Amanda's Adventures

Oh the joys of second language learning…

So, I have a funny story for all y’all. 

Yesterday Michael, Maya and I went to the beach with one of our doctors from last week, Dany. We went to Playa Durada on the north coast of the country. It’s a very popular tourist destination but we went to a spot further down on the beach that was less crowded and has cheaper food, drinks, etc. than the beach directly in front of the resorts. While we were walking in, I noticed all the houses were empty in the small town around us. It was a neighborhood of more than 50 houses, just standing empty like a ghost town.

We had a wonderful time at the beach and while we were walking past the houses on our way out I said, “Dany, ¿Por qué todas las casas son vacas?” 

Dany just looked and me and started to laugh, then said, “Cows? Houses are cows?”

Yes, vacas means cows. I had asked ‘Why are all the houses cows?’

I attempted to save face by quickly fixing my mistake and using the correct word for empty which is vacias. It didn’t really work and we all had a good laugh about my slip up. 

It was not the first and will not be the last time I speak Spanish incorrectly but it was one of the funniest. Having a sense of humor is key when you’re learning a new language & culture.