Sebastian: ¡Hola! Soy Sebastian y estás escuchando el pódcast 'Un día en español', a Spanish podcast for beginner learners! Each episode welcomes you into a day in the life of a Spanish speaker in Latin America or the US. I’m here to help you out and make sure you’ve learned some new Spanish expressions by the end of this episode!

Today, we'll hear Martina talk about going to a falsa boda, a fake wedding in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

You might be asking, “What is a fake wedding?” And I'm wondering the same thing. Turns out that these events are really popular in some South American countries. It's a trend that started in Argentina and later spread to Chile and Uruguay, where Martina lives. Although no one is really getting married at these parties, they're as much fun as real weddings can be. Martina is going to tell us more about fake weddings, and about one she attended where things got a bit out of control.

Martina: ¡Hola! Me llamo Martina y soy de Montevideo, la capital de Uruguay. Hoy estoy muy feliz. Voy a una fiesta muy especial...

Sebastian: Martina is very happy today because she and her friend Sofi are going to a special party. Have you heard that Martina pronounces certain words differently than what you might be used to if you're learning, for example, Mexican Spanish. Words like yo and llamo are pronounced with almost a kind of "sh-" sound. This is something characteristic of the Uruguayan and Argentinian accent, two very distinguishable accents in Latin America that have many common features. See if you can hear more examples.

So Martina and her friend Sofi are going to una boda, a wedding. But this is not a normal wedding. They don't know who's getting married! Yeah, you heard that right, they don't know el novio, the groom, or la novia, the bride. And to be more accurate, technically no one is getting married in this wedding: the bride and groom are actors! Have you heard of anything like this before? Well, this is the concept of a falsa boda, a fake wedding.

Martina: Mi amiga Sofi y yo vamos a una boda, pero no es una boda real.  No conocemos al novio o a la novia. Y el novio y la novia son actores. ¡Es una falsa boda!

Sebastian: This is a fiesta, a party, that is very popular for young people, la gente joven. It's so popular that it's actually difficult to comprar una entrada, to buy a ticket, before they're sold out! Everyone wants to go!

Martina: Las falsas bodas son muy populares para la gente joven en Argentina, Chile y Uruguay. ¡Es difícil comprar una entrada! Todos queremos ir a esta fiesta.

Sebastian: If you're wondering why the falsas bodas are so popular in these South American countries, it has to do with the fact that hoy en día, nowadays, people take longer to get married, la gente tarda mucho en casarse.

Martina: Son muy populares porque hoy en día la gente tarda mucho en casarse.

Sebastian: And bodas, weddings, are known to be great fun: people can wear elegant clothes, llevar ropa elegante, eat delicious food, there's music and drinks, and they can dance the whole night, bailar toda la noche.

Martina: Las bodas son fiestas divertidas: la gente puede llevar ropa elegante y comer comida deliciosa, hay música y bebidas ¡y se puede bailar toda la noche!

Sebastian: At the fake weddings you can find all that, despite not being una boda real, a real wedding. In this way young people, la gente joven, can have fun, divertirse, at a wedding, even when their family or friends are not getting married.

Martina: En las falsas bodas tenemos todo eso, pero no es una boda real. Así es posible para la gente joven divertirse en una boda, también cuando sus amigos o familiares no se casan.

Sebastian: So going back to this evening, Martina and Sofi are ready to go to the party.

Martina: Sofi y yo ya estamos preparadas para ir a la fiesta.

Sebastian: They take a taxi to a luxurious hotel.

Martina: Tomamos un taxi hasta un hotel lujoso.

Sebastian: In the hotel there's un salón de baile, a ballroom, where the party is taking place. There's una pista de baile, a dance floor, and there's also tables for all the invitados, guests. And, of course, there's plenty of food and drinks.

Martina: En el hotel la fiesta es en el salón de baile. En el centro hay una pista de baile, y también hay mesas para todos los “invitados”. Y, por supuesto, también hay mucha comida y bebida.

Sebastian: While they wait for the bride and groom to make their appearance, Martina and Sofi can have something to eat and drink.

Martina: Mientras esperamos al novio y a la novia podemos comer y beber algo.

Sebastian: While they get their drinks la música para, the music stops, and a voice presents the bride and groom.

Martina: Entonces la música para y una voz presenta a los novios.

Presentador: Damas y caballeros, con ustedes el novio y la novia.

Sebastian: Martina says that, “we all applaud”, todos aplaudimos. There's also globos, balloons, and confetti. And Martina says that it's raro, strange, because in that moment parece que, it seems like they're in a real wedding and that they are truly happy for the bride and groom.

Martina: Todos aplaudimos. Hay globos y confetti. Es raro, porque en este momento parece que estamos en una boda real y que estamos felices por el novio y la novia.

Sebastian: And then everyone starts dancing. The bride and groom, too. Martina thinks it's muy divertido, it's really fun, and that it truly seems like, parece que, they're all friends.

Martina: En ese momento todos empezamos a bailar. También los novios. Es muy divertido. Realmente parece que somos todos amigos.

Sebastian: Martina wants to speak to Sofi, but she's not there. Where's Sofi? How strange, qué raro.

Mrartina: Quiero hablar con Sofi pero ella no está aquí. ¿Dónde está Sofi? Qué raro...

Sebastian: Martina waits for a moment on the dance floor, but because Sofi takes too long, tarda mucho, Martina goes to look for her friend at the bar.

Martina: Espero un momento en la pista de baile, pero Sofi tarda mucho. Voy a buscar a Sofi al bar.

Sebastian: She goes to the bar but doesn't see Sofi. Afterward, she goes to their table but Sofi isn't there either!

Martina: Voy al bar pero no veo a Sofi. Después voy a nuestra mesa pero ella no está aquí.

Sebastian: Martina looks at her celular, cellphone, but there's no message. She calls her friend, but Sofi doesn't respond, no responde.

Martina: Miro mi celular pero no tengo un mensaje de Sofi. La llamo por teléfono pero no responde.

Sebastian: Hmm, so this is very strange, muy raro. Martina keeps looking for her friend and goes to el baño, the bathroom, but she can't find her there either. When Martina leaves the bathroom, she hears Sofi calling her.

Martina: Esto es muy raro. Voy al baño pero Sofi no está en el baño. Cuando salgo del baño escucho a Sofi.

Sofi: -¡Martina! ¡Estoy aquí!

Sebastian: However, Martina's relief doesn't last long because Sofi's vestido, dress, and manos, hands have sangre, blood on them. Wow! What's going on? ¿Qué pasa?

Martina: -¡Ay Sofi, tu vestido… tus manos… ¡tienen sangre! ¿Qué… qué pasa?

Sebastian: This is starting to be very worrying. But Sofi says that it's nothing, no es nada. Martina, however, wants to call an ambulance.

Sofi: –Oh, esto, no es nada.

Martina: –¡¿Cómo que no es nada?! ¡Tenemos que llamar a una ambulancia, rápido!

Sebastian: But it is not Sofi who had an accident — it's the dama de honor, the maid of honor. She has glass in her foot. Apparently lots of people dance with their drinks, so there's broken glass on the floor.

Sofi: –No, no, Martina. Está todo bien. La dama de honor tiene un cristal en el pie. Mucha gente baila con las bebidas y hay cristales en el suelo.

Sebastian: Oh, ¡qué susto!, that was scary! But everything is under control, and Sofi tells Martina not to worry, no te preocupes.

Martina: –¡Qué susto!

Sofi: Sí, no te preocupes. Está todo bien. ¿Vamos a bailar?

Sebastian: So they're going back to the party, but first they go to the bathroom to limpiar la sangre, to clean the blood. I don't know about you, but this feels a bit like a thriller…

Martina: Mejor primero al baño a limpiar toda esa sangre.

Sofi: Tienes razón.

Sebastian: After this accident, they go dancing. It's a great party, and she says that, “we have a lot of fun”, la pasamos muy bien, so much fun that they keep dancing until five am! And por suerte, luckily, without any more accidents!

Martina: Después de ese accidente vamos a bailar. Es una fiesta increíble. Nos la pasamos muy bien: ¡bailamos hasta las cinco de la mañana! ¡Y por suerte sin más accidentes!

Sebastian: So this was a very intense Falsa boda. And what a relief that Sofi was fine, for a moment it felt like this party was turning into a horror movie! But to be honest with you, after hearing about these fake weddings, I wouldn't mind going to one to see for myself what all the fuss is about! And of course to show off some of my sweet, sweet dance moves!

Were you able to catch a lot of the Spanish in this episode? Visit babbel.com/podcasts to follow along with the dynamic transcript, get helpful learning resources, and test your knowledge with the full Spanish story.

Un día en español is produced by the language experts at Babbel. Whether you're hoping to make new Spanish-speaking friends or explore a new culture, the Babbel app teaches everything you need to understand and use the language. Thanks for listening and ¡Hasta el próximo día!