Breaking Bread is an Idiomatic Form

The inaugural day of my Spanish course included, among other things, a desperately needed lesson on verbs (prior to this afternoon my Spanish vocabulary consisted entirely of nouns). For each set of verbs to which my teacher introduced me, she requested I write five sentences. This naturally required me to utilize nouns as well. My knowledge of Spanish nouns far outstrips my knowledge of Spanish verbs, but three times nothing is still nothing. As a result, while constructing sentences, I biased toward employment of food related nouns, the understanding of which prevented many an unpalatable meal on prior excursions to Latin America. When practicing the verb romper, meaning “to break” I constructed the sentence “rompemos pan” literally translating to “we break bread.” My teacher looked at me like a crazy person. She attempted to correct me, perhaps I meant “comemos pan” meaning “we eat bread.” Thus, I discovered the first (of what will surely be many) idiomatic forms that defy translation from English to Spanish.

Fortunately, despite the words not directly translating, the sentiment does. The first thing I did after arrival at my home-stay in Xela was join the family for dinner. My homestay is with a widow, Sylvia who has two teenage children, Lorena and Borris. The family makes a living hosting guests. Currently this includes myself, another student at La Democracia, and a young man who lives in Guatemala  City with his wife and two children, but work brings him to Xela during the week. They were extremely patient with my utter lack of Spanish skills. Fortunately, Lauren, the other student, is two days ahead of me in school so she stepped in to do some translation when absolutely necessary.

Students and teachers of La
Democracia drinking hot chocolate

Similarly, the first activity I engaged in with the Spanish school was an excursion to a chocolate factory. On the visit we learned about the history of cocoa in Mesoamerica, the process of growing and making chocolate, and the health benefits of consuming chocolate. We also formed our own chocolate treats by hand from pliable chocolate lumps that were eventually chilled into permanent (until we eat them) creations. My favorite part was sampling the merchandise, including fondue and an amazingly delicious and refreshing vegan hot chocolate.

I tried to make my chocolate into a stegosaurus but I couldn’t make the legs strong enough to support its weight, so I shifted strategies and made a lizard instead