The following is from an interview between me and my friend, Carlos, at Blaze Pizza. Carlos is a Catholic missionary from Colombia. We were joined, as well, by another missionary named Nicole. Carlos shared with me some Spanish proverbs. This is one of them.

Carlos: “In Spanish, it’s, ‘Más vale pájaro en mano que cientos volando’. What that means is that, ‘A bird in your hand is worth more than a hundred birds flying away.’

Me: “Oh, okay, so kind of like ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’?”

Carlos: “I guess. I’ve never heard of that, but… (Laughs). Yeah, but I think I know… if it means what I think it means then yes.”

Nicole: “What does that mean?”

Carlos: “It means that, like, it’s better to have one solid thing than to have, like, many things kind of up in the air.”

Me: “Yeah that’s like ‘Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’. Uh, and where did you hear that from?”

Carlos: “Uh, my mom. We just say it all the time. And my parents just say it like, yeah.”

I was immediately struck by the fact that Spanish and English have two proverbs that are so similar to each other. It is interesting that the Spanish one is more embellished with its one-hundred instead of two birds, as well as the fact that the birds are instead flying away, and just out of the person in question’s reach, whereas in the English proverb the birds are concealed from sight by the bush.

The following is from an interview between me and my friend, Carlos, at Blaze Pizza. Carlos is a Catholic missionary from Colombia. We were joined, as well, by another missionary named Nicole. Carlos shared with me some Spanish proverbs. This is one of them.

Carlos: “Then we have, ‘El mucho abarca poco aprieta,’ which means ‘Him who, like– him who has, like– is holding lots of things is unable to, like– is less able to hug it tight.’ So, he who is holding so much is able to, like, carry it less. So it means… the more you have, the less you actually, like, do it well, or carry it well.”

I found this proverb very relatable as a college student. The more things you try to do, you just end up spreading yourself too thin, and you can’t devote enough attention to any one thing. Becoming fragmented is a cross-cultural problem for those who wish to work hard.

The following is taken from an interview between me and my friend, Javier, who is from Nicaragua. We were sitting in the lobby of the Caruso Catholic Center. He decided to tell me about a certain Spanish saying.

Javier: “Okay, so there is this saying or, like, not proverb but, like, saying that goes, ‘Camaron que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente,’ which basically means, ‘the shrimp who falls asleep… uh, at the seashore get to the ocean…? Wait, what’s a seashore? How do you call that, uh…?”

Me: “Like the tide?”

Javier: “You know how, like the waves come and then leave…”

Me: “Yeah, yeah like the tide.”

Javier: “Yeah, that, yeah, ‘…then the tide will take it to the ocean.’ So it basically means that, um, like whoever, like, goes in life and not being like, um…like awake to, like, whatever is happening, like, surrounds them, or who is, like, not on top of, like, their work or so, then if they, like, took a lot of time and they just, like, fall asleep and, like, fall behind and stuff, then… the… the thing– what’s it called?”

Me: “The tide?”

Javier: “Then the tide (laughs) will, uh, yeah…will, like… yeah, will get them and then they won’t be able to, like, get their work done right.”

Me: “Okay, cool, who told you that one?”

Javier: “Uh… yeah I definitely– probably some– oh, probably, like, some, like, teachers back in high– back in middle school.”

Me: “To get you to work harder?”

Javier: “Yeah, yeah. Actually, I remember, like, there was, like, a class full of sayings and so, and then, like, what would you… how would you, like, interpret them or so.”

This saying is definitely a relatable one and a fair warning for anyone overwhelmed by school work. I wish I had heard this saying before I turned this entry in late for an assignment. Oh wait, I did…

The following is taken from an interview between me and my friend, Javier, who is from Nicaragua. We were sitting in the lobby of the Caruso Catholic Center. He decided to tell me about a certain Spanish saying.

Javier: “Yeah, so this other saying is called, ‘Indio comido, puedo al camino,’ which translates to… ‘Eaten (laughs) Indian, walking Indian.'”

Me: (laughs) “Wait, sorry, repeat that?”

Javier: “So, um, ‘Indio comido, puedo al camino,’ which means, ‘Eaten Indian, walking Indian.’

Me: “Indian? Like, Native American?”

Javier: “Uh… (laughs) yes.”

Me: (laughs) “Okay, do you know what that’s supposed to mean?”

Javier: “Yeah, it just means that, um, like, like after, like, uh, a worker, like, on the fields or… a farm worker, as soon as, like, they’re, like, finished, like, their meal, like, let’s say lunch or so, like they’re ready to go back to work. Like, as soon as they finish eating, then they can go to work.”

Me: “Oh, okay, cool, so, like, the ‘Indian’ in the phrase is, like, the worker?”

Javier: “Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, back home, in Nicaragua, it isn’t like Native American Indians but, like, people who, like, live, like, in the… like, in the fields or like… not in the suburbs… or… like, naan fields and stuff. Like, they are called Indians, too. That’s, like, how we translate that.”

Me: “Gotchya. Um, who first told you that one?”

Javier: “Uh, probably my dad. Or, actually my grandpa probably. He–he, like, he has this, um, huge, like… coffee crops. So, he works with a lot of, like, these people. These are, like, mainly the people who work for, like, farms and so. So, yeah.”

It was very interesting to me that the word “Indian” became the term in Nicaragua to define farm workers. I’m not sure where this translated from, or even if it had any connection to Native Americans or people living in India. It doesn’t seem like anyone considers it to be derogatory in this context, so the origins are a mystery to me.