Spanish builders yard ( before Cano’s got big and expanded ). Harry abruptly ‘parked’ his filthy ancient ( English ) saloon car right in the middle of several pallets of materials where several fork lift trucks were moving jerkily around us. Harry jumped out and grabbed a bag of cement from a nearby pallet, tossed it casually into his boot, loudly uttering the immortal words to the nearby watching hefe – ‘ Uno sacko of cemento ! ‘He swung round to observe me, helplessly crying with barelysuppressed laughter, leaning against his car for support. ‘ What ‘re you pissing yourself about ? ‘ he demanded. I managed to gasp out ‘ Learn
Spanish with Harry - lesson one – at the builders yard – Harry’s tip ‘ if in doubt, use the English word, and put an ‘o’ on the end – Uno sacko of cemento !’ I couldn’t resist it, and I continued – ‘Don’t tell me, I know the next bit…Uno saco of sando ?’ Harry was not the sort of bloke you took the piss out of, not if you wanted to go on living. He stared coldly at me, belligerently insisting ‘well, it ‘effing well is, innit - uno saco of cemento !’. Well, of course, he was right, the laugh was on me really, it is uno sacko of cemento….. but the meeting of Spanish and English made my day.
I’ve heard
other such gems in action, such as ‘uno beero, ta’ in the bar, or ‘ow moocho ?’ holding up the item in question, but I still snigger when I see or hear cemento !. A retired couple I know moved out into the sticks from La Marina Urb, and later their daughter and son-in-law, plus their two grandchildren
came
to live on the Urb. The grandchildren started school in the village, and were staying with their grandparents for the weekend. The Grandad suggested to the six year old she came with him to the town to get some wire he needed. In the very Spanish shop he put into practice his very basic Spanish, trying to describe with difficulty what he wanted. He received a full tilt Spanish reply, in the form of a question back from the older lady
FOUL EYE The old AIM mob have re-invented themselves with a new name, can’t remember what it is, but there’s trouble already! Barrera has been seen around in public, glaring at everyone...The Centro Social building next to the copshop continues to baffle us all, as to what its for, as no local groups can use it, the w*!ky Town Hall kicked ‘em all out in July for ‘re-decorating’, now no-one can use it except of course the Town Hall for their own meetings and playthings. Local groups must go elsewhere and pay! New shops, bars and restaurants who don’t know there’s a recession on continue to open, bless ‘em...and then close! There’s a few green shoots around though, like builders building, painters painting etc between the rain, but they always do around Easter, don’t they, so I don’t think it’s a pointer to the economy. I’ll keep my ear to the ground, if there’s any ‘ hold the front page’ news, I’ll let you know…
shopkeeper, of which he understood not a word. He shook his head quizzically and she repeated
up with ‘she says do you want the thin one or the
La Marina & San Fulgencio Residents Association
thick one ?’. Disbelievingly he said to the little girl
Surgeries: Thursday 11:00
‘ Tell her I want the thick one ‘, and the cherub
to 13:00 at Youth Club, Av.
obliged brilliantly in fluent Spanish, to which the
Antonio Quesada, Urb. La
lady replied with another seemingly unintelligible
Marina (underneath new
her question, only slightly slower. He still felt as if he were on Mars, when his granddaughter piped
burst. He stared blankly, but gratefully at his granddaughter as she translated ‘ you’ll have to come back this afternoon, we’re getting a delivery
church). Website: www.lmsfra.webs.com,
later‘. Kids, they have no fear,
e-mail: lmsfra@gmail.com.
have they ?
Peter Dixon La Marina &
So, come on then, be honest now, hablas espanol
San Fulgencio Residents
?
Associationc/o C. Alicante 60,
a ) Eh ? ( shame on you ! ) b) Si, pero esta despachio ! ( como yo ! ) c) Hablo espanol bien, gracias ( no como yo! ) Buena suerte ! ( look it up ! )
Urb. La Marina, 03177 San Fulgencio, Alicante. lmsfra@gmail.com
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