Day 150: Dad's Memories of the 1985 Earthquake
At home in Mexico City, Lucio (A) is recorded by his daughter Yuridia (B), a history student, for an oral history project on the earthquake of September 19, 1985, when he was a student; Tlatelolco is a large housing complex where a whole apartment building fell.
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
¿Ya está grabando? En cuanto veas que me voy por las ramas, me paras, porque de ese día podría hablar horas.
Is it recording yet? As soon as you see me going off on a tangent, stop me, because I could talk about that day for hours.
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B
Ya está, papá. ¿Dónde estabas el 19 de septiembre de 1985 a las siete y diecinueve de la mañana?
It's recording, Dad. Where were you on September 19, 1985 at seven nineteen in the morning?
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A
En el camión, rumbo a la facultad. Por la ventana vi derrumbarse un edificio entero, como si fuera de cartón.
On the bus, on my way to college. Through the window I saw a whole building collapse, as if it were made of cardboard.
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B
¿Y quién organizaba el rescate? Por lo que he leído, las autoridades tardaron en reaccionar.
And who was organizing the rescue? From what I've read, the authorities were slow to react.
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A
Al principio, nadie: no había nadie que supiera qué hacer, y Protección Civil ni existía. Los vecinos y los estudiantes nos organizamos solos.
At first, no one: there was nobody who knew what to do, and Civil Protection didn't even exist. The neighbors and we students organized ourselves.
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B
¿Y cómo le hacían para quitar los escombros sin maquinaria?
And how did you manage to clear the rubble without machinery?
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A
Con cubetas, de mano en mano. Y en cuanto alguien alzaba el puño, nos callábamos todos para oír si había sobrevivientes.
With buckets, passed from hand to hand. And as soon as someone raised a fist, we all went quiet to listen for survivors.
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B
Ahora, la pregunta de siempre, y en cuanto te la haga, vas a cambiar de tema: ¿qué pasó el tercer día en Tlatelolco?
Now the question I always ask, and the moment I ask it, you'll change the subject: what happened on the third day at Tlatelolco?
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A
Apaga eso tantito, mija. No hay nadie a quien se lo haya contado, ni a tu mamá, y no voy a empezar frente a un celular.
Turn that off for a moment, sweetheart. There's nobody I've told that to, not even your mom, and I'm not going to start in front of a phone.
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