I need that thing for the toilet because the water isn't leaving....

Aside from learning about floggers, glams, chetos and villeros, I have been learning some Spanish, kind of word by word, but important words.

I just got home from the gym and going to buy tango shoes and was unpleasantly reminded that I needed a plunger. I was about to go to the hardware store down the street when I saw I had a message. It was from Hernan. He told me to call him at home.

We were supposed to meet yesterday and I was going to see his house/apartment or whatever it is in San Telmo and then we were going to walk around San Telmo, which is one of the oldest parts of the city, though perhaps not the nicest. San Telmo was left pretty much abandonded by the upper classes in the wake of the yellow fever epidemic when they all moved to Recoleta. After that, the poor immigrants moved in and lived in sub-standard conditions - like 10 families to one flat, stuff like that (we all know how poor immigrants live). Now San Telmo is famous for its Sunday street fair, tango for tourists and not much else, but Hernan likes it and I know with him I will always see something I could never find on my own.

Well, anyway, he never called yesterday. He sent me a text saying things were complicated and he'd call me later. He never did.

Today when we spoke, he told me he had taken some kind of tranquilizer (not the word he used) and slept for 14 hours. I'm not sure what that is all about, but one of the nice things about having a fake boyfriend is that I don't get all bent out of shape when stuff like this happens. I was very content last night taking a nap and then making provoleta and a salad and watching the news. In fact I was not looking forward to having to go out once I settled in for the night.

So, before I went to the hardware store to get that thing for the toilet because the water won't leave, I called Hernan. I decided I would ask him what that thing was called, even though I was totally prepared to say I need that thing for the toilet because the water won't leave. I was sure the guys in the hardware store would understand me.

It actually was more difficult to get Hernan to understand what I was talking about. Needless to say, toilets here are a little different. I remember the first day I arrived and was all stressed out from not being met by my car at the airport and the scare that United gave me about not letting me board the plane. I used the toilet and then got all stressed because I couldn't find the thing to flush it. I forgot from last year (all toilets here are the same) that there is a thing above the toilet on the wall that you push (I will post a picture on the photo blog). Well anyway, when I told Hernan that the toilet was blocked and I needed the thing to unblock it he wasn't sure if the problem was in the toilet or in the complicated system that causes it to flush. It must be complicated, there is no tank that is visible, so I don't know how the thing works - it's all hidden behind the wall. Anyway, once he understood what I was talking about, he told me I needed a sopapa para el indoro. He texted me the expression and then told me I should just show the guy the text. I can't believe how little confidence he has in my ability to communicate in Spanish!

I went to the hardware store and said I need a sopapa para el indoro. Easy, right?

Wrong!

The guy asked me if I wanted a big or small one. I said small, thinking it would be cheaper. He came out with the little rubber plunger thing but there was no stick. It was only the bottom. Gee, I didn't think to ask Hernan how to say I wanted the whole thing. The thought of using my hand to push the plunger in the toilet was not pleasant, so I said, I need that thing here and pointed to where the stick would be. He said, "eh?", and I said, "is this all?", to which he responded, "oh, you need a stick (palo)?" and I said yes.

He then came out with a full length broom stick. I thought, "ok, it will be a very long plunger", but he said to me "quanto (how much)?" I didn't know what he meant, and he showed me on the stick about how much he thought I would need. I said yes and he went to cut the stick.

Finally when he was finished, I had a complete plunger with the rubber part and a medium-sized stick. He told me the price, "cinco noventa" $5.90 pesos - less than two dollars, but I had a hard time understanding that. I thought he was saying "cien con noventa" - $190 pesos, which would have been a really expensive plunger. I had to ask him to repeat it three times until I got what the price was (it could have also been that he was speaking like a guy who works in a hardware store and I was having problems with the accent).

So I came home with my very cheap plunger, and now the toilet is happy again.

In addition to sopapa some other words that I learned this week are chauchitas, zapallo and tranqui. Chauchitas are green beans. But you can also say chauchita to say something was cheap. It cost me a few chauchitas. I like that word. Zapallo is squash. This is the sweet desert Hernan made for me last week. And then there is "tranqui" - if someone asks how you are, you can say, "I am tranqui" - tranqui comes from tranquilo - or calm. Mario used it when I first met him and then I heard it on Patito Feo, the TV program he recommended I watch.

Some other Argentine expressions that I am trying to get used to using are "che" - che is kind of like guy, man, or dude (maybe) and they just throw it in wherever - like "che, did you get a haircut?" or, "don't put that there che" (this is how Ernesto Guevara got his nickname "che"), "barbaro", which means good or cool, "dale" which also means good, kind of like "ok" and "trucho" which is bad, like when someone gives you a counterfeit bill, you can say it is trucho.

I am trying to keep track of these "Argentinismos" and use them as much as possible so that they will be part of my active vocabulary, but it is hard. One of the tough things is learning the names of food, which are different here than in Mexico. The other day I wanted some little chilis, and I knew they call chilis "aji" here, but I asked for "chilis" anyway. Everyone at the produce market turned and looked at me, but the woman working there understood (I think she is from Bolivia).

My favorite word in Spanish has become lamentablemente, which means unfortunately. I hear it on the news alot. It became my favorite word in the Dominican Republic, where I heard it several times on the news. For me it is easy to pronounce and I like the combination of sounds. I also like that it is long. I never seem to get to use it though. It seems only appropriate for newcasters. The other word I like is one I learned this week from Hernan - agarrerra - pot holder. It's a little more difficult than lamentablemente, but I like the way it rolls. And finally, I like "chauchitas", in fact I think I'm going to take a walk to the produce store to buy some chauchitas for dinner!