Guest Post on Mexico: Or How Harrison Got Lost In Translation

 My good friend Harrison Shaffer was inspired to send me the following after reading my post "Colombia: Gem of the Caribbean." Enjoy!


Your mention of Colombian Spanish brought to mind a humorous experience I had in Guadalajara many years ago. I was staying in an older hotel on the edge of the city where the desk clerk was from Colombia, so both his English and Spanish came out with a sort of Castilian flavor. I wanted to go to the pottery village of Tonola and asked him which public bus I should take, to which he responded with something that sounded like "jello." He said "Ju take dee jello bus," and so I went out to the main boulevard and looked for a bus with a sign on the front for anything that sounded like "jello." I figured it was the Spanish name of another town or region, maybe like "Chielo" or "Che Lo." After about a half hour, though, I realized I could have taken any number of buses that had been passing by--the ones that were painted yellow!

I don't know about what you're thinking right now, but I'm getting hungry for some lemon Jello with a dollop of whipped cream!

Happy travels,
Joyce