cachai? and a little about calor

not to be overzealous or anything...

I know I said I'd be more active in terms of blogging (cause there's no way I'd promise being more active physically haha), but I didn't think I'd be writing more than once a week. But I guess sometimes I'm inspired by little things. Things I'd like to share about my life here in Chile.

Part one: "cachai?"

Chilean slang is pretty much the same as English slang in relation to how it doesn't make sense and it's littered throughout conversation. I would have to say that the two most common slangs I've heard here in Chile (both of which people feel the need to continually teach me...even though the meanings are quite clear after almost a year of hearing it).

The word "cachai" is a verb. it means "get it?" or "ya know?" it is used at the end of almost every breath full of words describing something.

This couple is basically saying "I love you, cachai?" (ps this is really how Chile looks in terms of making out on the street and the fashion. I found this picture online)

This word can be used in the past, as a gerund and I've noticed that most people explain the word by saying "es como, me entiendes, cachai?" (it's like, do you understand me, get it?). Thanks for using the word itself in the meaning Chileanos.

The other extreeeeemely common word I hear daily is "weon" (pronounced way-on). it has many meanings. it can be an endearing or offensive term describing a person (dude or jackass), it's also a verb meaning something like fucking around, and its also another way of saying 'thing'. The Urban dictionary has these 3 phrases in spanish to help describe the meaning of each word:

a) Hola weon como stai? (hey man how are ya?)
b) estoy weando no ma (I'm just fucking around)
c) Que chucha es esta wea? (what the hell is this thing?)

This couple could be saying "Estamos weando pero te amo weon, no necesitamos tener un titulo por esta wea...cachai?" (We're just messing around but I love you boy, we don't need to have a title for this thing...ya know?)

My theory about these words is that they are useful. However, I'm not Chilean and have always hesitated to use these words and other Chilean slang because of that. I think I would feel much like how I look at Americans when they try to use "eh"....like and idiot.

So

back to the inspiration that led me to this blog post. I taught a new private student yesterday who knows NO English whatsoever. She has been practicing some verbs and so on herself but we started at the beginning of a text book I have that begins with:

'Hi I'm Jacqueline'

'Hi Jacqueline, I'm Maria. Nice to meet you.'

'Nice to meet you too'

.................you get the point.

So as I was teaching this, I was helping my student translate the things we were learning just to make it a little easier for her. Throughout our 1.5 hour class I had been blurting out little English words like "yeah, great job, maybe like, and get it?". "Que es 'get it?'" she asked. And then came my perfect moment to use 'cachai'. I described the meaning of get it by first saying "me entiendes" (do you understand me) and then I thought I'd just go for it and use the damn word. "Get it...es como cachai". I said it...I felt like such an imposter but also such a good teacher at the same time. I was so proud of myself and by the end of our class she told me that she thought my spanish was really good considering I knew nothing a year ago. So proud.

Part two: "a little about calor"

Calor is a spanish word meaning heat. Saying literally "I am hot" in spanish means that you're feeling frisky. So instead they say literally "I have heat". Which at this time of year basically takes place of the question "how are you?" when people say hello. Because its obvious dammit...everyone has heat.

Right now at 6:00pm it's 33 degrees C. It was 34 yesterday. I was outside with sunscreen on earlier today with a friend by the pool at my apartment for no more than 30 minutes and had to come inside. I didn't have class today and I'm quite happy about that...not only because today feels like a one-day-weekend but also because I don't have to walk around this city in the heat.

Of course it's nice to have sunshine and summer and all the wonderful things that go on with this season...but frig...this southern hemisphere sun is fuerte! (strong). So those of you reading this in winter...just remember how unbearable the sun can be sometimes...but then remember how much you'd like to experience that with me and come down here already!

love love

-jac.