Tacos de lengua

Today my Colombian co-worker took me out for some tacos - "estilo Méxicano, muy típico de México".

So let me tell you about the things I learned during lunch today.

I drove and he gave directions. I had to turn right "Doblar a la derecha" or "Hacer a la derecha", make a right, several times. I also had to continue going straight, "derechO", which I confused with turning to the "derechA". I knew the day would come when I'd confuse those two. That was a good reminder to pay close attention when getting directions.

It didn't take long to get there. The "restaurant" if you can a call a bus they cook and sell the food out of a restaurant, was in the middle of a hispano neighborhood. Mi amigo told me that the word "Hispano" refers to all Spanish speaking people.

So, they had tacos de carne asada, pollo, lengua, barbacoa (bar-b-q), and some various other things, like tortas, and quesadillas. My amigo recommended the lengua...not my first choice, but I said to myself, "why not?" Surprisingly, they were quite good. By the way, to be specific, it was lengua de vaca - cow tongue.

They also had a good selection of Mexican refrescos (sodas). I chose a piña Jarrisco, which if you don't know, is a bottled soda. They have lots of great flavors, but I digress. So after finally making a decision about what to drink, I realized the soda had a pesky bottle cap, called a tapa, that needed a destapador (bottle opener) to remove. Once I found the destapador, I was able to "quita la tapa".

The food was great. I really enjoyed it. I also didn't mind the woman taking the orders, Ella estaba bien "chichona" - busty. The whole experience made me feel like I was back in Mexico buying tacos from the street vendors.

On the ride back to the office, we came across more than a few drivers who were in a big hurry. This is when I learned waaaay too many ways to express being in a hurry - tener prisa, apurar, afán, y a la carrea. I don't know quite know how to use them all yet, so maybe that'll be a future post.

During lunch we also talked about different ways to ask someone what they said when you didn't hear or understand them. There's "mande", "cómo dijo", "cómo dices", "bueno", "qué dijo", repite (por favor), perdón and "que dice su merced", although the last one is only used in Colombia.

I have to say, today's lunch was both sabroso and educational.