My Italki teacher shared details about her incredible trip in Bolivia.

Where?

She went to the north eastern department (like a state or region) of Beni in Bolivia. It’s capital is Trinidad. She’s originally from Bolivia but hadn’t been to this area. They travelled on a large boat into rural areas and visited (socially distanced) local indigenous people who are descendants of the Moxos. They also hiked in the jungle. She shared pictures and videos.

Wildlife

The main species she saw were:

+lagartos {lizards}
+pirañas {piranhas}
+serpientes {snakes}
+delfines {dolphins}

lagartos

One evening the group drifted around in the boat in search of lagartos (“buscada de lagartos). If I heard her correctly she mentioned that it’s best during a full moon as they lagartos don’t move around as much. Initially I thought that lagartos were crocodiles or alligators but after the class I realized that they are a type of lizard and smaller than crocodiles/alligators.

pirañas

Another time during the day she was in a smaller boat and put meat on a stick to attract and see pirañas. That absolutely terrifies me! I’m sure it was safe but as a young teen I saw a movie with pirañas that attacked humans! I don’t know if I could have done this excursion.

serpientes

Thankfully she didn’t have any serpiente stories to share…but my mind has imagined large dangerous snakes like in Indiana Jones.

delfines

With the three specifies mentioned above lurking in the river she still managed to go into the water to swim with delfines. How is the possible? Apparently the delfines scare away the lagartos, pirañas, and serpientes and it’s safe to swim. No thank you.

I’m Canadian and we have a reputation for braving our super cold winters. But teasing pirañas and walking in a jungle with serpientes is much braver than going for a walk when it’s -30 Celsius or shoveling a pile of snow up.

Moxos

I have so much to learn about Bolivia (and everywhere else). I believe Moxos is the area and Mojeños is the ethnic group that includes many different tribes. She sent me a message with a link to learn more:

Kevin te mando algo de la cultura Mojeña a las cuales pertenecen las tribus que visité

wikipedia link: a good starting point to learn more about the Mojeños .

Vocabulary

Some of the vocab I jotted down as fast as I could during our conversation:

+lagartos {lizards}
+pirañas {piranhas}
+serpientes {snakes}
+delfines {dolphins}

+buscada de lagartos {lizard search...or something like that}

+tambien estuvimos en la selva

+fuimos a visitar a una tribu descendiente de los moxos

+dicen que las fotos quitan el alma

+los delfines ahuyentan a los otros animales {the dolphins scare off the other animals}
+ahuyentar {to frighten off}

+época de lluvias {rainy season}
+época seca {dry season}

+Trinidad es la capital del departamento de Beni {Trinidad is the capital of the department of Beni}

+la sede de gobierno {the seat of government}

+sucre es la capital (una ciudad de abogados) {sucre is the capital (a city of lawyers)} 

+sucre tiene casas pintadas blancas (por ley)

+cadena de café (Alexander)

+sucursales {branches of a store}

+moler {grind}

+lemur (animal)

+distanciarme del trabajo {distance myself from work}

+apodo {nickname}

+es posible que viaje {I may travel}

I already knew most of the vocab above but in some cases had forgotten (eg apodo I was trying to use it and couldn’t remember. Thankfully she read my mind!). I also jot things down to remember the conversation flow.

The verb ahuyentar {to frighten off} is new for me. I’ll be listening for it. I used Spanishdict.com to get the definition and phoenetic pronunciaiton: ‘ow-yehn-tahr’. Another sample sentence from Spanishdict.com:

Quiero ahuyentar a los mosquitos mientras estoy aquí.

Sharing Experiences

A conversation class is an amazing way to learn Spanish. I can’t imagine learning only by studying grammar and listening to podcasts. They are useful methods but speaking with a native Spanish speaker is the real goal.

I’m more likely to remember the vocab from her trip as it’s part of an exciting story. Randomly memorizing vocabulary is not as much fun. Learning via shared experiences gives meaning to the language and to life. It’s not just about learning the language. It’s about learning from other people in this world that we share together. In a time in which we’ve been so isolated it’s important to connect in whatever way we can.