What do you do the first day you visit a new city?
Shopping?
Restaurants?
Hit the local discos?
Me, I walk around and get lost.
Later, when I have a lot of questions about the city, I go to a museum to see if I can get them answered.
This month I’m exploring the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
And this week I’m exploring the city of Merida, Mexico.
It reminds me a little bit of New Orleans: it’s old and hot and has lots of Spanish architecture.
I arrived Friday.
I walked around Saturday.
And Sunday I went to a museum.
Honestly, it was kinda boring.
And I still have a lot of unanswered questions.
But here’s one interesting thing I learned.
Well, in the Mayan language (those were the local Indians), the word “Yucatan” sounds a lot like:
Ma’anaatik ka t’ann.
Which means, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
So imagine this:
Spanish Explorer: (in Spanish) Hello, nice to meet you. Sorry to bother you, but we seem to be a little lost. Would you mind telling us where we are?
Local Guy: Ma’anaatik ka t’ann.
Spanish Explorer: Ah, I see. We’re in the… Yucatan. Thank you. And ha, one more question… if you wouldn’t mind, since we’re here, would you mind if we used your bathroom?
So that’s why we call the Yucatan “the Yucatan.”
Good story, don’t you think?
What’s the point of this story?
Where’s the English lesson?
There isn’t one!
Sometimes a story is just a story.
But if you enjoy it, you’ll finish it and stay focused.
And if it’s also in English…
Then you read more and you learn more.
Research proves, students who read more have larger vocabularies.
Oh wait, THAT’S the lesson!
Read more interesting stories in English