Cultural Bloopers

Expat life and learning a second language means that “lost in translation” can be a nearly every day experience. Between us we have built up a pretty solid linguistic blooper collection and we thought you might get a laugh out of a few of them!

Hello! Goodbye!

Me and a fellow concierge, back in the day!

Before kids I used to work as a concierge in a resort. During the summer the resort was packed to the gills with Mexican families. Part of my job was to call each villa in the morning and check in. My first query was always “Como estan?” (How are you?) to which 9 times out of 10 the Mexican on the other end would reply “Muy bien, gracias, adios” (Very well, thank you, goodbye or was least that’s what I heard). Naturally I would apologize profusely for interrupting and hang up. A week into Mexican season a guest complained about their flighty concierge who didn’t stay on the phone long enough to take a reservation. That’s when I found out that they were actually saying “Gracias, a dios” (Thank  God, not goodbye). I still haven’t lived it down.

 

The Sister Bowl

Photo by: 1stdibs.com

While on holiday in Spain and well before I had a clue about Spanish, a friend and I explored a local market. My friend spotted a painted bowl and wanted to know if the paint contained lead. In broken Spanish she asked the merchant if the bowl was microwavable. The merchant looked puzzled and to fill the gap of confused silence my friend began to praise the bowl. Trouble was, she confused hermosa (beautiful) with hermana (sister). She repeatedly told the merchant “What a sister bowl! Sister, sister, so many sister colours… Does the sister microwave??” Imagine our horror an hour later when, “sister bowl” in hand, we realized her mistake.

 

The “Sugar”

Photo: tbo.com

One night in my apartment with nothing better to do I decided to attempt homemade marinara sauce.   I had bought all of the ingredients assuming that my boyfriend had simple necessities such as salt, pepper, etc. at home.  I was so proud of myself for turning into such a housewife and making something from scratch.  I decided that the sauce needed some sugar and found a bag that had a substance that looked like sugar.  As I added it to the sauce it started to thicken.  As I continued to taste it and add more water it was thickening even more and eventually took on the consistency of jello.  When my boyfriend came home he was able to tell me that the bag of “sugar” was actually laxatives.  The next few days I spent a lot of time in our bathroom.

Nice to meet you

Photo by: lifehack.org

I had a friend staying with me from back home and wanted her to meet all of my new friends and “Cancun family”.  I told her that each time she meets someone she should say “mucho gusto” (nice to meet you).  I was so proud of her until I realized that after seeing the same friends multiple times she was still saying “mucho gusto” to which they would look very confused since they had already met her.  I decided to spare her the embarrassment and tell her what she had said after she got back home.  Maybe I should have said it sooner but it was quite entertaining.

Stay tuned because we aren’t out of the woods yet! Nothing is for certain but I would say more “oops” moments like these are in our future. What are your lost in translation tales? Tell us in the comments!

5 Reasons Not to Visit Cancun

Many people travel to Cancun, Mexico each year. While it may seem like a great place to take a vacation we are here to give you some reasons that will convince you to never come here, ever.

5. There are beaches everywhere

Tulum

Cozumel

Holbox

Akumal

Looking to have a nice family vacation? Good luck trying to stay away from the white sand beaches with pristine turquoise waters of the Mexican Caribbean.  The whole family will be so busy playing in the sand, jumping in the waves, and soaking up the sun that you won’t have anytime to just sit quietly as a family and stare at each other like you do back home. Plus our kids always get so warn out from the beach that they sleep really well all night and who needs that?

4. It’s always sunny

A cold beer to beat the heat

Who needs to go on a warm and sunny family vacation? The weather in Cancun will force you to be outside everyday and do something fun that you’ll enjoy.  Whether it’s visiting the famous parks in the Riviera Maya or just swimming at the pool, it’s impossible to get away from the sun and the fun.  We face this problem on a daily basis and let us tell you that it’s not easy always having fun.

3. There’s too much to do

Snorkelling underground at Xcaret

Beach, swimming, zip lining, snorkeling, scuba diving, sun bathing, visiting an adventure park, spending the day on a yacht, visiting an Island, shopping, trying new foods, swimming in cenotes, kayaking, riding on a hobie cat, paddle boarding, HOW CAN ONE DECIDE??

2. You will eat some of the best food of your life

Torta de milenesa

This may not seem like a problem until you return back home and find yourself craving fresh fish tacos on the beach with ceviche and a cold Mexican beer.  Cancun can ruin your palate and make you realize just how much you wish you lived here.  This is a problem even for us.  We still eat at home most of the time but crave the occasional night out with fresh seafood, steak, tacos, or tortas.

1. No other vacation will compare

Simply paradise

All other family vacations may fail in comparison which means that you’ll just have to come back for every summer vacation; Or just never return home and stay in Cancun forever.

We may be a bit biased but we’re pretty sure that what we call home will make for the best family vacation that you could ever have.  If you are looking for suggestions on what to do during your Cancun vacation then leave us a comment below and we’ll do our best to steer you in the right direction!

A Taste of Home

When I moved here 3 and a half years ago I was so excited to see and try everything that I didn’t miss much from back home.  Except the food.  I could dream about a #2 animal style with animal style fries from In N Out for a few good hours or even how many things I could finish from Taco Bell in one sitting.  That being said there is one thing that I miss that can only be found in one spot of my home town. Orange Sauce.

Pizza, hamburgers, quesadillas, burritos, pretty much anything could be made infinitely better by adding this spicy sauce to it.  I’ve only been back to California once since moving here and wasn’t able to fit the beloved sauce into my trip *gasp*. Then my brother sent me a copy cat recipe a few months ago and I’ve been dying to make it since I got it.

Once I got all the ingredients it was time to put on some good music, dance to keep Chamaca entertained, and start cooking!

I began by browning/charring the tomatoes and onion in one pan until they looked like this.

And then slowly browning chiles and garlic over hot oil in another pan.

Then I added water and apple cider vinegar to a blender along with the chiles and garlic and let it sit.  Then blend away!

Finally I added the tomato, onion, salt, and the rest of the oil required and blended until smooth.

I won’t lie, I was so excited to eat this sauce that I made something special for dinner just so I could put the sauce all over it.  (Photo not shown because I was so excited to eat my creation!)

While it’s not exactly the same, it’s really close and I’ve pretty much eaten it everyday since making it. You can find the link to the recipe here.

Do you have any foods that you can’t live without? Share them with us in the comments.

How to Beat the Heat

Cancun is a beautiful tropical paradise with over 200 sunny days a year. And while summer may just be a season back home, it’s our year round life here.  Add in the humidity and things start to get sticky, literally.  Since we have 2 small children in such a warm climate  year round we want to share our tricks on how to beat the heat during your summer.

Snacks

Photo: onlyglutenfreerecipes.com

Waking up from a nap covered in sweat is the perfect way to ruin a nice afternoon. I’ve found that freezing some fruits is a great way to cool Chamaca down and also gives her a nice boost of sugar that puts her in a good mood for a few hours. I love freezing grapes, cubed mango, frozen berries, and even corn or peas.
Moms note: frozen green grapes work great to chill a white wine.

Freeze it!

I found some really great ice packs for kids and cheap teethers at the dollar store in the states that I always keep in the freezer.  They are fun to play with and can be gnawed on to help cool down an overheated toddler.  Our neighbor even asked to take an ice pack home one time to play with and brought it to the pool the next day!

Get the hose

Let kids be kids.  Chamaco loves coming over to our house for playdates and just walking around with the hose while it’s on and watering everything in sight.  My dog is not a fan but my grass always looks better the next day.

Water Table

These seem to be pretty popular this year and I didn’t know why until I had one.  It’s interactive, teaches kids how water works, and is fun for hours. They have plenty of different models for you to choose from and are super easy to empty.

Staples

We of course can’t forget to take the kids to the beach and pool and let them cool off and play to their hearts content. Everyone always has a great time and the kids sleep like logs that night.  We are so lucky to have plenty of beaches and pools to choose from that are close by; If you don’t have one you can always invest in a kiddie pool for the yard with plenty of pool toys to keep them busy.

Hopefully your summer is full of fun memories and not meltdowns. Do you have any secret tips that we don’t know about? Tell us all about them in the comments!