17 June 2009

Dialog - The Rainstorm

I haven't posted a Spanish dialog in quite some time and so I decided that because the rainy season is almost upon us I would do a dialog about rain. Traditionally in Mexico the summer rains start about now and every year people worry that they won't come. The feast day of San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isadore the Farm Worker) is on May 15th and the farmers have finished preparing their land and sowing their crops and they look to San Isidro for help to kick off the rainy season. June 24th is the feast day for San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist) and in the old days in Mexico many people bathed completely only on that day of the year. Often times this was a ritual bathing because San Juan is the patron saint of water. If the rains don't come by The feast day of San Juan it is considered a bad omen indeed because St. John shares the distinction with Jesus and Mary of being the only three individuals whose birthday the Catholic Church celebrates in the liturgical calendar. The feast days of the other saints are the day of their death which is when we celebrate their entry into Heaven. Saint John's birthday also marks the exact halfway point in the year until Christmas. Therefore, if San Juan Bautista, with all those impressive credentials can't make a little rain, then we are all in a heap of trouble.

Now let's join our favorite couple and see what they have to say about rain:

Hola mi amor.
Hello my love.

Hola cariño. ¿Cómo fue tu día en la chamba?
Hello dear. How did your day go at work?

Poquito pesado pero ya pasó y aquí estoy.
A little hectic but now it's over with and here I am.

Que bueno, mi amor. ¿Parece que va a llover? Nuestro jardín está muy seco, le hace falta la lluvia y hace mucho calor. ¿Cuál es el pronóstico del tiempo?
That's great my love. Do you think it's going to rain? Our garden is very dry and lacks rain and it is very hot. What is the weather forecast?

No sé si va a llover o no, pero me siento muy incomodo. Hay bastante humedad y este calor abochorna como el infierno. No me gusta cómo se está poniendo el clima. Supongo que se debe al calentamiento global.
I don't know if it is going to rain or not but I very very uncomfortable. It is really humid and this heat is stifling like hell. I don't like what is happening to the climate. I suppose it is on account of global warming.

A mi tampoco me gusta tanto calor. Ojalá venga la lluvia antes el día de San Juan Bautista.
I don't like this hot either. I sure hope the rain gets here before the day of St. John the Baptist.

¿Por qué? Quieres bañarte? Ja Ja Ja
Why? Do you want to take a bath? Ha Ha Ha

¡Váya hombre! Oye, en este momento sentí una racha fresca.
Get out of here man! Hey, I just felt a cool gust of wind.

Déjame ver. ¡Mira! Hay unos nubarrones a la vista. Parece como que viene la llorona.
Let me see. Look! There are dark clouds on the horizon. It looks like the weeping one is coming.

Quizás va a ser un chubasco. Mejor vamos a mover el mueble del patio dentro de la cochera y cerrar las ventanas en la recamara.
Maybe there is going to be a rain storm. We better move the patio furniture inside the garage and close the bedroom windows.

Bueno. Voy para recoger el mueble y tu cierras las ventanas.
Okay. I will go fetch the furniture and you close the windows.

¡Ay! Relámpago...¡Ay Dios mio! Trueno. Me asustó. Tengo miedo.
Oh! Lightening..Oh my God! Thunder. It scared me. I am afraid.

No te apures mi amor. Córrale y cierra las ventanas. Es un aguacero.
Don't be concerned my love. Run and shut the windows. It's a thunderstorm.

Ya están cerradas las ventanas y que bueno por que ahora está lloviendo a cántaros.
The windows are all closed and it's a good thing because now it is raining pitchers.

Es más, está cayendo granizo.
Not only that but it is hailing.

¿Cuanto tiempo va a llover?
How long is it going to rain?

No mucho. Ya está en punto de pasar.
Not long. Already it is starting to let up.

(Pasan unos minutos)
(A few minutes pass)

¿Todavía está lloviendo?
Is it still raining?

Sí, pero nada más chipi chipi.
Yeah, but it's just drizzling.

Oh, espera, ahora puedo ver el sol.
Oh, wait, now I can see the sun.

¡Mira! Un arco iris.
Look! A rainbow.

¿Cuántos colores tiene el arco iris?
How many colors are there in a rainbow?

Creo que siete.
I believe there are seven.

¿Qué colores son?
What are the colors?

A ver. Son rojo, naranja, amarillo, verde, azul, añil, y violeta.
Let's see. They are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

¡Correcto!
Right!

¿Correcto? Entonces dame un abrazo
Right? Then give me a hug.

Note:

La Llorona - The weeping one is an old legend that goes back hundreds of years in Latin America. There are many versions. The one common thread is that she is the spirit is of a doomed mother who drowned her children and now spends eternity searching for them in rivers and lakes. Sometimes when people see dark rain clouds on the horizon they will say, "Viene la llorona"...the weeping one is coming.

Está lloviendo a cántaros - It's raining pitchers. In English we ususally say "It's raining cats and dogs" but if you say in Spanish "Esta lloviendo gatos y perros" you will get some funny looks.

¿Todavía está lloviendo? - Is it still raining? - Sí, pero nada más chipi chipi. - Yeah, but it's just drizzling. - The prhase "chipi chipi" is an alternate form of "chispeando" or "sparking". People will also sometimes say things like "Los angelitos están regando" which means "The little angels are peeing".

Hey! Just as I was finishing up this dialog some dark clouds formed on the horizon and a storm unfolded exactly like in my dialog and I went to collect the patio furniture and my wife Gina ran to close the bedroom windows. Gee...do you think that I might have the power?

9 comments:

Leslie Harris said...

Saludos Bob!

Nothing scares my children, except La Llorona. I think EVERY Mexican family has their own version of that story.

And Bob, I do hope you have the power to make it rain, because I'm starting to melt in this heat!

Calypso said...

Plenty of rain over here on this side of Mexico - beautiful warm, sunny days until about 3:30-4:30 then it rains and cools things off - you gotta love it!

Always enjoy the Spanish lessons - gracias.

bordersaside said...

Once again thanks for the great info Bob. Its rained a few times here. My daughter always has to put on her rain coat every time even though we are not going out. lol She always says, "did you hear that lightning mommy." This is my fault I tried to explain to a 2 year old that thunder is the sound that lightning makes. ;)

Frankly Ronda said...

Got our rain yesterday! It was wonderful!

Nancy said...

Thanks for this, Bob. Perfect timing, too, since Mazatlan has been boiling hot and humid and our first rain last night cooled things off a lot. And since most of the people you talk to in town want to talk about the weather, this helps.

I never would have thought that pesado is hectic, I have to say.

Thanks again!

Alice said...

hey bob, what's the slang term for sprinkling? heard it once but now forget...

Bob Mrotek said...

Leslie,
I always like to give flashlights to the kids of my friends and tell them "Don't forget to check for monsters under the bed" :)

Calypso,
De nada :)

Amanda,
Heck, I always thought that thunder is from the Angels bowling :)

AMM,
My wife always says that the rain is God's blessing on the plants.

Nancy,
We aim to please. The word "pesado" normally means heavy. I could have translated it as "It was a hard day" but I chose "hectic". Poetic license, nothing else :)

Alice,
I think you are looking for the word "lloviznando" (yoh-veez-NAHN-doh). I probably should have mentioned it. Thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

Pues para estos días lluviosos nada como la canción de "Parece que va a llover" con el inolvidable Pedro Infante...

bob cox said...

It´s not only raining here in Tlaxcala but we also had "Granizo" today.. hail about the size of birdshot.
La LLORONA dates back to pre hispanic times, its written in codices that Moctezuma heard a womans voice crying out across lake Texcoco for several nights..."my children, my children..where are my children".
Later legends saida Mexican woman in love with a Spaniard killed her children because he didnt want them and threatened to leave her.
Anyway, la llorna has been around to scare kids for a long time..
more modern is el Ropa viajero and el coco.

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I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. I have been living in Mexico since January 6th, 1999. I am continually studying to improve my knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican history and culture. I am also a student of Mandarin Chinese.