Day 14: Despedida

Thursday September 10, 2009

Vocabulary

hombre: literally "man" but here used as an all-purpose exclamation, kind of like "wow," "oh my goodness," "well," and "um" all rolled into one

no hombre: sounds just like "nombre" ("name"), but literally "no man" and used as an all-purpose negative exclamation, like "no way" or "get out of here"

Photos

Despedida

I should have put today's vocabulary ("hombre" and "no hombre") in the very first post.  "Hombre" is absolutely ubiquitous.  I'd noticed it talking to Manuel's parents on the phone and thought it sounded funny, but it's used by everyone and in many more situations than I had realized.  Non-vulgar non-profane exclamations are a major gap in my Spanish, and even most Hispanic church members that I've met use "Dios mio" ("my God") very regularly.  It would take me a while to get used to using "hombre" this way, and of course it would sound funny to most Spanish speakers, but it's nice to know at least there is an alternative in at least one dialect of Spanish.

Today was my last day in El Salvador.  It's a long ride to the airport, so I pretty much did last minute packing, said some last goodbyes, and left for the airport.  Once there I accidentally got in the line for those with extra baggage, so all the people in front of me took a really long time.  But there were many fewer people in front of me than there would have been in the other line, so I think it worked out about the same.  The baggage clerk was a young guy who had obviously spent time in the US; his English was better than his Spanish.  He seemed happy to be able to speak English with me.


Once I was past security, it felt a lot like I was already back in the states, and I felt like the whole experience was already starting to fade.  There were some darling little blond, blue-eyed children in the waiting area speaking perfect Spanish to their American father and Salvadoran mother, which gave me hope for teaching my children Spanish someday.


On the way here I noticed that most of the passengers were elderly and that many required wheelchairs.  This time around I counted the wheelchairs.  There were thirteen.  The most I've seen before is about two.


And before I knew it, I was back at JFK, with Manuel eagerly awaiting me and a psychiatry rotation to start in two days.  I hope you've enjoyed my account of my trip.  It was quite an experience.