Hola Yaprendices! Okay so I found an interesting Cuban telenovela called "Ojo de Agua"! Find it here and comment what you learn! Below is my rough translation of the description of the novela. It's about a Cuban girl named Nadia who is a farmer that returns to her town to transform the family farm with an organic honey project. Her dream clashes with her half sister's plans, unleashing conflicts, romance and lots of magical moments. “Ojo de Agua” es la nueva telenovela cubana que sigue la vida de Nadia, una agrónoma que regresa a su pueblo para transformar la finca familiar en un proyecto de miel orgánica. Su sueño se enfrenta a los planes de su media hermana, desatando conflictos, romances y momentos llenos de magia.

Happy Monday Yaprendices! This week we are learning about el español de Cuba! BTW: My apologies for the brief disappearance- I had to take some time away to process the ways of the world- more to come on that in a later post. In the interim- let's learn some Cuban Spanish. "Asere/Acere" is a term used commonly to address a friend/ homie. ¿Qué bolá? is like ¿Qué pasa? - What's good?! Fun fact- the term "Acere/Asere" derives from an African language used by enslaved people who were brought to Cuba from Africa. Many experts believe that those who introduced the term belonged to the ethnic group known as the "Carabalí" and who practiced religious ceremonies known as "Abakuás". It's like saying "I greet you". My source is linked below! "ORIGEN: ‘Asere’, como tantos otros vocablos cubanos, tiene su origen en los negros esclavos llevados a Cuba desde África. Muchos expertos creen que fueron los carabalíes (grupo étnico de los esclavos africanos) los que introdujeron en Cuba este término junto con el lenguaje religioso de las ceremonias abakuás (rituales religiosos secretos). La traducción al español sería más o menos como “yo te saludo”." Learn more here More to come on Cuban Spanish a bit later. Meanwhile- if you know any terms or fun history/ culture facts about Cuba- coméntalos abajo! let us know below!

This was my welcome message on the tv when I got to my room. I know the “esté” is subjunctive, but if they’re saying we hope you enjoy your stay shouldn’t it be “estés” disfrutando? Any ideas?

Yaprendi que hay un gran diferencia entre “Le di un mordisco A mi pizza” y “le di un mordisco DE mi pizza”. Pensé que de mi pizza significa “I’m taking a bite of my pizza” pero en este contexto, significa “you gave him/her a bite from your pizza”. I had to have ChatGPT give me a little lesson that. 😅

Hola Yaprendices! Here's a helpful video on common sayings in Colombian Spanish. Check it out and share your favorite "Colombianismo" in the comments of this post!