overheard

Warning: This could be considered a little inappropriate, but I think it's hilarious. Don't read if you think you might be offended.

Brian has told me this story from his mission before, and I laugh every time I hear it. (You need to know the story in order to have context for our conversation.)

Apparently the zone went out for ice cream after a meeting one day. One elder went up to the woman at the counter and asked, with a broad smile, "Tem sorvete?" (translation: Do you have ice cream?) Unfortunately, although this particular elder had been in the field for about a year, his Portuguese pronunciation was still not very good. The woman, therefore, heard something like, "Tem absorvente?" ("Do you have a tampon?") Hesitantly, she answered, "Sim." ("Yes.") Not realizing what she was thinking, he responded cheerfully, "Dá-me um, por favor." ("Give me one, please.") She slowly reached into her purse, pulled out a tampon, and handed it to him.

Now for our conversation tonight...
Brian *excitedly running into living room*: Comemos absorvente esta noite?
Amy *pausing to think hard*: Tampons! We're not eating tampons!

overheard

Amy: Why are you only wearing one sock?
Brian (somewhat sleepily): It came off.

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In Portuguese a couple weeks ago, our professor, Regina, was trying to explain the differences between "ser" (to be) and "estar" (to be, but more temporary). It's a tough concept for Americans to grasp. We were specifically talking about being married or single because someone had brought it up. The point Regina was trying to make is that you would still use "ser" to say someone is single, even though that is a state of being that could change. However, what she said was something along the lines of "You need to say 'sou solteiro' (single) because that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon." Even though she was answering the question for the whole class, she was specifically addressing the person who had asked the question, and it obviously came out very wrong. We laughed long and hard over that.

(Tangent: The feminine form of "married" is "casada." For some reason, it tickles me to death that I can say "Meu nome é Amy Casaday. Sou casada.")

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Amy: *shooting some baskets after Thanksgiving dinner and failing miserably*
Kylie (cousin, 3 years old?): Oopsies. That's kind of hard for you, isn't it?
Amy: *misses some more shots*
Abby (niece, 5 years old): You're pretty bad at that.

Gotta love kids! ;)

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We were doing an activity in Portuguese where we had to give our partners advice after they told us what their problem/situation was. For example, if your partner told you they've been gaining weight, you might tell them to eat less or exercise. (We're sort of limited on vocabulary since it's only 101, but we were supposed to give the best advice we could.) After practicing with our partners, we went over the activity as a class.

Regina: Tenho uma prova de Matemática amanhã.
Kid in class: Você tem que ir à festa.
Regina: I said, "Tenho uma prova de Matemática amanhã."
Kid: I know. Você tem que ir à festa.
Regina (to the class): You guys give really bad advice.

(For those who don't speak Portuguese, Regina said she had a math test the next day and my classmate responded that she should go to the party.)

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Brian: Wanna go on a 50 mile bike ride?
Amy: No, I don't think I could go that far. How about 3 miles?

Brian: It's a bike. In Ohio. You pedal once and go a mile.

Portuguese

Brian and I had this conversation the other day. It might only be funny to those who speak Portuguese, but I found it amusing and thought I'd share. :) (I suppose I could always explain it.)

Brian: Te amo.
Amy: Te amo mais.
Brian: Did you just "sh?"
Amy (sheepishly): Yes.