Spanish Scavenger hunt in Bushwick

    A friend of mine is headed to Nicaragua in about a month for what will be his first trip to Latin America. Brave soul that he is, he began learning Spanish just a few months ago. But before being plunked down into the middle of Managua and be expected to have his first conversation ever in Spanish be asking what the hell is inside of his Vigorón (part of a plantain tree leaf, yucca, and friend pig skin in case you were wondering), I thought it would be helpful to take him to New York City's very own Hispanic Epcot Center: Bushwick. 

    On just one street, (Knickerbocker Avenue from roughly Flushing to DeKalb) there is un montón of products, food, and music from almost every Latin American country. You can pop into one store after the next and scarf down Mexican candy like a fat kid on Halloween, sway your hips to genres of Spanish music whose names you've never heard of, and most importantly, practice your güerespañol with spanish speakers in the comfort of your own home-town. Rather than just wander aimlessly, I wanted to give my friend a few challenges to put his new Spanish to the test and hopefully give him a little primer in hispanic culture. So I thought to myself "What better way than to arrange a Spanish scavenger hunt around the neighborhood?" First I came up with a list of kooky things I remember seeing when I lived in the neighborhood (lucha libre masks, homies dolls, flags on butts). Then I added a few things I knew he would have to ask shopkeepers for. Last but not least I threw in a couple of adivinanzas (Spanish riddles) for good measure.  

   We ended up having a great time and my friend got to practice a lot of Spanish. Below are a few examples of things I put on the list and how it turned out.

 

Cual de estos chiles es lo mas picante?

- chile de arbol?

-chile Ancho?

-chile habanero?

-Güero

- Cuaresmeño

Rather than punishing ourselves by taste-testing, we decided just to ask. A few shopkeepers disagreed about which was the spiciest chile, but after an informal poll amongst a few different shops, my friend was able to circle Arbol. 

escucha a duranguense, Bachata, y raggaeton 

Without even trying we heard the first two genres of Music (popular in North Mexico and Nicaragua respectively) while walking into stores. Some guy in a Honda Accord  trolling for chicks on Knickerbocker gave us more of a taste of Raggaeton than was needed to accomplish the task. 

donde se puede comer una oreja y un ojo de pancha, y calaveras?

No, not at a butcher. An ear, the eye of Pancha, and skulls can all be eaten at a Mexican bakery, a Panadaria. I had to munch on an oreja right in front of my friend before he could figure it out. We then proceeded to stuff ourselves on an ojo de pancha over coffee. He was even able to trade the leftovers for a rolly cigarette. You might want to avoid including a Panadaria on your own scavenger hunt unless you wouldn't mind gaining a pound in the course of an afternoon.

 Haz una escultura de tu compañero con Mofongo. 

Okay, so this doesn't really help anyone's Spanish, but I have always thought that Mofongo would make great sculpting material. And now I have proof (Exhibit A). It was also an excuse to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Bushwick to scarf down some delicious Mofongo while listening to ear-splitting Bachata. 

En este banco hay un hombre y un bicho
el nombre del hombre ya te lo he dicho.

last but not least a Spanish riddle. In my scavenger hunt all of the answers to the riddles eventually spelled out where we were headed for lunch: where else but Los Hermanos tortilla factory right off the Jefferson st. L train stop. This riddle was also a good way to teach yet another slang word in Spanish for the family jewels.  

The answer to the riddle, you ask? I guess you'll just have to come on another one of my scavenger hunts. I think next will be an Arabic scavenger hunt on Steinway street in Astoria.