One of the reasons I love studying languages so much is that there are always idioms and expressions that just don’t translate in a way that makes any sense. For someone to be identified as a fluent speaker in an area, they would, therefore, have to know these types of expressions to really grasp the beauty of the local language with all its ins and outs. Here in La Calera, I’ve learned a few fun local sayings that have brought me a joy beyond what you might imagine.
- The first, “Está muerto el payaso!”, which literally means, “The clown is dead!”. This silly idiom is used to say that a job is finished or that someone is done with something. I learned it while tying metal ties together that would build the structure of a church addition.
- Here’s a fun one: “Salado!”, or “salty!”. Although this can be used to describe french fries, here I heard it used to mean that someone had bad luck or was in an unfortunate situation. The example given to me was if a bus drove by and splashed mud and water all over someone…
- Another favorite of mine is “Echarle la vaca”. Translated to “throwing the cow”, a Spanish-learner could easily be misled by this phrase. However, upon my questioning, I learned that Nicaraguans use this to motivate others to give their full and best effort at accomplishing a task. It sure would take a lot of effort to throw a cow so when they explained this one to me I nodded with complete understanding.
When I pulled these bad boys out in the midst of conversations with our host family or others in the community that wouldn’t have expected a “foreigner” to know such local jargon, I always was rewarded with hearty laughs and nods of approval. I suppose more of a reward though was the sense of belonging that I felt living in La Calera this month.
Team Mishpacha with our wonderful host family!
Photo by Brittney Dietzman
Our host family, the pastors and their sons, made us feel so welcome and at ease in their home. We were free to be ourselves, the goofy, loud, chill Americans we are, and they still loved us without any sort of judgment. They entertained our many questions, they struggled through drawn out conversations due to language barriers. They smiled at our silliness and invited us to laugh with them in their own form of it. Our happiest memories and most sincere exchanges of love were during times spent trying to breakdance on the church floor, ohhing and ahhing over old love letters from their childhood, beheading chickens, racing wheelbarrows full of dirt down the road, and getting our nails painted by Pastor and Pastora.
There is no other way to explain the love we felt from this family except to say that they treated us like we were their own family. Our tearful goodbye and prayers together further revealed the sincerity in everyone’s mutual affection, and I can honestly admit that it has been many years since I have grown so attached to a group of people in such a short period of time as one month. Though my team has wrapped up our month in Nicaragua and we’re moving on to the Philippines, I’m confident the clown is living on and a lot of cows are going to be thrown because the connection I have with this family will continue on strong.
