Sha Sha Sha ... Me llamo Elias

So no one told me the particulars to the argentine dialect. Granted, Laura (my lovely portena friend and masseuse) said something about it perhaps, but my mind is like a sieve, and always with a "I´ll figure it out when I get there" attitude.

Not that I speak Spanish, but I was particularly flustered by all this ¨sha sha sha" that I heard all the time. Instead of hearing words that I could at least imagine spelling and then not understanding, I was just hearing lots of shashasha amid the other more discernible sounds.

As it turns out, the Argentine dialect treats a double-L as a ¨sha" sound. For example, Castellano is pronounced Cas te SHA no, not Cas te ya no. The word Calle (street) is not Ca Yay, but rather Ca Shay. Most confusing at first, and not much less confusing now that I know the rule. But I am getting it into my ears, slowly. And being someone not immune to pretentious affectation, I´m enjoying employing the shashasha myself as much as I can. "No puedo hablar CAS TE SHA NO¨is something I´ve become fond of saying.

As for my name, once again I am robbed of my correct name. (The first time was when I lived in Italy.) It seems that the Argentines, like the Italians, and the Mexicans, don´t really have a grasp on the name Elliott. (If they did, would they pronounce it E SHEE IT!?!?!?) In BA, I am now Elias, which is my nom de tourista in Mexico as well. In Italy I was either Elias or Elliotto. I can´t say I really mind though. New place, new persona, new name. ¿Porque non?