Free Spanish Lesson 61. Eating ALL of the cow.
Vocabulary For Today’s Free Spanish Lesson – Vocabulario para el boletín.
pueblos – small cities; villages
para comprar comida – to buy food
comida – food
consiste en – consists of
recursos económicos – economic resources
de hecho – in fact
de la vaca – of the cow
otros animales – other animals
después de vivir – after living
estilo de vida – lifestyle
con mi familia – with my family
era como – it was like
no podía creer – I couldn’t believe
platos – plates
la cosa interesante – the interesting thing
la misma cosa – the same thing
entre – among
países – countries
con la gente – with the people
mundo cambiado – changed world
mucho más – a lot more
parte de mi vida – part of my life
a veces – sometimes
con mi esposa – with my wife
después de vivir – after living
mucho – a lot
calorias extras – extra calories
su comida – her food
en ciertas areas de – in certain areas of
piedras – rocks
tierra – dirt (earth)
yo vi – I saw
por la falta de comida – because of the lack of food
ni puedo explicar – I can’t even explain
con gente – with people
situación – situation
niño – little boy
por favor – please
sus pensamientos – your thoughts
respuestas – responses/answers
correo electrónico or e-mail – e-mail
me encantaría oír de ustedes – I would love to hear from you
yo puedo recomendar – I can recommend
In many of the lower-income pueblos in Latin America, resources para comprar comida can be scarce. Most of Latin America consiste en developing or so called third-world countries.
Because of their low recursos económicos, Latin people usually don’t waste comida. De hecho, many will go to extremes to eat a lot of interesting parts de la vaca, pig and otros animales that most Americans have never thought about eating.
Después de vivir in Latin America for two years and becoming accustomed to their estilo de vida, I was shocked when I returned to the U.S. and had dinner con mi familia the first night back. Era como reverse culture shock for me. No podía creer how much comida they wasted.
If they couldn’t or didn’t want to eat all of their comida, they just left it on their platos and it all went down the hungry and ever-ready food disposal never to be seen again.
La cosa interesante is that I used to do la misma cosa at mealtime before spending two years of my life living entre the Latin people. In Latin America, because of economic conditions and estilo de vida, they usually eat every bit of their comida.
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In a way, I wish everyone from more developed países could have the chance to visit Latin America and live con la gente of the poor pueblos. If they did, I believe we would have a mundo cambiado. I think people would be less greedy and appreciate what they have mucho más. I think people would also develop more compassion for the less-fortunate.
The mentality of not wasting comida has now become parte de mi vida. A veces I’ll be eating con mi esposa and when she is finished, there will still be some comida left on her plato. I usually eat it for her because, después de vivir in Latin America, it’s hard for me to see comida go to waste. (I have to exercise mucho to burn off all of the calorias extras from eating su comida as well as mine – I have an indoor bike I ride frequently.)
En ciertas areas de Latin America, I saw little children crawling around on dirt floors, putting piedras and tierra in their mouths hoping it was comida. Yo vi some children literally starving to death. What a heart wrenching experience it is to see real people and little children dying por la falta de comida. Ni puedo explicar what it does to you to see someone in that condition.
My life has been changed forever after being con gente living in this type of situación. When I was a niño, my mom always told me to eat all of my comida because there were children starving in China. I never realized the full extent of her seemingly “nagging” phrase until I actually saw children dying of starvation in third-world países.
Por favor give me feedback and let me know sus pensamientos. Click here to visit our blog and share your thoughts!
Moral of the Story: What should we do?
There are humanitarian aid programs we can donate to which help children who lack comida to survive. Most of us have plenty, or we probably wouldn’t be on the Internet reading this correo electrónico, and it can mean so much to give to those less-fortunate than us.
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Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages. Copyright © 1999-2011 US Institute of Languages All rights reserved.
Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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