Latin American lessons and tips

So after a total of ten months in Latin America, my Spanish has become a mixture of every country I lived in. The use of Latin American slangs has been beneficial for blending in but at times, you also forget that different places have different meanings for various words. This led to the following 'misunderstandings':
The first was when I was living in Nicaragua and was celebrating my birthday. I had just finished a meal and decided to ask the waiter for the cheque. So I said: "Pasame la cuenta por favor" In Nicaragua, this is actually a pick up line which means something like "give it to me" but with sexual connotations. So of course the waiter looked at me with a grin on his face: "Quieres que te pase la cuenta?"(You want me to give it to you?) and all my friends burst out laughing. They then explained what it meant and once I recovered from my embarrassment, I asked the waiter to 'give me the cheque.'

The second language mishap took place when I was having a conversation in Honduras with people from Chile. A young womyn was on a tour with her mother and her 6 year old niece and I struck up a conversation with them. She told me she was going to say goodbye to her boyfriend and went away. When she came back I asked "Se dieron un pico?" (You gave him a little kiss?") 'Pico' means a peck almost or chuups as we say in Jamaica but in Chile it means to give a blowjob. Needless to say, the young womyn, her mother and the six year old girl all looked at me in horror as if I was the most vulgar womyn they had ever met. I asked what was wrong and said "un besito..no" "a little goodbye kiss?" Then they said "OHHHH u meant kiss...in Chile it means oral sex." Needless to say, I was incredibly embarrassed and was silent for the remainder of the tour.

These two mishaps have encouraged me to write out all slang I learnt after my time in Latin America for any of you who may find it useful:

Los Ticos-Costa Ricans
Los Catrachos-Hondurans
Los Nicas-Nicaraguans

Chick/Guy: Chavo/a (honduras), Chavalo/a (Nicaragua), Pata-guy, flaca-girl (Peru)

"A la gran puta"-Nicaraguan exclamation for almost anything

"Te voy a montar un machete"-I am going to whoop your ass

Valeverguista-Nicaraguan slang for someone who doesn't care about anything
Money-Plata (most of central America), Guita (Argentina)

Dude and sometimes Idiot: Boludo/a, Pelotudo/a (Argentina)

Well...so...: Che (Argentina)

Work/Job: Chamba (Peru)

Preppy/Uptown/Elite/Upperclass: Gente Cherry (nicaragua), Gente guegue/yeye (Panama), Gente Fifi (Panama/Costa Rica)

Bus: Colectivo (Argentina), Bus (the rest of latin America)

You: Vos (Argentina and central American spanish) Tu (Most of South America)

Pipe: La llave, El Grifo, La Pluma, (You just have to guess most of the time)

Idiot/Dummy: Ordinario/a (Argentina) Tarado/a

Servant/Maid: Chola (Peru)

You know what I mean?/You understand?: Cachai? (Chile)

Sure:Si po--like si pues-- (Chile)

Very: 'Re' usually in front of an Adjective (Argentina)

Another interesting things are names of currency in different Latin American countries. This may seem uninteresting to you but when you move from country to country, you have to remember the name of the currency and understand the value.

Nicaragua: Cordoba

Honduras: Lempira

Costa Rica: Colon

Panama: Dollars/Balboa

Argentina: Pesos

Uruguay: Pesos

Chile: Pesos

Peru: Soles

Another point of interest is the food that you MUST eat in each country. I had to buckle up and pretend to like some of them but for the most part its good stuff:

Nicaragua: Quesillo (god deliver you if you're ever cornered into trying it. I confess I HATED it!) But they do have wonderful alcohol which you should definitely try: Flor de Cana

Argentina: Asado (Good stuff but if you're vegetarian...FORGET IT!). You can never go wrong with Argentinian wine. They have the world's best wine and my favourite is Trapiche. I am a white wine drinker so can't tell you anything about red wine.

Peru: Ceviche (A seafood dish which is good but only if you actually like seafood) Of course, I fell in love with their famous beverage: Pisco Sour. There is a huge conflict between Peru and Chile about who invented the beverage. I stand with the peruvians and I do highly recommend that you check it out.

I'm not a food person as most of you know so most of the other countries's foods have been neglected. Find out for yourself if you can.

Latin American Top Places to See:

So after ten months of travelling all over Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Peru, I would like to leave some 'must see's' if you decide to visit any of these countries:

Honduras: Copan is the MUST SEE. They are wonderful ruins to check out. Also visit Roatan or any of the islands off the coast of Honduras, Valle de Angeles and Santa Lucia. These are really cool 'pueblos' to check out in Honduras.

Nicaragua: If you end up in Managua which isn't a 'fun' city to say the least, just visit the Tiscapa Park or the Malecon but they are not to die for. Your best bet is heading out to Leon to hike volcanoes and spending a day in Masaya. Then of course there is very touristy Granada which is probably more interesting than everything else.

Costa Rica: It has beautiful things to see and fun things to do because of the fact that it is such an environmentally friendly country. If you're into Nature its the place for you. Go bunjee jumping there because they have an established tradition. Other than, check out Punta Arenas for the beach and La Fortuna for its active volcano.

Panama: Panama city is a fun city with its booming economy and lots of restaurant. Panama viejo and Casco viejo are good places to hang out. Bocas del Toro is really fun because you get to take tours for 15 bucks to go from island to island.

Uruguay: I only saw Colonia and I recommend it for a day trip but nothing else.

Argentina: This has to be the most beautiful of all South American countries that I visited. Buenos Aires is to die for. It has everything from Break-dancing to tango to great restaurants (My favourite is La Cholita). My favourite part of Buenos Aires is La Boca. Don't miss it if you're there. I travelled the North of the country so have no recommendations for the South but everything I saw was fantastic: Cafayate, Salta (Do the salt planes!) and the indigenous villages of Humahuaca and Purmamarca. And of course IGUAZU!

Chile: I found Santiago to be a bit dull but if you're there, check out the Bella Vista/Buena Vista neighborhood because they have nice bars.

Peru: If you're into history and learning about Indigenous ANYTHING, Peru is the place to be. Cuzco is to DIE FOR! Do the packaged tour of ruins around Cuzco: Ollytantambo, Sacsahuaman, Chincheros and Macchu Picchu..trust me you save money that way even though its expensive. The North was not particularly interesting to me but you could like it. If you're in Lima then try to stay in Miraflores and spend one day in the Center of the city itself. In Miraflores you can check out Larcomar and paraglide over the beach and Calle de Las Pizzas. If you dance Cuban Salsa, check out my second home in Lima "Son De Cuba"

This is it for now of my favourite parts of Latin America. I have left out many things but if you're interested in one particular thing I mentioned and want more info, just comment and I'll let you know.