Spanish Blog: Palabras por Cambio

The weekend we stayed at La Hesperia by ourselves and learned about bananas with Marcelo

By: Kether (Ceviche, sin pescado)

Since we arrived in Ecuador we have been having problems with the concept of bananas. So let me lay it out for you:

Before arriving here in Ecuador, I knew of two main varieties of bananas: 1.) The yellow ones that are inexpensive and are generally distributed by Dole or Chiquita Banana (unless you buy the organic/fair trade bananas that cost a million dollars) and 2.) the green ones that I know as plantains.

I knew that frying a banana was not the same as frying a plantain because plantains are much more fibrous and thus make for better frying. Furthermore, I was under the impression that the term “platano” referred specifically to plantains: the long, thick, green bananas you can buy at Whole Foods, Latin American specialty markets, and sometimes in grocery stores near areas with high concentrations of Latin American folks. I was also under the impression that if you let those long, thick, green plantains sit, they will get ripe and be sweet.

My misimpressions were exacerbated by the fact that I didn’t know how to prepare platanos, or whether their flavor changed when they ripened. How to fry them up and make them be delicious was a concept beyond me.When I purchased them for my large household, I let the platanos sit in the three-tiered hanging basket until some other brave and/or knowledgeable soul attacked them. I never timed it quite right that I be in the area when someone decided to cook them. Each time I purchased them, I was not the one to enjoy them. This was never a problem except that now, it makes me wonder if the ones I purchased were sweet once they ripened or if they were always plain and savory.

Upon arriving in Ecuador, I knew that, being in the capital of the banana world, I wanted plantains: the sweet kind, fried up and served en masse on a big ol’ platter.

The first night we went out to a wonderful restaurant that served grilled meat of all varieties on a stick. I had seen plantains on the grill also and wanted some. I asked the server (mesero) if they had platanos.
He didn’t understand me.
I tried to explain that they were sweet.
I used the wrong word and he didn’t understand me.
Rayna tried to say that they were sweet and similar to bananas.
He smiled and said, “Ah! Sí. Entiendo.”
I thought we had succeeded in describing what we wanted and so I excitedly said, “Sí!!”
I was wrong.
Moments later he returned with six over-ripe, not-fried bananas, on a plate.
So as not to be rude, and probably also to save face, we ate all six bananas.
Two men at a table next to us laughed hysterically.

The following day the three of us had a meeting with the volunteer coordinator from La Hesperia. She spoke English well, so we asked her to explain the perplexities of bananas.
I think I remember her saying that maqueños and maduros were sweet plantains.Maqueño was used to describe plantains you fry and eat, while maduros were plantains you use for things like baking.
“Good,” we thought, feeling like we had the situation under control.

Several days later in Tandapi, a town on our way to La Hesperia, we stopped for lunch and asked for maqueños. The lady looked at us cockeyed and we said, “platanos maqueños.” She looked confused and we gave up. In Tandapi, street vendors have huge woks displaying a variety of meat, corn, and lucky for us, sweet plantains. When the server returned, I jumped up to show her what I meant. Honestly, I can’t remember what she called them but that once, I was successful in getting what I wanted.

When we arrived at La Hesperia, I discovered that there were ever-more varieties of bananas/platanos: green ones that turn purple and have an orange pulp, green ones that turn yellow that you can peel and eat, green ones that are huge and turn yellow and can be fried in either state, and yellow ones that have an orange-ish hue after they have been fried.

I ate what was provided to me, but always preferred the sweet platanos of whatever variety.

One weekend when only Marcelo and the three of us were around the reserve, we had a long talk with him about platanos, figuring he might be able to clear things up.

In our exceptionally detailed conversation we discovered that maduro means RIPE.
If only we had known that. 

Furthermore, when we saw patacones on the menu, it meant fried savory bananas and that generally, if we ordered platanos, we could expect sweet plantains. Marcelo, realizing our unbelievable fascination and love of platanos brought us some from his own yard which he fried up for the following dinner. They were unreal.

Much later, after we left La Hesperia and arrived in El Carmen we stopped by a smoothie cart and perused the menu. We asked the smoothie baristas (not an official term) what each of the words meant. They would look at the word, and show us the corresponding fruit. Glancing at the menu, Guineo was a fruit with which I was unfamiliar. I pointed to the word and pronounced “Gee-nay-oh.”
The smoothie maker looked at the word and picked up a banana.
All we could do was laugh.

Truth be told I still don´t totally understand the concept of bananas but similar to the way there are a bagillion words for snow in the language of the Inuit, it appears that here there are a bagillion words for banana in Spanish.

Building a wall with Marcelo, Freddy, and Emily

By: Kether (Ceviche, sin pescado)

Usually people leave La Hesperia on the weekends to travel around other parts of Ecuador. For us, the weekend was time to rest and regroup. On our second Saturday to ourselves, we figured that we would have time to ourselves but Marcelo, one of the men who worked at La Hesperia, said he needed help with the trail to the waterfall. Only a few days prior, I had experienced this path straight up the side of the mountain and was not the least bit excited to do it again, despite how beautiful I knew it was.

Marcelo only needed two of us and Rayna conveniently had some work to do on the computer.

Emily and I each grabbed a machete (sort of like the duct tape of Ecuador, it’s good for anything) and met Marcelo and Freddy at the top of the path. Navigating a path that is nearly straight down is no easy task with machete in tow. About the last thing I wanted was to die by machete. Marcelo was kind enough to take my machete and I made my way down the face of the hill, at times resorting to sliding on my butt.

We walked up the creek to the waterfall (cascada), passing the one Noah and I had found a couple days before.

 

The primary waterfall fell in two parts and Marcelo and Freddy wanted our help building a wall (muro) to slow the water and make a small pond (laguna), before the water fell from the first part over the second part of the cascade.

In order to get to the first section of the cascade, we had to boulder up a 4 meter, moss-covered, rock face.

Freddy scaled it first; I stood by the wall hoping to be some kind of spotter though I don’t know how effective I could have been. Thankfully, he made it to the top, Marcelo threw him the rope he was carrying and Freddy secured it.

Emily climbed up the rope; hand over hand, feet braced against the slippery wall. I watched her nervously thinking that she was only capable because she’s very strong and appears to lack fear. When Emily reached the top, I grabbed the rope and began my own ascent. I discovered that either it was a very easy climb or I was actually stronger than I had thought. I made it to the top easily and Marcelo followed behind me.

We navigated our way into the water and began placing large rocks at the edge of the rock face where the water started to fall over the side. In the process, I cut a whole in my boot and it began to fill with water. “Mis botas tienen mucha agua!” I exclaimed. Freddy and Marcelo only laughed, and after I tried to explain that the water had penetrated “la ropa para mis pies” they laughed again and taught me the word for socks, which in Ecuador is medias, while in other countries it may be calcetines.

Our first words:

words we have found useful thus far…and some stories

By: Emily (Tierra entre de los Ojos), Rayna (Arena), y Kether (Ceviche sin Pescado)

English	Español	Stories
Cool	Chévere	Its so chévere that Rayna’s name in Spanish means queen! Even if it is spelt differently! Though she appreciates being associated with the beach rather than royalty
Queen	La reina
Sand	La arena
Organization	La organización	These words have been extremely useful when attempting to explain to people why exactly we WANT to bicycle from Quito to southern Argentina. It seems most people here think we are tres chicas muy locas with the most insane idea they have ever heard. Especially when it only costs about $5 to take a bus across the entire country of Ecuador.
Non-profit	No lucrative
Goal	El objetivo
Partnership	Asociación
To collaborate	Colaborar
Students	Los estudiantes
To promote	Promover
Awareness	Conciencia
Environment	El medio ambiente
Crazy	Loco
Girl	La chica
Bicycle	La bicicleta	“How do you carry all your things for 9 months on those bicycles?!” –A question asked many-a-time, and finally we know how to answer it, “en un Remolque!”
To ride a bicycle	Cicliar o Montar en bici
Trailer	El remolque
Seat	El asiento
Crooked (specific to Ecuador)	Chueco
Crooked	Torcido
I would like	Quisiera	In Ecuador, bananas is an extremely complex subject! Our first night out to dinner in Quito we found a restaurante specializing in grilled skewers of a variety of meats. Being as the grill was directly out the window from us, we were able to view platanos maqueños maduros y platonos verdes being fried. They appeared muy delicioso and we wanted some! But when it came time ordenar, we had no idea la palabra en español. In attempting to order sweet plaintains, we mistakenly ordered a plate of 6 bananas. In order to avoid feeling rude, we ate them all! All the while, los chicos a la mesa próximo de nosotros were laughing hysterically. All I have to say is at least the waiter didn’t think we wanted to milk his cow!
To order	Ordenar
To milk	Ordeñar
Banana	Banana
The same	El mismo
Ripe	Maduro
Plantains	Platanos
No direct translation: a sweet type of plantain	Maqueños
No direct translation: salty plantains, usually fried	Platanos verdes o Platanos maqueños verdes
No direct translation: sweet plantains, fried or for baking	Platanos maqueños maduros
No direct translation: sweet plantain only eaten just out of the peel	Platanos ceda
Delicious	Delicioso
Sweet	Dulce
Fried	Frita
To cook	Cocinar
Boy	El chico
Table	La mesa
Next to	Próximo de
We	Nosotros
To laugh	Reír
Truck	Trailer	These words are all things we think about, as well as try to avoid while dodging trafico in the streets of Quito, and biking the narrow roads that switch-back for miles through the Andes…luckily we have our frenos!
Car	Carro/Auto
Traffic	Trafico
Road	La calle
Path	Sendero
Brakes	Los frenos
Tree	El árbol	These words we learned while volunteering at La Hesperia for the last two weeks. We learned about trabajar en la huerta y plantar los árboles, cavar y desherbar. And at the end of the day we always tenemos mucho hambre, we were muy sucio from head to toe, and nos duchamos immediately! Being the over achievers we are, while Rayna slaved away en la computadora, Kether and Emily did extra work on Friday. Nosotros ayudamos dos hombres to build un muro para hacer una laguna abajo de una cascada.
Nature	La naturaleza
Reserve	La reserva
To sustain	Sostener
Issue or matter	El asunto
To maintain	Mantener
Ecotourism	Turismo ecológico
Sustainable	Sostenible
Vegetable garden	El huerta/ Las huertas
To work	Trabajar
To plant	Plantar
To weed	Desherbar
To dig	Cavar
Dirty	Sucio
To shower (reflexive)	Ducharse (se is the reflexive part)
To be hungry	Tener hambre
Computer	La computadora
To help	Ayudar
Men	Los hombres
Wall	El muro
To make/to do	Hacer
Pond/lake	Laguna/lago
Below/above	Abajo/arriba
Waterfall	La cascada
Dirt/land/earth	Tierra	The name “Tierra entre de los Ojos” was given to Emily after a long days work scaling 45˚-slopes and planting muchos arboles…needless to say she ended the day with some serious dirt between her eyes.
Between	Entre de
Eyes	Los ojos
No direct translation: raw fish served in a lime/lemon juice sauce	El ceviche	Since arriving in Ecuador, it has been very apparent that Kether loves food. And love really does not do her appreciation justice! In fact, we have found that Kether can perfectly associate herself with a particular fruit, citrus fruit, herb, and spice. And funnily enough-yes, I just said funnily- there is a common food here in South America that contains all of her food equivalents! Though she does not desire to be likened to the dishes’ common pescado of atún, the remaining ingredients in ceviche are all that make our dear Kether: la aguacate, la lima, el cilantro, y sometimes cumin. Thus, Ceviche sin Pescado is her new name!
Without	Sin
Fish	El pescado
Tuna	El atún
Lime/Limon	La lima/el limón
Avocado	La aguacate
Cilantro	El cilantro