Let Your Si be Si and your Nyet be Nyet

The Mrs. and I just got back from 5 days in Cabo, Mexico. Oh my! If you've got any hankerin' to go somewhere warm, let it be Cabo. It is amazing and wonderfully underdeveloped. I cannot say enough good about it. The Westin Resort and Spa is to die for as well. Anyway, guess what language they speak in Cabo? Spanish! Guess what language flows out of my mouth when English is not the tongue of choice? Russian! What fun this lead to as I was constantly seeking to speak the language of the people we while were in Mexico.

Now, one must remember that as comfortable as I have become in Russian, it was Spanish that was my first second language. 5 years of study at the university level and a summer in South America had me speaking quite well at one time the mother tongue of Benito Juarez and Simon Bolivar! When Russian became the defacto other language though in the early 1990's, Spanish was pushed out...or so I thought. Days 1 and 2 in Mexico had me saying things like, "Si, menya zavoot Roberto" or "Me gusta kuritza e kookarooza". I got some pretty funny looks from people as I mixed and mashed these two tongues with the greatest of ease and poorest of grammer.

By day 5 though, I was getting her done in Spanish. When asked by the taxi driver on the way to the airport "what airline are you flying and at what time do you leave?", I rightly (or close enough) answered, "Yo creo que a las dos o tres pero yo no recuerdo exactamente" instead of "Ya dumayu dva ele tree chis sa no ya nee pomyu toichna." Far from a polyglot of the highest order, it did feel good to lead my bride into some language experiences that, if I may humbly say so, made her hubby of 10 years look way smarter than he really is.

Again, Cabo! Remember Cabo! It is an amazing place!