Episodio 8: Comfort food (Comida para el corazón)

En este episodio, dos relatos sobre cómo la comida une a la gente y ayuda a hacer amigos.

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Transcripción

Diana: En el 2016, Lesley Lammers se mudó de Boston a Nashville, la capital de Tennessee. Fue su séptima mudanza en diez años. Como podía trabajar a distancia, no estaba atada a una ciudad en específico.

Lesley: I could live anywhere. My brother and his wife lived in Nashville. I wanted to be closer to him, and I also liked the city. So, I moved to East Nashville, which is a cool neighborhood, known for its music and food. I liked it, but it was hard to make new friends in the beginning. I felt isolated.

Diana: Un día, Lesley le confesó a una amiga que se sentía sola y esta le sugirió que organizara cada semana un club de cena, o supper club. Era algo que Lesley ya había hecho antes, cuando vivía en San Francisco.

Lesley: In San Francisco, I lived in a house with several other people. Almost every weekend, I organized a meal, or a “supper club,” at my house. I made a lot of new friends at these dinners, and I felt like I was a part of a group. I didn’t know many people to invite to a supper club in Nashville, but I thought maybe my friend was right. If I wanted to be part of a community in Nashville, I needed to take the first step.

Diana: Welcome, bienvenidos y bienvenidas a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo. Soy Diana Gameros. En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes contadas por las personas que las vivieron.

Los protagonistas hablan en un inglés sencillo y fácil de entender para quienes están aprendiendo el idioma. En cada capítulo, yo te acompañaré para asegurarme de que entiendas todo.

En este episodio, tenemos dos relatos sobre comida casera, o comfort food, esos alimentos que nos hacen sentir mejor. Como veremos hoy, la comida ayuda a generar confianza, estrecha relaciones y crea comunidad.

Diana: Lesley creció en San Luís, una ciudad en el estado de Missouri.

Lesley: When I was growing up, my mom and my grandmother loved to have dinner parties. The whole family lived together, and they loved inviting people to our house. They were wonderful cooks. Once a year, we always had a big party. They started cooking a few days before the party, and then all of our friends and family came. So, I have always thought that food helps build communities.

Diana: La comida formaba parte integral de la familia de Lesley. Cada noche, ella se juntaba con sus hermanos, su mamá y su abuela para cenar; era un rito. Ya de adulta y viviendo sola, lo echaba mucho de menos.

Lesley: When I turned 18, I moved to the state of Arizona for college. After that, I lived in many cities, like Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Boston. Like a lot of young people in the United States, I was just trying to find a job. I also wanted to see different parts of the country. So, every few years, I moved to a new city. I always made new friends…but finding a place that really felt like home was harder. As I got older, I realized I was ready to stay in one place for a while and create a community.

Diana: Lesley le hizo caso a su amiga y organizó una cena. Ella les pidió a su hermano y a los pocos amigos que ya tenía que invitaran a sus amigos… personas a las que no conocía, para poder expandir su círculo.

Lesley: The first dinners went really well. I thought it was really fun to meet new people. People brought instruments to the dinners, and after dinner, people often played music in my backyard. Everything was very casual and completely improvised.

Diana: Lesley comenzó a conocer a mucha gente nueva e hizo amigos. Con el tiempo, sintió que Nashville ya era su hogar.

Lesley: A lot of creative people came to these dinners, and they invited other creative people. Often, people had debates about art, music, politics, and many other things. It was very exciting!

Diana: Después de un par de años organizando cenas en casa, Lesley comenzó a pensar en hacerlas a gran escala. No sería como un restaurante… sino algo más íntimo. Ella misma tendría que arreglar las mesas, elegir la música y organizar el programa.

Lesley: I thought: I can sell tickets to these dinners. And the money from tickets can pay for a chef and musicians. I wanted to help different people who, like me, wanted to feel more connected with a community.

Diana: La primera cena para la que Lesley vendió entradas tuvo lugar un viernes por la noche. Iba a ser un asado, o barbecue. A las seis en punto, minutos antes de que llegaran los primeros invitados, Lesley tomó asiento en su sala de estar.

Lesley: I was nervous and excited. For this dinner, I got a chef who cooked food from the south of the United States: barbecue. But I was worried. I thought the dinner might be a disaster. I thought the guests might not want to talk to each other.

Diana: Esa noche vinieron dieciocho invitados, todos sentados alrededor de una mesa grande. El chef cocinó y dio una pequeña charla sobre la comida que serviría. Entre cada platillo, hubo mucho tiempo para hacer amigos.

Lesley: Obviously, this wasn’t the first time that I had a dinner party. But this one was more elaborate. And although I was very nervous, it went really well! People liked the whole experience. It was very different than going to a restaurant. People had more time to speak to each other and make new friends. I liked it so much that I had more dinner parties. In the beginning, the dinners were informal, with only 15 or 20 people. But quickly, it became a formal project: the Humble Table.

Diana: La Mesa Humilde, o The Humble Table. Así es como Lesley comenzó a llamar a estas cenas... que pronto se convirtieron en algo más que una reunión casual. El año pasado, Lesley abrió su propio negocio con una amiga que es chef.

Lesley: A lot of people contacted me because they wanted to come to the dinners. Local farms and restaurants wanted to prepare the food for us. Musicians wanted to play. A lot of different people wanted to participate. I finally found the friends I was looking for, and I really felt like I was a part of the community in East Nashville.

Diana: Lesley finalmente se sintió como en casa. A principios de este año, cuando su comunidad necesitó ayuda, ella no dudó en apoyarla.

Lesley: This year, in March, I woke up very early one morning because I received an alert on my phone. It was a tornado alert. I looked out the window at the sky, and there was a big white cloud and lots of wind. The tornado was passing through East Nashville!

Diana: La casa de Lesley quedó a salvo. Pero el tornado arrasó muchas partes de la ciudad. Muchos restaurantes, tiendas y casas quedaron completamente destruidos.

Lesley: My first thought was to have a Humble Table dinner at my house. My plan was to invite everyone. Anyone who wanted to come and eat was welcome. The idea was to help people feel better, so some friends and I cooked classic foods from the south of the United States, like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and grits.

Diana: Lesley puso todos los platos en su comedor: sémola de maíz, o grits, macarrones con queso, o mac and cheese, y pollo frito cocinado al estilo del sur de los Estados Unidos.

Lesley: I spent the whole day posting messages online that said, “Free food for anyone! Just come to my house!” But no one came. Time passed. And passed. The mac and cheese and grits became cold. And I realized that I had the wrong idea. If your house was just destroyed by a tornado, would you go to someone’s house and ask for food? No. It was our responsibility to deliver the food.

Diana: Lesley puso la comida en recipientes de plástico y la llevó a un refugio donde se alojaban personas que habían perdido sus casas. Fue increíble para Lesley poder ofrecerles comida casera en un momento tan difícil.

Lesley: When I started the Humble Table, the response from the community in East Nashville was amazing. They made me feel welcome. So, I knew that I had to do something to help them. The best way to do that was by sharing food. Now I look at this amazing community — full of wonderful food and friends — and I’m so happy that I decided to build my life in Nashville.

Diana: Como Lesley, Karen Amarotico también quería ayudar a su comunidad. Se le ocurrió una idea que al principio parecía una locura: cada día durante un año hornearía lo que en inglés se conoce como pie, en español, tarta. Karen acababa de enterarse de algo llamado proyecto de gratitud, o gratitude project. La idea era dar las gracias de alguna forma diariamente.

Karen: This was in 2011, and at the time, I heard Oprah talking about the idea of gratitude projects on her TV show. Every night, in a notebook, she wrote down five good things in her life. My daughter and son were adults, and they were moving out of my house. They didn’t “need” me as much anymore. So, I had a lot of extra time, and I decided to help my community in some way.

Diana: Primero, Karen intentó enviar cartas a familiares, amigos y vecinos, dándoles las gracias por ser parte de su vida. Pero aquello no la convenció.

Karen: Then, one day, at two o’clock in the morning, I woke up and I thought, “I can bake a pie every day for a year…and give them away! That can be my gratitude project.” It sounded brilliant in the middle of the night. But the next morning, I thought, “That’s a crazy idea!”

Diana: Karen había trabajado en una empresa de banquetes, por lo que sabía cómo hornear tartas. La de manzana es prácticamente un platillo nacional en los Estados Unidos. Desde que era niña, Karen siempre pensó que la comida era una forma de conectar con los demás.

Karen: When I was 11 years old, I lived with my family in an apartment building. One day, we had a new neighbor. I really wanted to bring her a dessert to welcome her, just like people did on TV. At first, my mom didn’t want me to do that. But finally, she let me bake something. We brought the dessert to our new neighbor, and that woman and my mom actually became good friends!

Diana: Al principio, Karen no buscaba hacer amigos. Solo regaló tartas a familiares y conocidos en señal de gratitud. Pero pronto se dio cuenta de que iba a necesitar ampliar su círculo.

Karen: I asked my friends if they knew anyone who was feeling sad. I heard about people who were sad or sick, and I started making pies for them. Making pies was easy, but delivering them was difficult. I have always been a shy person, and I don’t like talking to people I don’t know.

Diana: A Karen le preocupaba que aquellos desconocidos pensaran que era raro que regalara tartas. En el pasado, su timidez le había impedido hacer amigos.

Karen: One time, maybe 10 years ago, I went to a community meeting. I didn’t know anyone there, but I brought cookies because I wanted to be friendly. But when I got there, I was too shy to say anything…or to share the cookies!

Diana: De vuelta en su auto después de aquel encuentro, Karen lloró. Ahora, tras esa mala experiencia, sabía que regalar las tartas a desconocidos sería estresante para alguien tan tímido como ella.

Karen: But most people who received a pie were really happy. Pies made them feel special. It was like “pie therapy.” One time, a woman from my kids’ school cried when I gave her a pie. She said she had a really bad day and it was nice that someone thought of her.

Diana: En el transcurso de aquel año, Karen horneó todo tipo de tartas: manzana, frambuesa, arándano… y su favorita: cereza.

Karen: I thought a lot more about the people around me and how I could make their days better. One time, I gave a pie to a local store employee. I saw her all the time, but I never talked to her. She was really surprised when I gave her a pie! After that, she always said “hello” to me when I was at the store.

Diana: Solo una persona rechazó una de las tartas de Karen. Un vecino le había pedido que horneara una de sus tartas para una amiga que estaba teniendo un año difícil.

Karen: The woman opened the door and I explained why I was at her house. I smiled and tried to be really friendly. But she was not happy to see me. I told her, “But this is for you.” And she said, “No, thank you!” and closed the door.

Diana: Karen quedó un poco triste, pero todavía estaba decidida a regalar aquella tarta.

Karen: There was a man outside the grocery store, collecting donations for charity. I asked him if he wanted the pie, and he was happy to take it!

Diana: A medida que avanzó aquel año, Karen fue dejando atrás su timidez.

Karen: People ask me, “What did you learn from that year?” Well, I definitely got better at making pies! I also learned that small things can make people happy. You can show that you care about someone just by doing something nice for them. After I baked 365 pies, I felt not only more optimistic but also more confident. So, my gratitude project worked!

Diana: Unas semanas después de que Karen terminara su año de regalar tartas, una mujer mayor se le acercó cuando estaban en la iglesia.

Karen: The woman came to talk to me suddenly. She said, “Hey! Why didn’t you give me a pie?” We weren’t friends — I just knew her from church. She said, “I broke my hip, and I still didn’t get a pie!”

Diana: Estaba claro que la mujer estaba bromeando. Y su cadera o hip ya se había curado. Pero Karen le prometió que igual le haría una tarta.

Karen: I wasn’t planning to make more pies, but I told her, “Marion, I’ll bring you a pie really soon.” Because when you’re 90 years old, you’re allowed to ask for a pie!

Diana: Karen Amarotico vive en Ashland, Oregon. Ella escribió un blog sobre la experiencia de hornear una tarta al día que se llama “Pie A Day”. Lesley Lammers vive en Nashville, Tennessee, y trabaja como escritora, estratega de contenidos y consultora de comunicaciones en empresas relacionadas con comida y medio ambiente.

Este episodio fue producido por “Ado” o Antonio Díaz Oliva, un escritor chileno que vive en Chicago.

Gracias por haber escuchado “Relatos en inglés”. Este es nuestro último episodio de la temporada. Nos encantaría saber qué te parecieron los relatos. Puedes enviarnos un correo electrónico a podcast@duolingo.com, o también puedes enviarnos un mensaje de audio por WhatsApp al +1-703-953-93-69. ¡También puedes dejar una reseña en Apple Podcasts!

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“Relatos en inglés” es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media. Esta temporada tuvimos apoyo de producción de Mariano Pagella; el editor de audio fue Martín Pérez Roa; el diseño sonoro, musicalización y mezcla estuvieron a cargo de Martín Cruz. Nuestra asistente de producción fue Caro Rolando, la editora Stephanie Joyce. Nuestro gerente de producción es Luis Gil, el gerente editorial es David Alandete y la directora ejecutiva es Martina Castro. Yo soy Diana Gameros. Thank you for listening!

Créditos

Este episodio es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media.