Learn Spanish By Drinking (part II)

Chuflay. This is another of those weird misunderstandings I always have with local people. As well as wine, Tarija is also well known for producing a grape spirit called Singani. It is mixed with Sprite to give a drink which the locals call Chuflay. One my first trip to the disco here the barman asked me if I wanted Chuflay. In my addled state I thought he had asked me if I wanted “to fly” in English. I said yes anyway and it was only about a week later that I realised my mistake.
Damajuana. For a while I worked in a corner shop here – I know, my life is just nonstop fun – and someone asked me for a damajuana once. I thought it was a person, as it translates as “Lady Juana”, and said that I didn’t know her. The man who asked for it actually wanted a big bottle of wine which they call damajuanas for some reason. He still nudges his friends and points at me whenever I pass him in the street. Which is very nice of him.
More wine. I was starting to learn Spanish fairly well by the time I braved a second trip out to the vineyard. The lady who runs it (no, she’s not called Juana) is a bit of a local institution. You can go there and spend all day trying all the different wines for free. So we did. I am afraid that I then starting singing in Spanish. It was only after I had sung about 5 words that I realised that I only knew 2 words to the song. It just goes to show that if you want to learn Spanish by drinking you can get some entirely unexpected results.