Sebastian: ¡Hola! and welcome to Un día en español, a Babbel podcast for Spanish learners that welcomes you into the lives of Spanish speakers in the US and Latin America. 

I’m your host, Sebastian, and I’m here to help you follow the story and make sure you learn something new by the end of each episode.

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In this episode we’ll hear about Alexandra, who takes a tour around the island of Puerto Rico with her parents. The tour was meant to be a sort of farewell, but fortunately, no one had to say goodbye to anyone – you’ll see what I mean by that. But the road trip did give the family an excuse to enjoy some time together, going to Alexandra’s mom‘s favourite places in Puerto Rico and eating her favourite food.

This story begins with Alexandra's parents picking her up after she was on vacation in the Culebra island with friends. Alexandra's parents come to pick her up and take her back to San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, where they live.

I haven't been to the island Culebra, a small island cerca de, close to Puerto Rico. The name makes me wonder about the snakes there, as culebra is another Spanish word for snake…

Alexandra: Hola, me llamo Alexandra y soy de Puerto Rico. Hoy terminan mis vacaciones con amigos en la isla Culebra y vuelvo a San Juan con mis padres.

Culebra es una isla pequeña cerca de Puerto Rico, pero tranquilos, Culebra no tiene culebras.

Sebastian: Huh, ok good, Culebra has no culebras, I can safely add it to my bucket list. But going back to Alexandra, she hasn't seen her parents desde hace una semana, for a week, and she has many things to tell them about her vacation.

Alexandra: Mi papá y mi mamá, María, me van a llevar en carro de vuelta a casa. Mis padres y yo no nos vemos desde hace una semana. Tengo muchas cosas que contarles.

Sebastian: Alexandra’s dad is waiting for her on the street, en la calle, and her mom, María, is waiting in the car, en el carro.

Alexandra: Mi papá está esperando en la calle y mi mamá está esperando en el carro.

Sebastian: But something’s not right. Her dad is very serious. He tells Alexandra that her mom wants to tell her something. He also tells her that it's better if Alexandra doesn't reply, mejor no responder, and it‘s better to be quiet, mejor callar. Hmm, what's going on with her mom?

Alexandra: Algo no está bien. Mi papá está muy serio. Él me explica que mamá quiere decirme algo y que es mejor no contestar nada a mamá, mejor callar. ¿Qué le pasa a mamá?

Sebastian: When Alexandra gets in the car, María tells her that she's not feeling well, no me encuentro bien.

Alexandra: En el carro mamá me dice la mala noticia.

Mamá: Hija, no me encuentro bien.

Sebastian: Alexandra asked her mom what's wrong, qué te pasa, and María tells Alexandra the bad news…

Mamá: Creo que me voy a morir.

Sebastian: Uh, WHAT? She thinks she's going to die, morir. Alexandra is in shock. She looks at her dad, and he looks at her very seriously and with sus ojos, his eyes, he reminds her what he said to her before getting in the car, "better be quiet", mejor callar. Does this mean that her dad is sceptical about what her mom is saying? That he isn't that worried? Alexandra wonders if her mom is exaggerating.

Alexandra: Yo me quedo en shock. Miro a mi papá y él me mira muy serio y con sus ojos me dice “mejor callar”. ¿Está exagerando mamá?

Sebastian: María tells her family that she wants to do a tour around the island to visit her lugares preferidos, favorite places. She wants to despedirse, to say goodbye to all of those places. So the three of them set out for a little tour around the island, but Alexandra wonders if it isn't better to go to the hospital right away… Yeh, I agree, Alexandra!

Alexandra: Mamá quiere hacer un tour por la isla para visitar todos sus lugares preferidos. Quiere despedirse de esos lugares… ¿No es mejor ir al hospital ya?

Sebastian: They decide to go to a seaside village called Naguabo, because María wants to eat some delicious empanadillas de chapín, fish pies. Now I haven't tried them, but they must be really good, because Alexandra's mom wants to have some empanadillas before she dies.

Alexandra: Entonces decidimos ir a Naguabo, un pueblo cerca del mar. Mamá quiere comer empanadillas de chapín, un tipo de pescado, antes de morir.

Las empanadillas de chapín son deliciosas, creo que es una buena idea decir adiós a estas empanadillas.

Sebastian: So they go to Naguabo. There, María buys six empanadillas de chapín for the three of them, but also a box of twelve empanadillas. This makes Alexandra think that twelve empanadillas are too many for someone who thinks she's about to die. But following her dad's advice, decides she better keep quiet, mejor callar.

Alexandra: Vamos a Naguabo y mamá compra seis empanadillas de chapín para nosotros, pero también una caja de 12 empanadillas.

¿No son muchas empanadillas para una persona que dice que se va a morir? Pero no digo nada a mamá. Solo abrazo a mi mamá y le digo que la quiero mucho

Sebastian: Instead of asking her mom why she wants to eat twelve empanadillas, Alexandra says that she hugs her mom, abrazo a mi mamá, and tells her that she loves her. After eating, satisfied and with barrigas llenas, full bellies, they continue their tour around the island.

Alexandra:  Después de comer las empanadillas, satisfechos y con las barrigas llenas, continuamos nuestro tour por la isla.

Ahora vamos a ir a San Juan, pero vamos a cruzar el parque natural, Yunque. Es uno de los lugares favoritos de mi mamá. 

Sebastian: Now they're heading back to San Juan, but they decide to take the road that goes through the nature preserve El Yunque. One of Alexandra's mom's favourite places. While driving through El Yunque they can hear the coqui frog, or coquies. These are a type of toad, sapo, that’s common in Puerto Rico, and they make a noise that sounds exactly like their name. The ride to San Juan through El Yunque is gorgeous, precioso.

Alexandra: En la carretera que pasa por el Yunque escuchamos los coquíes. Son unos sapos típicos de Puerto Rico, que suenan exacto como su nombre: “co-qui, co-qui”.

El camino a San Juan por El Yunque es un camino precioso.

Sebastian: When they arrive in San Juan they head to the hospital. Finally, because I was starting to get worried myself! Alexandra asks María if she's feeling better. To which she replies, no me siento mejor, “I don‘t feel better”, and that she thinks that today is her último día, her last day.

Alexandra: Cuándo llegamos a San Juan vamos al hospital. En el camino le pregunto a mi mamá si ya está mejor.

Alexandra: ¿Te sientes mejor, mamá?

Mamá: Ay, mi hija, no me siento mejor. Creo que hoy es mi último día.

Sebastian: Alexandra, as any good daughter would do, continues asking her mom if she's feeling ill. Maria tells her that she has a headache. In Spanish, when you're not feeling well and something is hurting, like your head or your stomach, you say me duele and then what hurts you, in this case it's la cabeza.

Alexandra: ¿Estás mal, mamá?

Mamá: Sí, estoy muy mal, me duele la cabeza.

Alexandra: Pero tener un dolor de cabeza es normal de vez en cuando, mamá.

Sebastian: I agree with Alexandra, having a headache from time to time, de vez en cuando, is something that happens to everyone. But María says that it's a horrible dolor de cabeza, and not only that, but she also feels very tired, cansada, and for the past hour her belly, barriga, has been hurting.

Mamá: No, mi hija, es un dolor de cabeza horrible. También estoy muy cansada y desde hace una hora me duele la barriga.

Alexandra: ¿También la barriga?

Mamá: Sí, mi hija, sí.

Sebastian: Well, could those tasty empanadillas have anything to do with the dolor de barriga? Alexandra also thinks about that, but again she looks at her dad, who with his ojos, tells her again, mejor callar, better to be quiet.

Alexandra: Pienso que el dolor de barriga puede ser porque comimos muchas empanadillas, pero miro a mi papá, que con sus ojos me dice otra vez “mejor callar”.

Sebastian: As it's better to be safe than sorry, they go to the hospital so that María can have a medical exam. Alexandra and her father wait in the sala de espera, waiting room.

Alexandra: Vamos al hospital para un examen médico. Papá y yo esperamos en la sala de espera del hospital.

Sebastian: Although the TV is on, they do not look at it. They start to feel preocupados, worried, and Alexandra wonders if her mom is really enferma, sick.

Alexandra: Hay una televisión, pero papá y yo no miramos la televisión, ahora estamos preocupados, ¿estará realmente enferma?

Sebastian: Luckily, a few minutes later, the doctor comes back with María and they have good news: Alexandra's mom just has high blood pressure, tensión alta. That explains the dolor de cabeza, headache, and too many empanadillas might explain the stomach ache, I guess!

Alexandra: Minutos después, la doctora viene con mamá y tienen buenas noticias: ¡mamá solo tiene la tensión alta! ¡Eso explica el dolor de cabeza!

Sebastian: They laugh about it, nos reímos, and they are very happy that she's well. And not only is Alexandra's mom well, but they also have a box of twelve delicious empanadillas de chapín waiting for them! Man, I really need to try these empanadillas that Alexandra's family is just so crazy about!

Alexandra: Todos nos reímos y nos alegramos mucho porque mamá está bien, y porque tenemos una caja de 12 empanadillas de chapín para cenar.

Sebastian: As you can imagine this was a day with many mixed emotions! They go back home, feeling glad about the short trip together, el pequeño viaje juntos, and aliviados, relieved, because María is well.

Alexandra: Después de un día con muchas emociones, volvemos a casa, contentos por el pequeño viaje juntos y aliviados porque mamá está bien.

Sebastian: Oh man! What a day! After Alexandra's mom was convinced that something terrible would happen, luckily, it ended up being far less serious than she thought! Now, I don't know about you but after hearing this story I really want to do three things: call my mom, visit Puerto Rico, and get myself some empanadillas…

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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!