Shopping spree

Expand Your Spanish

SOME things are the same the world over.

That includes never finding a sales assistant in a department store when you want one, although a flock of them descends on you when you want to wander round and look.

At best they make you feel guilty because you’re not buying and at worst they look at you as though you are a potential shoplifter. It’s always best to say something in these circumstances and you use a phrase that’s similar in English and Spanish:

I’m just looking, thank you….. estoy sólo mirando, gracias

On those occasions when you do find a salesperson you’ll need to explain what you want:

Can I try this on….. ¿puedo probar esto?

I want a small/medium/big size….. quiero la talla pequeña/mediana/grande me gustaría este vestido/esta blusa/este traje/estos zapatos en otro color

Do you have this dress/blouse/shirt/suit/coat in another size?.....¿tiene este vestido/esta blusa/esta camisa/este traje/este abrigo en otra talla?

I’d like to see this dress/blouse/shirt/suit in another colour…..

And because it’s often so difficult to get exactly what you want:

This dress is too small/big/tight/ loose/long/short….. este vestido es demasiado pequeño/grande/ajustado/suelto/largo/corto

These shoes are too small/big/tight/wide… ..estos zapatos son demasiado pequeños/ grandes/apretados/anchos

I take a size 37 ­ gasto un 37

I’m sorry but I don’t like it/them….. lo siento, pero no me gusta/no me gustan

I’m going to think about it….. me lo voy a pensar

Then there’s the saddest phrases of all:

It’s too expensive….. es demasiado caro/cara They’re too expensive….. son demasiado caros/caras

Is there something cheaper?….. ¿hay algo más barato?

On those occasions when you can splash out:

Can I pay by debit/credit card…..¿puedo pagar con tarjeta?

Do you want cash?..... ¿lo quiero en efectivo?

And if it really doesn’t suit you:

I’d like to change this.…. quiero cambiar esto, por favor

By the way, the person you look for or evade in a department store (grandes almacenes) is un dependiente/una dependienta but not un asistente, who is an attendee.

Meanwhile una asistenta is the person who cleans for you on a daily basis.

Insurance help LETTERS

May I suggest that Gwendeline Ottley contact Staysure Insurance as they have no upper age limit. We have used them for many years and many trips around the World and find them excellent.

Regards

Same problem

Terry and Shirley

In reply to your correspondent Gwendoline Ottley in edition April 27 to May 3, re lack of travel insurance for older expats, can I say that we have the same problem. My partner is almost 90 and is probably fitter than most 60 ­ year ­ olds in that there is nothing whatsoever wrong with him. Like Gwendoline, we like to travel, but contact insurance companies and they don’t ask anything about health, just your age. This is not fair, I wish some of them would realise this.

Last Christmas and New Year, we went on a Caribbean cruise, the only way to do this was that we booked through a British travel agent (but their office is in La Zenia) and because there is nothing wrong with us, we were able to take advantage of their insurance for €139 each (+€35 for Covid cover). This compared with the £1,400 wanted by another company. We have never claimed in 50 years of use.

We want to take a Danube cruise next spring, which was cancelled twice due to Covid, but it will depend on whether or not we can get insurance. Companies are missing a trick here.

So no help to the lady, but she has a lot of sympathy. We would like to know if she does eventually manage to get covered.

Kind regards,

Diana Wiltshire and Patrice Satur

Hello Leapy

We look forward to your candid comments in your column in EWN each week. We mostly tend to be in accord with you, although occasionally not so, but then that makes for good discussion between ourselves and friends.

Whilst trawling through family photographic archives and memorabilia this week ­ end, my wife (Su) came across an amusing, relevant item. In a faded copy of the mag Fabulous’208, dated 21st December 1968 that she had unearthed from the piles of stored stuff, she was featured as a model in an article titled ‘Right Gear for a Rave Up!’. (During the late 60s and 70s she was a DJ on P&O liners and had modelling and promotion work.)

But, over the page in FabTalk, there was a piece about you ­ ¡Leapy banked on it¡. Attached is a scanned copyeven though it mentions your damaged Cadillac, I thought you might like to see it.

Please keep up your comments and views in your articles ­ someone’s got to voice it before the wokes take over the world!!

Kind regards ­ David

M­S

Bull dies

I read about the fighting bull that plunged to its death from a bridge during the Bou de les Penyes festivities in Ontinyent, Valencia. This is extreme animal cruelty. These people are of no benefit to this planet. They’re relics of a medieval mindset. Pure evil at work here. They bring shame on their country. It needs to stop.

Deborah Hall

Housing market

Spain has more space and a diverse landscape, however, one point to highlight is if the 90 ­ day rule is not addressed, this will have a significant impact on tourism and potential home ownership with properties tied to service charges. Time will tell…

Mark

Stars in Barcelona

After seeing that the Obamas, and Steven Spielberg and his wife were spotted in Barcelona, does Spain want these Warmongers in the country? Is Spain a bit white for the Obamas? Just saying, because of Michelle complaining. Have we forgiven Obama for forcing USA nuke ships in our harbours? Obama go home.

Michael Fisher

David Worboys Thinking Aloud

I LEARNED the facts of life at the age of nine or 10 but the world has moved on since the late 40s. Nowadays little boys are raping girls by the age of 10 and murdering them by the time they are 12. Not all of them, but in growing numbers. Guns and knives are preferred nowadays to pea ­ shooters and catapults, while playground scuffles have given way to shootings or stabbings as a means of settling scores.

When I was five, I was attracted to girls in general (and Rosalind in particular) and enjoyed sitting next to them. I realised they were different from boys, who were perhaps more fun, but I had no idea about sexual communion nor how I arrived on planet Earth.

It was a schoolfriend who eventually told me, but he omitted to explain that the act normally took place in a horizontal position in a bed and normally between a man and his wife.

Hmmm. I had visions of perpendicular liaisons between a mother and a father, while (more or less) fully dressed and anywhere out of view. Perhaps behind the potting shed or in the

CAMPING in a group is great fun, you can bond and spend quality time with people without the distractions of daily life, but have you ever felt like going it alone?

Solo camping can also be a fulfilling experience, you can hike at your own pace without feeling like you need to rush or hang back and connect with nature on a deeper level.

Sometimes when camping in a group we can spend time entertaining people or maintaining the status quo, when you are alone you can just be at peace without these stressors. You can also improve your skills as in a group some