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Published: July 14th 2015
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Sigh. The Spanish language opened itself up to me about 20 years ago (cue the yikes of realization) and I have never been the same. Sitting back in my 8th grade classroom, Sra. Weaver scribbled the words "presente" and "ausente" on the board... and time stopped. It is a bit bizarre to think of such an innocuous moment as one that has so changed my way, but maybe I had an inkling even then. Maybe I knew that I would become obsessed. Maybe I already had.
So obsessed, you see, that a close lady friend and I embark tomorrow to Guatemala, making this my ninth Latin American country visited so far. And when I was writing a response email to dear Jesús, the first lad from whom we will be renting a room... I struggled.
Can you say "coger" in Guatemala?
Here's the deal: Jesús had kindly offered his friend's services to pick us up from the airport and deliver us to Antigua, a 45 minute drive, for just $35 USD. Not a bad offer, true, but we can hop on a shared shuttle for just $10 per person- and we are teachers, so... yeah. In writing him back, I began to tell him that though we were so grateful for his kind offer, we would be... be... taking? Oh crap. How do you say "taking" in Guatemala? Can I say "coger?" Or should it be "tomar?" "Subir?"
If you are not familiar with the Spanish language, you may believe at this point that it shouldn't be such a big deal which verb is chosen, because Jesús will understand. Even if the verb isn't the one that he would choose, he'd still be gracious and help a gringa out. The problem is this: "coger" means something a bit different in some countries than it does in others. If I used "coger" in Ecuador, for example, I'd be stating quite affirmatively that I was doing something else to the bus entirely. Something, as my stepdaughter would say, that is
quite inappropriate.
So of course I googled my question, and the interwebs were no help. "You can say it in Mexico!" they promised. "No worries!" "
Coger all you want!
Coger all over the place!"
Um, no. In the end, I settled on "tomar," knowing it to be safe and not offensive (hopefully?) to anyone. Jesús will understand. He'll be gracious with the two of us, we Spanish-obsessed gringas.
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