Overheard in Antigua, Guatemala

A family of tourists overheard at one of the many stalls of Antigua’s large artisan market:

Man (holding a football/soccer jersey up) asking vendor, “Do you have a jersey from America?”
Vendor (referring to the Latin American football teams that are called ‘America’) replies in Spanish, “No, that one is not from America.”
Man, “Do you have from America?”
Woman (clarifying on behalf of her husband), “From the United States?”
Vendor, “Are you trying to ask how much it costs?”

I did not have time to stop and help translate, but I would’ve enjoyed the opportunity to remind this family that, particularly in this part of the world, ‘America’ is all of us – North, South & Central America. Interestingly enough, Guatemalans often refer to the U.S. as ‘Los Estados.’

Share

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on email
Share on print

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

The tourist program

During the spring semester course at Parsons, Designing Collaborative Development, our student team prototyped ideas they felt could benefit the group of artisan women in Santiago Zamora.  The overarching idea

Read More »

They Have a Name!

We are excited to announce that the women in Santiago Zamora have come to an agreement on a name for their association: Ixoki A’J ru xel Quiem or “Señoras Tejedoras

Read More »
Categories

Related Posts

They Have a Name!

We are excited to announce that the women in Santiago Zamora have come to an agreement on a name for their association: Ixoki A’J ru xel Quiem or “Señoras Tejedoras

Read More »

Day 1 – A Total Immersion

Today’s day started with a typical breakfast (more on that later), a stop to purchase a couple of inexpensive cellphones (the two major companies are Claro and Tigo) for our

Read More »