Day 132: The Anniversary Hall, Double-Booked
In a café by the bay in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, the day before their parents' fortieth wedding anniversary party, Fausto (A) meets his older brother Conrado (B) with bad news about the hall they have booked.
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
Conrado, ando llamando al salón desde las ocho. El vigilante dice que mañana hay otra fiesta a la misma hora que la nuestra.
Conrado, I've been calling the hall since eight. The security guard says there's another party tomorrow at the same time as ours.
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B
¿Cómo que otra fiesta? Di el anticipo hace tres meses. Vengo manejando desde Bacalar pensando en todo lo que podía fallar, menos esto.
What do you mean, another party? I paid the deposit three months ago. I've driven all the way from Bacalar thinking of everything that could go wrong, except this.
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A
Pues falló. Y a mamá ni una palabra, que es sorpresa. Aunque anda muy misteriosa: lleva dos semanas planchando manteles y no nos dice para qué.
Well, it has. And not a word to Mom, it's a surprise. Although she's being very mysterious: she's spent two weeks ironing tablecloths and won't tell us what for.
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B
Obvio. Esto es control de daños: sigilo absoluto, cero filtraciones, y cuanto menos sepa el grupo de WhatsApp de la familia, mejor.
Obviously. This is damage control: total secrecy, zero leaks, and the less the family WhatsApp group knows, the better.
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A
Ya me contestó el gerente. Dice que el sistema empalmó las dos, pero la otra reservación es de enero y tiene prioridad.
The manager's just answered me. He says the system double-booked us, but the other booking is from January and takes priority.
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B
Pues negociamos con los otros: si es una graduación, les pagamos el mariachi para que se pasen al salón chico. ¿De quién es?
Then we negotiate with the others: if it's a graduation, we'll pay for their mariachi band so they move to the small hall. Whose is it?
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A
No me quiso dar el nombre, por lo de los datos personales. Nomás dijo que es una sorpresa de bodas de rubí.
He wouldn't give me the name, because of the personal data rules. All he said is that it's a ruby anniversary surprise.
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B
¿Cuarenta años de casados, el mismo sábado, en el mismo salón? Esto ya me está oliendo raro.
Forty years married, on the same Saturday, in the same hall? I'm starting to smell a rat.
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A
Aguanta, me llegó un mensaje de mamá: “Mijos, no hagan planes para mañana en la noche. Le tengo una sorpresa a su papá”.
Hang on, I've got a message from Mom: “Boys, don't make any plans for tomorrow night. I've got a surprise for your dad.”
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B
No puede ser. Llevamos tres meses escondiéndole la fiesta, y ella anda escondiéndonos la misma, en el mismo salón. ¡Nos ganó el mandado!
I don't believe it. We've spent three months hiding the party from her, and she's been going around hiding the same one from us, in the same hall. She beat us to it!
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A
De tal palo, tal astilla. ¿Y ahora cómo lo resolvemos? ¿Le confesamos nuestro contubernio o le cedemos el salón?
Like mother, like sons. So how do we sort this out? Do we confess our little conspiracy, or give her the hall?
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B
Ninguna de las dos. Le pido al gerente que junte las reservaciones sin que ella se entere, y tú ve practicando tu cara de sorpresa, que la tienes oxidada.
Neither. I'll ask the manager to merge the bookings without her finding out, and you start practicing your surprised face, because yours is rusty.
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