Day 37 of 160

Day 37: Four Hours for a Passport

In line at the passport office in Mérida, Arturo (A), who has been waiting for four hours, turns to Daniela (B), the young woman behind him, to compare the lists of documents they were given.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  1. A

    Disculpe, ¿usted trae copias? Llevo cuatro horas haciendo fila y ya dudo de mi lista.

    Excuse me, did you bring copies? I've been waiting in line for four hours and I'm starting to doubt my list.

  2. B

    Traigo puros originales, pero según mi lista, el acta tiene que ser de este año.

    I've only brought originals, but according to my list, the birth certificate has to be from this year.

  3. A

    ¿De este año? A mí un gestor me juró que sin copias no atienden a nadie.

    From this year? A fixer swore to me that without copies they don't see anyone.

  4. B

    Ya pregunté en la ventanilla y no hay nadie que me sepa decir cuál sirve.

    I've already asked at the window, and there's nobody who can tell me which one is right.

  5. A

    ¿Checamos la página de la cancillería? Yo ya me quedé sin batería.

    Should we check the Foreign Ministry's website? My battery's already died.

  6. B

    Aquí dice: solo originales, y el acta no caduca. O sea, las dos listas estaban mal.

    It says here: originals only, and birth certificates don't expire. So both lists were wrong.

  7. A

    Y encima le pagué cien pesos al gestor: con razón se esfumó tan rápido.

    And on top of that, I paid the fixer a hundred pesos: no wonder he vanished so quickly.

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