B1 · Altitude, safety and things going wrong
Looking after yourself
The two things most likely to interrupt a trip through the Andes are altitude and losing something. Neither needs much vocabulary, but the words are specific and no course teaches them.
Practise these
Altitude
el sorocheAndes
altitude sickness
Peru and Bolivia. El mal de altura is the neutral term and is understood everywhere.
Estoy apunado.Andes
I've got altitude sickness.
Bolivia and southern Peru. Apunarse, from la puna, the high plateau.
Me falta el aire.
I'm short of breath.
Faltar again: the air is missing to me.
un mate de cocaAndes
a coca leaf tea
Offered on arrival in Cusco and La Paz, and it genuinely helps.
Voy a tomarlo con calma el primer día.
I'm going to take it easy the first day.
The actual advice: arrive, do nothing, sleep.
Staying out of trouble
No des papaya.Colombia
Don't make yourself an easy target.
Colombian, and the single most useful phrase in the country. It means do not leave your phone on the table.
Ponte pilas.Colombia
Stay sharp.
Colombia and Ecuador. Estar pilas is to be alert.
Ojo con el celular en la combi.
Watch your phone on the bus.
Ojo con is the standard warning: keep an eye on.
¿Por acá se puede caminar tranquilo?
Is it OK to walk around here?
Tranquilo as an adverb: safely, without worrying.
Mejor pide un taxi por aplicativo.Peru
Better to order a taxi through an app.
El aplicativo in Peru; la aplicación or simply la app elsewhere.
When something happens
Me robaron el celular.
My phone was stolen.
Spanish makes the thieves the subject. Fui robado is not how this is said.
Se me perdió la billetera.
I've lost my wallet.
The se accidental: it happened to me rather than I did it.
Necesito hacer una denuncia.
I need to file a police report.
La denuncia is the report you need for insurance. Ask for the copy.
¿Dónde queda la comisaría?
Where's the police station?
Quedar for permanent location is standard across the region.
Perdí el bus, ¿hay otro hoy?
I missed the bus, is there another today?
Perder el bus, not fallar.
Health on the road
Me cayó mal la comida.
The food disagreed with me.
Caer mal is the fixed phrase for food that made you ill.
¿Hay una farmacia de turno?South America
Is there a duty pharmacy open?
De turno means the one on rota, open late or on Sundays.
Necesito algo para el estómago.
I need something for my stomach.
Pharmacists will hand you the right thing without a prescription.
¿Se puede tomar el agua del caño?Peru
Is the tap water drinkable?
El caño in Peru; la canilla in Argentina; la llave in Colombia and Chile.
19 expressions in this pack