Spanish Tuesdays
Continuing to share what I listened to, watched, read and did in Spanish this month.
Listening
Podcasts
El Mundo al día - a 20-minute daily podcast on varied subjects. This month's included political espionage in Spain, escape from Mariupol, Putin and 'Victory' Day, the fall of the Albanian mafia, the future of bull-fighting in Spain, sick leave for painful periods, Sweden and Finland's application for NATO membership, the monkey pox virus, the return of the 'King Emeritus' of Spain Juan Carlos I, the torture and 'honour' killing of two Pakistani sisters, and the terrible massacre in Uvalde.
Entiende tu mente episode 32: La Fobia Social (20 December, 2017, 18 mins). Host Molo Cebrián talks to psychotherapist Luis Muiño and coach Mónica González about social anxiety, symptoms and advice on how to deal with this increasingly common disorder
Entiende tu mente episode 33: La crisis de los 40 y otras crisis vitales (3 January, 2018, 7 mins). A general look at crises, both from a generational perspective but also any life crisis that we can find ourselves going through at any point in time. How can a crisis be defined, how do we overcome moments of crisis and should we see them as opportunities?
Entiende tu mente episode 34: Personas Tóxicas (10 January, 2018, 16 mins). Discussion about the importance of our environment and the people we surround ourselves with. Mónica González classifies 7 different types of toxic people. Also, how do you know when a relationship is toxic and what can you do about it?
Song/Artist of the Week
Milonga del Angel, Astor Piazzolla - Argentine tango composer, virtuoso player of the bandoneon (not to be confused with the accordion!), Piazzolla composed this Milonga as part of his Angel series, for Alberto Rodriguez Muñoz's 1962 play Tango del Angel. Sentimentality, nostalgia, a bit of drama, and perfect combo of bandoneon, violin and piano (and even some electric bass). I'd love to visit Argentina one day and experience some Tango. Listen and watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ha2ZM0L0g
Watching
TV
I finished last month's series No te puedes esconder/You cannot hide, so have now started another Netflix suggestion:
Bienvenidos a Edén/Welcome to Eden. Sci-fi drama about a group of Gen Zers invited through social media to a party on an island under the guise of marketing a new 'energy drink'. Only the five 'chosen' remain behind in 'paradise' and begin to discover that all is not what it seems...
Reading
Books
Still reading and enjoying La Sombra del Viento, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - does anyone out there have any other favourites by this author?
Online news
Very quick scan of the Spanish press, regulars are:
Doing
Working out, language exchange, cualquier cosa...
Exercise
Some of this month's workouts were:
Gymvirtual - Abdomen plano en 7 días. A surprisingly tough one…
Gymvirtual - Rutina de ejercicios | Rápida y eficaz | 7 minutos. 2 sets of 30-second exercises, some jumps, but good to get the heart pumping and great for warming up the muscles before yoga.
Yoga con Baruc – Yoga con torciones. I love Baruc's sessions and he brings out a lot of free content. This one is 25 minutes of mostly seated prolonged twists, which they say 'massage' the organs and are therefore good for digesting and detoxing. Definitely do this session first thing on an empty stomach!
DaleYogaaTuVida – Yoga para todo el cuerpo | Todos los niveles 20 min. Relatively easy flow of side stretches, forward bends, warrior poses etc. to energise and stretch.
DaleYogaaTuVida – Yoga Fresh | Una clasa Refréscate 30 min. Slow stretches and strength-building poses - I actually did feel refreshed afterwards.
Speaking Spanish
I'm continuing my weekly Skype calls with Maria, whom I met through the MyLanguageExchange platform (https://mylanguageexchange.com/). Because we both have a high level of English/Spanish, our calls tend to be general chatting about our week, but they are also a great opportunity to extend our vocabulary and exchange idioms and colloquial language. Examples this month were:
- opposites attract/los apuestos se atraen
- birds of a feather flock together/Dios los crea y ellos se juntan
- push my buttons/sacarme de quicio; tocarme las narices; sacarme de mis casillas
Word of the month
Keeping with the tango vibe, this word stood out and I wondered whether it was used in any context other than music and dance:
Milonga
Other than its association with tango, it can also mean engaño or cuento and can be used colloquially in:
se armó la milonga, discusión o riña (https://dle.rae.es/milonga?m=form)
Alternatives: se armó la grande/la gorda/la de Dios
English: all hell broke loose, the shit hit the fan, it got out of hand
Interestingly, it is borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese meaning 'chant' and is thought to originate from the 19th century slave trade between South America and Africa, perhaps from the Kimbundu (Angolian language) mulonga, meaning 'word', or the Kongo (Congo language) nlonga or Punu (Congo and Gabon language) mulonga, meaning 'line' or 'row' of dancers. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/milonga).
Let me know what activities you're doing in Spanish and please share this post with anyone you think would find it of interest. Hasta pronto!