Comments for In the Garlic

Comment on Garlic Moments: Correos and the Ley de Falta Uno by Valerie

Valerie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:46:26 +0000

Wow! Better than machines at the gym. Thanks for doing the maths, Benedicte.

Comment on Cuá are you talking about? Animal sounds in Spanish by Monica Font

Monica Font — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:11:07 +0000

In Catalan, the dogs do “bup bup”, not “bap bap”.

Comment on Garlic Moments: Correos and the Ley de Falta Uno by Benedicte Bodard

Benedicte Bodard — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:51:48 +0000

Darling you did walk 2.8 kms !

Comment on Nicknames for the boys by Theresa

Theresa — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:13:42 +0000

Mm, how about rené – a commn girl’s name I seem to remember in Catalunya, or God forbid, Ira …

Interesting about the tetes and tatas. My husband’s twin brothers were always referred toas ‘los tato’. Inhis family they have a whole bunch of ‘chuchi’ type names: cuca, pucho, chico etc. Btw, your English is superb. Have you lived in an English-speaking country?

Comment on Garlic Moments: Phones and Numbers by RosieReay

RosieReay — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:52:50 +0000

Valerie just Twittered for you:

Comment on Garlic Moments: Phones and Numbers by RosieReay

RosieReay — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:43:00 +0000

Oh gosh how I oohed and aahed and then laughed as one can relate these “cock-up’s” to so many similar daily Expat moments of “I have mastered the language-not!”
I loved the final comment about giving birth and wish to add “Do you ever forget the pain of an arduous and lengthy labour? God Bless him he is nearly 27 year old!”

Thank you for this blog Valerie it enlightened my day!

Comment on Nicknames for the boys by Kiryna

Kiryna — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:47:38 +0000

Mi brother Fernando answers to Fer, Fernan, Fernandito and also Nando. However my cousin Fernando is just called “Chuchi”. Both are older than 35. Also, there is some special apellatives for brothers only. My husband is Valencian, and in Valencia brothers are also known as “Tete”. So much so that his nephew calls him “El tío Tete” (”Uncle Tete”) although he’s a “Tete” himself.
My grandmother has always referred to my brother as “Tate”.
My mother -Luisa- is known as “Luisi” inside her own family, but almost everyone else call her “Marisa” (short for “Maria Luisa”), even if it is not her name, just because long ago some fellow worked thought it was prettier than just Luisa.
And finally, mi husband just hates nicknames and diminutives, so we’ve called our daughter Irene because it simply hasn’t any (we thought it over carefully). Despite it all, she’s often called “Irenita”, even if it sounds just wrong.

Comment on Sixteen Things You (probably) Never Knew about Navidad: Part 2 by Kiryna

Kiryna — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:55:21 +0000

Almond soup is a sweet, thick soup made of a kind of marzipan dough dissolved in milk. It has to be served hot, with cinnamon powder and a thin toasted bread on top. Some years ago, the marzipan dough for the soup was sold in supermarkets and so on, but today it seems to be more difficult to find -which I didn’t know until I asked- because it’s expensive and not so popular. My mother has just told me my grandfather only found it last Christmas to be sold in Mercado Maravillas in Madrid. There are recipes for the dough all over the net, though.

Comment on Sixteen Things You (probably) Never Knew about Navidad: Part 2 by Theresa

Theresa — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:14:36 +0000

Sounds delicious. Have you got a recipe. Hot or cold? Not like ajo blanco, no?

Comment on Sixteen Things You (probably) Never Knew about Navidad: Part 2 by Kiryna

Kiryna — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:34:14 +0000

In my home there is this old tradition to have almond soup as dessert on Christmas Eve. Though you can purchase it everywhere, I think it is only traditional in Madrid or Castile -in my case, tradition comes from my father’s father side of the family.