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| INTRODUCTION |
| Joseph: “Under a mattress of clouds” |
| Beatriz: Muy bienvenidos. |
| Joseph: Beatriz, ¿qué tal? |
| Beatriz: Muy bien, Joseph. Disfrutando de la primavera americana. ¿Y a ti cómo te va? |
| Joseph: Bueno no me puedo quejar, estoy bien. Aquí estamos pues. |
| Beatriz: En la decimoséptima lección del ciclo peruano. Joseph, en la conversación de hoy. |
| Joseph: ¿Sí? |
| Beatriz: Ángel y Charo se quejan de la humedad de Lima en el invierno. |
| Joseph: And would you say that these kind of complaints like the ones Ángel y Charo make are likely to be heard in Lima? |
| Beatriz: Definitely! We have to complain about the cold weather. We, Peruvians, don’t know how good we have it. |
| Joseph: Que chistoso. But there’s really something to that. I mean, it doesn’t get that cold, but with all the moisture the heat index kind of works against you. |
| Beatriz: Yes, you’re right! But there’s a romantic side to it, too. |
| Joseph: True! |
| Beatriz: When the fog fills the streets at night, you kind of feel like you’re living in the clouds. |
| Joseph: Which is odd since you’re 300 feet above the Pacific Ocean and in the middle of the desert. |
| Beatriz: The thing is Peru is a small country and many people don’t know much about our geography. |
| Joseph: How do you mean? |
| Beatriz: Well, Lima for example, is one of the many microclimates that represent Peru’s unique weather. Por más feo que sea el invierno. |
| Joseph: Well, there you have it, folks! An authentic Peruvian complaint about the weather. Bea, what does that mean? Por más feo que sea el invierno. |
| Beatriz: No matter how awful winter may be. |
| Joseph: Alright! So, before we jump in here, I just want to remind everyone to reference this lesson with Newbie Lesson 17 to really get the most out of these Regional Lessons. |
| Beatriz: Entonces, my friends presentemos las conversaciones de hoy. |
| Joseph: First, we’ll hear the conversation from Newbie Lesson 17 where Marcos, Felix and Olivia talk about rainy Concepción. |
| Beatriz: In that lesson, this is what we heard: |
| DIALOGUE - NORMAL |
| MARCOS: Hay muchas nubes. |
| FÉLIX: Sí, está nublado. |
| OLIVIA: Siempre hay nubes en Concepción. |
| MARCOS: El cielo está gris |
| OLIVIA: Hay niebla también. |
| Joseph: This time with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| FÉLIX: Hay muchas nubes. |
| FÉLIX: “There are a lot of clouds.” |
| MARCOS: Sí, está nublado. |
| MARCOS: “Yes, it’s cloudy out.” |
| OLIVIA: Siempre hay nubes en Concepción. |
| OLIVIA: “There are always clouds in Conception.” |
| MARCOS: El cielo está gris. |
| MARCOS: “The sky is grey.” |
| OLIVIA: Hay niebla también. |
| OLIVIA: “There is fog, too.” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Joseph: So, even though that conversation takes place in Chile, I think it’s safe to say that it would be understood all throughout the Spanish speaking world. |
| Beatriz: Claro cualquiera lo entendería. Anyone would understand it! |
| Joseph: Now, let’s listen to what this conversation might sound like in Lima, a metropolis in the middle of the desert. |
| DIALOGUE - PERUVIAN |
| ÁNGEL: ¡Cuánta humedad! |
| CHARO: Sí, está totalmente cubierto. |
| ÁNGEL: Bueno, en el invierno limeño nadamos en agua. |
| CHARO: Es verdad, estamos bajo un colchón de nubes. |
| ÁNGEL: Este clima de locos me da mucha alergia. |
| Joseph: Once again slowly! Una vez más, esta vez lentamente. |
| ÁNGEL: ¡Cuánta humedad! |
| CHARO: Sí, está totalmente cubierto. |
| ÁNGEL: Bueno, en el invierno limeño nadamos en agua. |
| CHARO: Es verdad, estamos bajo un colchón de nubes. |
| ÁNGEL: Este clima de locos me da mucha alergia. |
| Joseph: This time with the translation! Ahora incluiremos la traducción. |
| ÁNGEL: ¡Cuánta humedad! “It’s so muggy out!” |
| CHARO: Sí, está totalmente cubierto. “Yes, it’s totally overcast.” |
| ÁNGEL: Bueno, en el invierno limeño nadamos en agua. “Well, in Lima in the winter we swim in water.” |
| CHARO: Es verdad, estamos bajo un colchón de nubes. “That’s right! We are under a mattress of clouds.” |
| ÁNGEL: Este clima de locos me da mucha alergia. “This crazy weather makes my allergies act up.” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Joseph: Ah Concepcion. |
| Beatriz: Ah verdad. ¿Tú vivías ahí por un tiempo no, Joseph? You used to live there, didn’t you? |
| Joseph: Yes, I did spend some time there. Really good time, too! |
| Beatriz: Did it rain much? |
| Joseph: Only like the first 90 days I was there. |
| Beatriz: ¡Qué horror! It was a good welcome for you, right? |
| Joseph: It was, it was. I mean, you go to just North of Patagonia and it rains for three months. What else do you want? |
| Beatriz: Alright! Claro claro. |
| Joseph: And you know, after a while, you just kind of see passed it. |
| Beatriz: Yes, I’m sure. |
| Joseph: It’s just that you, costeños, through a feet as soon as the sun goes behind the clouds. |
| Beatriz: Okay! Let’s compare the conversations and see what makes the Peruvian conversation so Peruvian. |
| Joseph: Cool! Mind if we start out with the first line? |
| Beatriz: Not at all! |
| Joseph: Okay! In Newbie Lesson 17 they were talking about how cloudy it is, and Marcos says: |
| FÉLIX: Hay muchas nubes. |
| MARCOS: “There are a lot of clouds.” |
| Joseph: Hay muchas nubes. |
| Beatriz: Here, they seem to be talking about how the sky looks. |
| Joseph: Yes, I can see that! Hay muchas nubes. It sounds like he’s looking up. |
| FÉLIX: Hay muchas nubes. |
| Beatriz: Hay muchas nubes. |
| Joseph: “Look! That one looks like an elephant.” |
| Beatriz: But in the Peruvian version, we see something different. |
| Joseph: De acuerdo. |
| Beatriz: What do you say? |
| Joseph: I said “¡Cuánta humedad!”. “It’s so muggy.” |
| Beatriz: Primero lo primero mis amigos. First things first, my friends. |
| Joseph: What’s that, Beatrice? |
| Beatriz: Where’s the verb in the Peruvian version? |
| Joseph: Beatrice, there’s no verb. |
| Beatriz: ¿No hay? |
| Joseph: Ninguno. |
| Beatriz: Oh my gosh! So, what about the order to words? |
| Joseph: What about them? |
| Beatriz: Okay! |
| Joseph: Well, the word “humedad” looks an awful out like “humidity”, but the meaning is a little wider in Spanish. Sometimes “moisture” or as we have it here, “muggy”. |
| Beatriz: Right! And it kind of also mean “damp”. |
| Joseph: Damp, right! As for the word “cuanto”, if you go and look it up in your translation dictionary, you’re probably going to find that it means “how much” or “how many”, but that’s when it’s used in questions as in “¿Cuánto tiempo queda?” “How much time’s left?” |
| Beatriz: Claro , pero aquí tenemos una admiración. |
| Joseph: ¿Una qué? |
| Beatriz: Admiración. |
| Joseph: Todavía no te escucho. I still don’t hear you! |
| Beatriz: Admiración. |
| Joseph: Admiración. And what is “una admiración”, Beatrice? |
| Beatriz: ¡Cuánta humedad! |
| Joseph: ¡Cuánta humedad! Okay! So, it’s an exclamation! And when we use “cuánto” as an exclamation, the translation becomes a little more idiomatic. |
| Beatriz: ¿Cómo por ejemplo? |
| Joseph: Por ejemplo... For example, ¡Cuánta humedad!, literally “How much humidity!”, but figuratively translated, “It’s so muggy out.”, “How humid it is.”, etcetera. |
| Beatriz: Right! Or another example might be “¡Pero hace cuánto tiempo que no hablamos!”. |
| Joseph: Right! And that’s like saying “It’s been so long since we last spoke.” |
| Beatriz: Sure! Claro |
| Joseph: And before we move on, I just want to point out that the word “cuánto” here is in the masculine, singular, “cuánto tiempo” because “tiempo” is masculine and singular, whereas “cuánta” is feminine and singular. “¡Cuánta humedad!” since “humedad” is feminine and singular. |
| Beatriz: So, again, in Newbie Lesson 17 we heard: |
| MARCOS: Hay muchas nubes. |
| MARCOS: “There a lot of clouds.” |
| Beatriz: Hay muchas nubes, and in our Peruvian version we said: |
| Joseph: ¡Cuánta humedad! |
| Beatriz: And that means? |
| Joseph: “It’s so muggy out.” |
| Beatriz: Real quick! Let’s talk about the word “cubierto”. |
| Joseph: Cubierto. |
| Beatriz: “Cubierto” we heard it in the Peruvian conversation when I said “Sí, está totalmente cubierto.”. |
| Joseph: Right! And we can compare this with the Newbie conversation, where we heard: |
| FELIX: Sí, está nublado. |
| FELIX: “Yes, it’s cloudy out.” |
| Joseph: “Sí, está nublado.” Okay! So, what kind of word is “cubierto”? |
| Beatriz: Aquí es adjetivo. Here, it’s an adjective. |
| Joseph: And does this come from a verb? |
| Beatriz: Yes, from “cubrir”. |
| Joseph: Which means? |
| Beatriz: “To cover” |
| Joseph: So, then, does “covered” mean “covered”? |
| Beatriz: Sometimes. For example, “La mesa está cubierta de polvo”, very typical in the desert, “The table is covered with dust.” |
| Joseph: Okay! So, when we’re referring to the sky, we’re talking about cloud cover. |
| Beatriz: Right! “Está cubierto” means “It’s overcast.” |
| Joseph: “Está cubierto”.“It’s overcast.” |
| Beatriz: ¡Cuántas nubes! |
| Joseph: “It’s so cloudy!” |
| Beatriz: Está totalmente cubierto. |
| Joseph: “It’s totally overcast.” Pea soup. |
| Beatriz: So, again, in Newbie Lesson 17 we heard: |
| FELIX: Sí, está nublado. |
| FELIX: “Yes, it’s cloudy out!” |
| Beatriz: Sí, está nublado. |
| Joseph: And in our Peruvian version we said: |
| Beatriz: Sí, está totalmente cubierto. |
| Joseph: “Yes, it’s totally overcast.” |
| Beatriz: Hablar de las nubes así me dan ganas de sentarme en unos de esos cafecitos al pie del malecón y tomarme una bebida caliente, un chocolatito. |
| Joseph: Un chocolate. |
| Beatriz: Yes! Oler el aire del mar y ver el sunset. |
| Joseph: The sunset. That’s interesting. Sunset is an English word which I completely used in Lima, it’s completely borrowed. |
| Beatriz: Yes! |
| Joseph: Sunset is really “la puesta del sol”, but you guys often prefer the English word sunset, right? |
| Beatriz: It’s very quick. |
| Joseph: It’s very quick. You’re very quick. |
| Beatriz: I almost forgot! The word “cubierto” has another meaning. |
| Joseph: And which meaning is that, Beatrice? ¿Cómo se usa? |
| Beatriz: I’m going to tell you. |
| Joseph: Well, tell me right now. |
| Beatriz: Alright! At breakfast, at lunch, at dinner time when you want to eat something, you always use it. |
| Joseph: My hands? |
| Beatriz: No, it’s not that. |
| Joseph: My mouth? |
| Beatriz: It’s something that shines like silver. |
| Joseph: Something that shines like silver… You must be talking about silverware. |
| Beatriz: Yes! |
| Joseph: So, “cubiertos” also the word “cubierto, cubiertos” also refers to silverware. |
| Beatriz: Yes, yes! So, don’t forget that. Ya es hora de enfocarnos un ratito en las costumbres. |
| Joseph: Customs, yes! And idiosyncrasies! Beatrice, what’s with this attitude towards the weather? What’s it all about? |
| Beatriz: ¿Qué? Es que hace un frío que te congelas. |
| Joseph: Come on, it doesn’t get that cold! |
| Beatriz: Well, okay! You’re right. But with all the moisture from the sea, te da un fríio, you know? |
| Joseph: Right, right! So, Beatrice, in today’s conversation, Charro says “estamos bajo un colchón de nubes” “We’re under a mattress of clouds.” |
| Beatriz: Right! |
| Joseph: Now, I know that before I came to Peru, I was imagining beautiful sunsets in the Pacific Ocean every day. I thought that it was just like, I guess I was kind of confused about it for like a Caribbean paradise or something, but it’s not Caribbean at all. I mean, it’s, I guess I was imagining like in Ecuadorian… |
| Beatriz: I get your point! I get your point! |
| Joseph: Bueno bueno. |
| Beatriz: But, I mean, you were a little bit wrong. Not too much, but a little bit. |
| Joseph: Okay, could you explain? |
| Beatriz: Because in Lima, I mean, it’s not the best place to watch the sunset, but you get pretty all nice sunsets, also. |
| Joseph: The reason that I bring it up is because the cloud cover over Lima and it’s not over all of Lima, that’s another thing that we should point out. It’s over the Coastal burrows of the city. The cloud cover can be so ominous sometimes, especially in the dead of winter, it just kind of hangs over there, sometimes you don’t see the sun, which is weird because you’re right next to the ocean and there’s palm trees and, you know, you’re in the desert. I mean, you expect there to be sun and more warm weather all the time, but that’s not the case, is it? |
| Beatriz: There are clichés. But you forget that we are next to the Pacific. |
| Joseph: Right! |
| Beatriz: When it’s cold, the water of the Pacific is a cold water. |
| Joseph: That’s right, that’s right! And it’s interesting because even in the summer, when you have you nice blue sky and the blazing sun all day, a lot of times when the sun starts to set, these clouds kind of roll in and the sun deeps into the clouds before it touches the water. |
| Beatriz: Of course! |
| Joseph: Right? |
| Beatriz: Yes! And in the summer is really beautiful. I really enjoy it to live on the Coast, and you know, to enjoy the sunsets there. |
| Joseph: Right, but we’re not talking about the summer, we’re talking about the winter. |
| Beatriz: Come on! All right! |
| Joseph: Okay! So, another interesting thing that we have to mention is that in the dead of winter it’s cloudy out for most of the time, there’s a lot of moisture, a lot of wet air, and if you go North one hour, if you go East one hour or South one hour, if you go to Chimbote or Chincha or Chosica, any of these places, you leave the climate. It’s a totally different climate. It’s hot, it’s sunny! |
| Beatriz: That’s right! That’s right! When I used to live four hours South of Lima, when I was worn up in Chncha, it was sunny every day. |
| Joseph: Right! It’s amazing how quickly the climate changes in such a small area. |
| Beatriz: That’s right! |
| Joseph: I mean, even in parts of Lima it might be cloudy in one part of the city and hot and sunny in another part. |
| Beatriz: Asíes. Así es Joseph. |
| Joseph: Now, there’s one other term that I just want to mention here. Alergía. In Lima we often say “me da alergía”, which literally means “It gives me allergy.” But, Beatrice, how would you describe the symptoms of this? What happens cuando te da alergia? |
| Beatriz: Ay esta bendita alergia. For me, it wasn’t comfortable, every morning in the winter, like I start to. |
| Joseph: So, you start to sneeze. |
| Beatriz: To sneeze every morning. Every morning, yes! |
| Joseph: Every morning, okay. And how do you say “to sneeze” in Spanish? |
| Beatriz: Estornudar. Estornudaba cada mañana, |
| Joseph: Okay! |
| Beatriz: sin parar |
| Joseph: Sin parar. Without it stopping, not stop. |
| Beatriz: Yes, people who live in Lima, they’re very allergic. |
| Joseph: Right! And for a native English speaker it can be a little confusing, because we tend to associate allergies with like hay fever or you have allergies to drugs or to certain foods or, you know, to like bees or something. And when you go to Lima in the winter everyone’s saying “Me da alergia”, it’s like “What are you allergic to?” and it has kind of a different connotation. |
| Beatriz: Yes, for every person Lima you say allergies about the word, they know what you’re talking about, because it’s very common. |
| Joseph: I mean, if I had to explain it, I would say that it’s kind of like a sinus cold. |
| Beatriz: Yes! |
| Joseph: You know, like it’s really in your throat, like a sinus cold is “un sinusitis”. |
| Beatriz: Yes! |
| Joseph: Or something like that. But it’s an interesting thing and to catch a cold is “resfriar” and the next step up, I guess, would be like “agriparse”, which is “to get the flu”, like my grandmother used to say “You’d better watch out or you’re going to get the grip.” |
Outro |
|---|
| Beatriz: Muy bien amigos, y se acabó la fiesta. |
| Joseph: That’s all the time we have for today! Thanks for joining us and don’t forget to reference this lesson with Newbie Lesson 17 to get a deeper understanding of the comparison we just made. |
| Beatriz: Also show us some love and leave us a post. |
| Joseph: Beatrice, [*] |
| Beatriz: [*] |
| Joseph: See you next time. |
| Beatriz: Hasta la próxima. |
| Joseph: Chao! |
| Beatriz: Bye-bye! |
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