Pon-toof-lahs

I rarely know what I want to blog about and today I'm still rowing that boat. I saw bedroom slippers on the floor and they made me think of the Spanish word for slippers - pantuflas. Say it! Isn't it funny to say? Yes, yes it is funny to say.

Living in a semi-bilingual home is quite an experience. Sometimes I think of the Spanish word for something before the English word. I know that on more than one occasion I have thrown out Spanish words or phrases in conversation at work. My coworkers just laugh at me or look at me like I'm stupid.

Raquel and I speak Spanish to each other almost exclusively. So much so, that tonight she said something to me in English and I couldn't understand her because I'm trained to think that she's speaking Spanish to me. That poor girl must be all kinds of confused. Paraguay has two official languages - Spanish and Guarani. Languages change over time and are influenced by many things. Paraguayans have transformed their Spanish and Guarani into a sort of platonic relationship that has almost created a new language of its own called Jopara - not quite Spanish nor Guarani in their purest forms but related to both. Often its a Spanish word that gets conjugated according to Guarani rules becoming a new word.

As I said, Raquel must get all kinds of confused. She throws out Guarani words to me sometimes and English words to her parents and here in the house she'll mix English and Spanish in one sentence. The kids just roll with it all and seem to understand.

Now go ahead and say PANTUFLAS - you know you want too!