"i-s-h"

There are a great many prefixes and suffixes in American linguistics, yet none more easily translates into Spanish than “ish.” We inventory such words in English as “selfish,” “relish,” “fish,” “ wish,” “ swish,” “ dish,” and “ Polish.” Only one of these (Polish) would seem to offer any tangible link between the base word “Pole” and the suffix “ish.” In Spanish, a less complicated language than English, the connection is clear, concise and instantly understandable. It purely relates to the future arrival of a remotely specific instant in time.

Allow me to illustrate. As you all are aware, everything enters and then departs Yelapa via panga (if you are uncertain as to what this is, stop and look it up). Locals, visitors, trash, beer, vegetables, dry goods, building materials and medical supplies all arrive; are consumed; and then depart in one form or another via this mode of transportation. Now in order to support a village of twelve hundred men, women, children, dogs, horses and mules a highly sophisticated scheduling infrastructure must be in place, right? Nope!!! All life here in Yelapa aligns with the “ish” concept. If you are traveling to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow then you choose the panga which departs from the town pier 8:30ish. Now this is not rocket science, it simply means that the panga will depart sometime within the time span defined by the first part of the expression. In this case, 8 refers to an hour, so that as long as the panga departs within an hour of 8:30, it is still considered to be on time.

Perhaps a few more examples might prove helpful. One day each week Sammy ferries a panga full of scrap metal over to PV for sale. If the word circulates that he is departing Thursday, since Thursday relates to the identification of a day, he could actually depart Thursday or Friday and still be considered to have kept his original schedule. Get it?  Ok, one more for those of you who are challenged by the nebulous dimensions of space and time. Last week, I ran into Nacho, the plumber. We discussed a small kitchen repair which required his assistance. He responded that his schedule was full but that he would be happy to stop by the following week.   Question: What actual period of time does Nacho have to appear and still honor his original promise?  Answer:  Two weeks!!!!

Travel Hint: Seek to adopt the concept of “ish” when traveling in rural anywhere. Practice the concept in advance of your departure. Randomly remove a device from your person which identifies the actual day/month/date/year/hour/nano-second. Start off slowly, perhaps ten-one to three minute repetitions. Let me know how it goes.

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