TIME = DISTANCE
When you're waiting for someone, at first it would seem that the simple question "where are you?" would have a somewhat simple response: "I'm at ....."
but it seems that in Zaragoza, something which jarred me a little the first couple of times I heard it, time equals distance.
So, the very frequent answer of friends who ring me up while we're trying to meet up somewhere in the street, or we're late for a rendevouz with other friends, and whoever is with me calls up from his mobile (cell phones in Spain are called mobiles), to that question of "where are you?" is " I'm at x minutes". " Si, estoy a tres minutos del cafe."
When we're bar hopping, the usual thing to say in NY would be "Ok, let's go to the other bar, it's only 5 blocks away."
But, my friends will usually say, "let's go to the other bar, it's only 5 minutes away". "Queda a 5 minutos de aqui".
Distance = Time
ZARAGOZA 28.5
posted by Leo Susana @ 6:43 PM
2 Comments:
I have one question regarding your entry: does the calculation of time depends on the person talking? for example, five minutes for the normal "walker" is 10 minutes for me who have to take my time to walk...another question, how is the idea of time in Zaragoza compared to the DR. Here in Fargo, 5 minutes is 5 minutes, but often I am told the wrong time for events so I can attend them "on time"
Hmmm, I suppose it depends on who's talking and their pace, and since they are setting the pace, they can more or less judge how far they are at that pace. Which I guess is less ambiguos in a way than saying I'm five blocks away. Time here in Zaragoza is pretty much real time. If you say see you at 6, then give or take 5, but not like it's typical for dominicans, who jump in the shower 5 minutes before they're supposed to be somewhere ( of course there are exceptions!)
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