In the words of Shrek: "DONKEY!"
Burro.
It's spelled the same in Spanish as in Portuguese, but is pronounced completely different. When I first heard Paulo use it, my eyebrow twitched up in a "Are you mocking me?" sort of look.
Boo-hoo.
That's what it sounds like, at least, and I frankly could not decipher if my boyfriend was a) trying to be funny, b) crazy, or c) I was missing the word from my admittedly slim vocabulary. I found I was mostly right on all three accounts. "Burro" is the word for donkey, which I had expected to sound similar to the Spanish version, somehow forgetting that the Portuguese double-r is not trilled, but treated far closer to the Spanish letter "j," which is a somewhat guttural English letter "h." (At times I forget this three-part translation, being more comfortable with the Spanish language.) The word can also be used to describe a person that is, or is acting like, an idiot.
While I have been here, I have come to really love the "Boo-hoos," (no, not idiots. The other definition.) who seem to attempt to make up for their short end of the stick (as compared to their taller, more gallant-looking horse cousins) by stubbornly revolting against their owners and just about anyone that tries to push them around. I find them humorous, yet simultaneously make my heart drop in an odd concoction of emotion for both these beasts and their owners.
On several occasions I have seen young men and women, and even a couple of young boys not looking older than nine or ten, loading up the carts tied to the animals, performing deliveries and pickups for whatever meager amount of money they can get.
While visiting the beautiful Gallinhos Beach, we got to take a ride with the burros and their owners, who all were young men that looked like they were in their twenties. We pulled ourselves, literally, into the tall back seat, and the driver set the donkey moving, hopping onto his cracked and rickety seat only after the animal had begun clopping along. Soon we found ourselves racing the 5 to 7 other bouncing, wooden carts being pulled by burros, along a gloriously beautiful beach. Surprisingly, I don't think it would have been any more gorgeous if we had been drawn in a horse and carriage. The liveliness of the driver and shockingly quick animal made for an exciting trip down the beach.
Here are some "Boo-hoo" pictures for you:
Beautiful...
The bumpy ride made it hard to get a clear shot at times.
The darker side of donkeys..this was right out on the street in front of Paulo's family's apartment.
And this one was on the street behind the apartment, which I can see from my bedroom window:
And this one lives right down the hall in the other bedroom... though he insists he's a ninja, not a burro.
It's spelled the same in Spanish as in Portuguese, but is pronounced completely different. When I first heard Paulo use it, my eyebrow twitched up in a "Are you mocking me?" sort of look.
Boo-hoo.
That's what it sounds like, at least, and I frankly could not decipher if my boyfriend was a) trying to be funny, b) crazy, or c) I was missing the word from my admittedly slim vocabulary. I found I was mostly right on all three accounts. "Burro" is the word for donkey, which I had expected to sound similar to the Spanish version, somehow forgetting that the Portuguese double-r is not trilled, but treated far closer to the Spanish letter "j," which is a somewhat guttural English letter "h." (At times I forget this three-part translation, being more comfortable with the Spanish language.) The word can also be used to describe a person that is, or is acting like, an idiot.
While I have been here, I have come to really love the "Boo-hoos," (no, not idiots. The other definition.) who seem to attempt to make up for their short end of the stick (as compared to their taller, more gallant-looking horse cousins) by stubbornly revolting against their owners and just about anyone that tries to push them around. I find them humorous, yet simultaneously make my heart drop in an odd concoction of emotion for both these beasts and their owners.
On several occasions I have seen young men and women, and even a couple of young boys not looking older than nine or ten, loading up the carts tied to the animals, performing deliveries and pickups for whatever meager amount of money they can get.
While visiting the beautiful Gallinhos Beach, we got to take a ride with the burros and their owners, who all were young men that looked like they were in their twenties. We pulled ourselves, literally, into the tall back seat, and the driver set the donkey moving, hopping onto his cracked and rickety seat only after the animal had begun clopping along. Soon we found ourselves racing the 5 to 7 other bouncing, wooden carts being pulled by burros, along a gloriously beautiful beach. Surprisingly, I don't think it would have been any more gorgeous if we had been drawn in a horse and carriage. The liveliness of the driver and shockingly quick animal made for an exciting trip down the beach.
Here are some "Boo-hoo" pictures for you:
Beautiful...
The bumpy ride made it hard to get a clear shot at times.
The darker side of donkeys..this was right out on the street in front of Paulo's family's apartment.
And this one was on the street behind the apartment, which I can see from my bedroom window:
And this one lives right down the hall in the other bedroom... though he insists he's a ninja, not a burro.
