Day 129: Nochebuena With Whose Family?
In their apartment in Tampico, Dafne (A) and her boyfriend Damián (B), a young couple whose families both insist on having them, try to decide where to spend Nochebuena, the Christmas Eve dinner; Dafne's family lives in Ciudad Victoria, three hours' drive away.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Damián, mi mamá ya mandó la lista para la cena: tú llevas el hielo y el ponche. ¿Le confirmo que vamos a Victoria?
Damián, Mom's already sent the list for the dinner: you're bringing the ice and the punch. Should I tell her we're coming to Victoria?
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B
Espérate tantito: mi papá ya compró cuatro kilos de jaiba y dice que no hay Nochebuena que valga sin la familia completa.
Hang on a sec: my dad's already bought four kilos of crab, and he says no Christmas Eve is worth the name without the whole family.
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A
El año pasado fuimos con los tuyos, y tu mamá me tuvo pelando camarones hasta las once. Este año nos toca con los míos.
Last year we went to yours, and your mom had me peeling shrimp until eleven. This year it's my family's turn.
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B
Nadie te obligó, eh. Y en Victoria no hay nadie que me dirija la palabra, salvo tu tío, que nomás pregunta cuándo nos casamos.
Nobody made you, you know. And in Victoria there's nobody who says a word to me, except your uncle, who only ever asks when we're getting married.
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A
Pues es una pregunta válida, ¿no? Y tu mamá dice “aquí caben todos”, pero a mí me sienta en la mesa de los niños.
Well, it's a fair question, isn't it? And your mom says “there's room for everyone here,” but she sits me at the children's table.
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B
¿Ves? Cuanto más lo platicamos, peor: ya no estamos decidiendo dónde cenar, sino quién tiene la familia más insoportable.
See? The more we talk about it, the worse it gets: we're not deciding where to have dinner anymore, but who's got the more unbearable family.
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A
Podemos turnarnos: la cena con los tuyos y el recalentado con los míos. El 25 nos echamos tres horas de carretera.
We could take turns: the dinner with yours and the recalentado, the Christmas Day leftovers, with mine. On the 25th we do the three-hour drive.
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B
¿Empachados de pavo y con la carretera llena? Cuanto menos manejemos esos días, mejor. Y mi abuela ya advirtió: el que falte al recalentado, sin aguinaldo.
Stuffed with turkey and with the highway packed? The less we drive over those days, the better. And my grandma's already warned us: whoever misses the recalentado gets no Christmas money.
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A
O sea, ¿tu abuela tiene derecho a veto y mi mamá no? No conozco a nadie que negocie peor que tú.
So your grandma has the power of veto and my mom doesn't? I don't know anyone who negotiates worse than you.
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B
Propongo una solución salomónica que no le va a gustar a nadie: las dos familias aquí, y cada quien trae un plato.
I propose a Solomonic solution that nobody's going to like: both families here, and everyone brings a dish.
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A
¿Los futuros consuegros en cuarenta metros cuadrados? Cuanto más lo pienso, más me gusta: si ninguna familia queda contenta, es lo justo.
Both sets of future in-laws in forty square meters? The more I think about it, the more I like it: if neither family ends up happy, that's fair.
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B
Sale. Tú les avisas a los tuyos, yo a los míos, y quien pierda en piedra, papel o tijera se lo dice a mi abuela.
Deal. You tell your family, I'll tell mine, and whoever loses at rock, paper, scissors breaks it to my grandma.
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