A classic 'zenky' this morning! I'm taking the register and ask 'María' if she has any news to tell me.
'Oh yestoday, I pelar my dog.'
I don't know the Spanish word 'pelar' so I look blank and scan the room
for help. Some of the kids are looking as bemused as I feel. Raul is
waving furiously. 'I noweet!' he screeches. (There might be a
house-point in this. He'll kill for a house-point.)
'Raul,' I say.
'Ees like when you have platano (that's banana) and you quitar (take
off) de piel (skin).'
You see, I do have a bit of the old español.
'Peel?' I ask, a bit taken aback. María is already nodding like she's
trying to shake her head off into her lap. '¡Eso es!' (that's it!) she
says every time her face isn't butting her tummy.
'You peeled your
dog?' I ask, with mouth gaping. I have to struggle to keep a straight
face. My one English child is looking like she thinks she's joined some
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' training school. Some of the Spanish kids are
edging away from María, she might not get too many more sleepover
invites by the looks of things.
A little 'snipping' motion from
María's fingers finally suggests to me that the word she really wants is
'cut' (cortar). I suggest that she was cutting her dog's hair and the
nodding fit intensifies frighteningly.
Everyone relaxes a fraction as I explain the difference between cutting a dog's hair and (theoretically) peeling one.
Never a dull moment!
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