Somos Vecinos
(In a Museo del Pernil* in Quito. In Spanglish with a lot of GoogleTranslate.)
Me: In South America you call it Castilian; in the North we call it Espanyol.
Server 1: It's all the same.
Me: Nope, take the word: Guagua (pronounced "waawaa!"). In some places it's a bus in others it's a baby. They make the same sound.
Server 2: Really???
Me: Yes, my ex-wife used to go crazy when nobody in United States of (both - America and Mexico) would understand what she wanted when she asked for a Bombilla
Them: What? Eventually when they point at a few lights, I figure it all out. A light bulb (pointing)
Me: (Mime a drinking straw.)
Them: Ahhhhhh.
Me: Like Piscina and Alberca (two words for 'swimming pool.')
Server 2: Looks up bombilla on the internet. It's used in Peru,Bolivia, and some other places. Ahh, I understand.
Server 1: (Walking away, addressing Server 2) Somos Vecinos.
* Exactly as much a museum as Madrid's Museo de Jamon...just roasted not cured. They're chains of pork product stores. Each are wonderful
Comments
There's some type of tele-novela thing on Univision named Vecinos.
I guess the jokes on me. Ugh. But it's also quite funny.
Jim