borrasca [noun, f] – storm; blizzard; squall; gale; low pressure area; cyclone; depression; cyclogenesis
¡Tristes gotas! Yesterday it bucketed down pretty much non-stop here in Madrid, and it’s been raining on and off today too. This is the borrasca Gaetan, come to wash away the snow after Filomena, the previous borrasca our beautiful city is still reeling from.
As if that weren’t enough, close on the heels of Gaetan is Hortense, bringing strong winds of over 100 km/h in some parts of Spain. Batten down the hatches, folks!
Whenever I watch raindrops on a window pane, I think of “Aplastamiento de las Gotas” by Julio Cortázar, which takes me back to the dreamy days I spent as a postgrad studying Spanish Lit in Salamanca.
Fellow Spain lover, if you haven’t been to Salamanca, you must go. Book yourself a week in a hotel, and do nothing but read poetry in cafés and wander the streets, soaking in the spirit of word-lovers from times gone by. I’ll meet you there.
Vocab
bucket down [British slang, phrasal verb] – llover a cántaros
on and off [expression] – de manera intermitente; a intervalos
wash away [phrasal verb] – arrasar, arrastrar, eliminar, quitar
reeling – [literally] tambaleante; conmovido; aturdido
still reeling from XYZ [idiom] – todavía se sienten los efectos de XYZ
as if that weren’t enough [expression] – por si fuera poco
batten down the hatches [expression of nautical origin, meaning to secure a ship’s tarpaulins] – prepárate [que llega algo gordo, una situación difícil]
folks [noun, informal] – gente
wander the streets [expression] – callejear
times gone by [expression] – antaño
to butcher [something] [expression, slang] – chambonear [algo] (Latin America); hacer una chapuza (Spain)
PS – Even though I butchered it, I loved this watercolour tutorial on how to paint a storm by Lois Davidson and will be back to try it again soon. In the name of perfect imperfection and keepin’ it real, I’ll keep my crappy first attempt up. 🙂
My Little Spanish Notebook 