Nalgas!

Watching the Packer Game...LIVE!


"NALGAS!"

Set the scene: I'm in class with 100 Spaniards and then there's me. I sit in the front row everyday, have not missed class, and have NEVER talked. The class is called "The Latin American Novel" and on a good day, I understand half of what we're talking about. The problem isn't that I don't know the Spanish, the problem is I don't even get what we're talking about in English (existencialism, trancendentalism, whogivesafartism, etc...). However, today was my shining moment. The book we're reading a Puerto Rican novel. Since Puerto Rico is a US territory there are a few words in English in the book. I giggled through every line our teacher read because imagine her trying to get through words like "quiet" and "all"; since two "l"s in a row make the "y" sound in Spanish, she kept saying "ay is kwee-it". Then she kept making policitally incorrect statements/impressions about Chinese and gays and I kept giggling thinking about how she would have just lost her job in the US. She was not amused at my giggles. So when she came to ask the class what the word "nalgas" meant from the book, I knew it was my time to regain some points for Team USA!

Let me explain. Nalgas is a Spanish word, yes, but only used in Latin America so the Spaniards were at a loss. I, however, have mastered all vulgar Mexican Spanish from a young age and knew that nalgas means "butt cheeks".

"Who knows what 'nalgas' means....come on someone has to know?!?!" Silence from the 100 Spaniards. Then the shy little, ghetto-ly dressed American girl in the front row raises her hands. I can literally hear the jaws drop behind me and the teacher looks at me thinking "she must have to go to the bathroom". "I know....it means, well, ummm the cheeks of a butt." (literally translated) The class choked a bit on their laughter thinking I had to be kidding. But to their surprise, I was correct. Butt cheeks...those will be the two words I say all year in the Latin American Novel class but I will be going down in a blaze of glory. Butt cheeks...the day the American knew the Spanish that the Spaniards did not. Today was a good day!

MOM: discovered "Fingers of Chicken" in the grocery store and nearly flipped a lid. I bought all 8 bags of frozen chicken fingers + a jar of honey which may have been overkill but better safe than sorry...rumors of Honey Nut Cheerios in aisle 2 proved untrue. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

PS: My cousin Jenny and her husband Jeff are coming to visit this weekend and I am more pumped than ever!!!! Such a surprise, they let me know over Christmas and I cannot wait :) It will be a quick trip; I hope they're not too tired with the jet-lag but I'm sure it will be a blast.