Cathy Healy

Cathy Healy works with K-12 classrooms worldwide as they make a difference in the world.

Cathy Healy

Advocate for K-12 Global Collaborations

Views of Trump con’t

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A few of the comments I’ve heard:

— If the US doesn’t allow products in from other countries, you’ll get contraband. (Male Uruguayan sociology professor in a Uruguayan-Brazilian city, which features duty-free shopping on the Uruguayan side to discourage a black market.)

— I would have voted for Trump. I think the Clintons are corrupt and their foundation a scam. I thought Trump’s campaign was a new style of political marketing like he’d described in “The Art of the Deal.” I didn’t think he would actually do those things!” (Young, Brazilian male city planner.)

— — One of my friends (not from the US) is an illegal immigrant in Brazil. He likes Trump. The other day he was talking about how there are millions of illegals getting welfare in the United States. I asked him: “What would happen if you went to the government and applied for a bolsa familia (social welfare program)?” “C’mon, they’d throw me out.” “So what makes you think that it would be easier for an illegal in the United States to get welfare?!” “You’re making me feel stupid.” (Young, US male who lives legally in Brazil.)

Request: What are the Argentines saying about Trump?

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BUENOS AIRES — Every Argentine asks me, why didn’t Hillary win?! I give the usual answers (facts, not truthiness), and ask what they think about what’s happening in the United States.

Argentines are experts on elected autocrats who have bankrupted and re-bankrupted this weathy nation whose borders reach from the equivalent of Yucatan to Alaska. Argentines understand corrupted institutions and destroyed opportunities. Has the United States become the Argentina of the North? A few responses:

— Those who win elections in fact do represent the people who select them — Peron, Menem, Cristina. We can’t deny it. The same with you and Trump in the United States. (Male lawyer in his late 50s.)

— Re: Mexico: I’ve heard there is going to be a one-day strike by all Latins in the United States and the world. That will be a protest that is noticed—there are a lot of us. (Female education specialist, GenX, married, mother of two.)

— The US has very strong institutions. I have confidence that you are going to survive. I’m not as worried as you are. (Male, multilateral IT sales consultant, divorced, 70s.)

​– Is Trump worse than Cristina? Me: Yes, he’s smarter and more devious. Think Peron.  (Male video editor, single, late 20s.)

— Our president is opening up trade just as you are closing it. I don’t know what is going to happen because of change. We aren’t competitive after years of protected trade, so now factories are closing and people are out of work. (Female organizational change consultant, single, early 30s.)​

— Eyerolls. Horrible. OMG. How can you stop him? (Everyone—friends and colleagues of decades and their grown children.) ​

Spanglish: Playing speedy scrabble

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BUENOS AIRES — I’m accused of speaking Spanish like Tarzan with a humongous vocabulary. My accusers are correcto — thanks to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and globalization in the 21st century.
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BA—which is what Argentines were calling their capital nearly 30 years ago when I first visited from my home in LA—was Spanish-Spanish with a strong overlay of Italian and looked quite like Grenoble, France. The Anglo-Argentines would slip Spanish into their conversation, such as saying they’d been out to the camp (campo = country) for the weekend.Now skyscrapers outshine the River Plate, the capital has “Malls,” as well as traditional “Galerías,” and many shop windows proclaim “Sales” instead of  “Liquidación.” Of course there are Starbucks (many) and a Hard Rock Cafe, et al., but you still need Spanish.

Which brings me to 1066 and my lazy (efficient?) method of communicating. Rather, let’s jump ahead to 1266. By then, the French language of the Normans who conquered the Anglo-Saxons and the English language of the vanquished flowed alongside one another, which is why there often are two words for the same thing, one “elegant” (French) and the other, “basic” (English).
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Here’s the trick: When you want the Spanish word, grab the longest or most complicated English word and pronounce it in Spanish. Since French and Spanish come from Latin and Spanish, your guess might come close.

Although, guessing can be tricky with cognate/cognado Spanish.

On my first visit to BA, I thought most of the stores downtown were going out of business because of the liquidación signs and misinterpreted that the economy had collapsed. That would come later. Embarrassingly, I also discovered that embarazada is pregnant. Also embarrassingly, people who understand my Spanish best, speak some English.