I had an appointment downtown to take a test in order to qualify to be an interpreter for the Maricopa County Superior Court. So I hopped on the light rail and headed to downtown Phoenix. As you know, winter in the Valley of the Sun is delightful and we are inundated by visitors from out-of-state. On the way in, as we passed Tovrea Castle (which is close by the rail line) a tourist asked a helpful "local" what that building was. He replied that it is where the first Governor of Arizona is buried. It isn't.
Now I'm sitting waiting for my test, having arrived 15 minutes or so early. I can hear somebody with a horrible accent speaking Spanish in a room just off the lobby where I'm sitting. I can only hear one side of the conversation. (Turns out the test is given orally over the phone.) I listen as the guy says "No sé si voy a pedar." and I cracked up. I think he meant "No sé si voy a poder." If you know Spanish and are slightly twisted, you will laugh, too.
I finish my test, and head back home. As we pass Tovrea Castle again, a different tourist asks a different "local" what the building is. He replies that it's the Wrigley Mansion, as in chewing gum. It isn't.
5 comments:
Thanks not only for the interesting Phoenix history (I enjoyed the castle's website) but for the astute wit and humor. Hope you get the job. What does pedar mean? Anything?
So what is the building?
It's Tovrea Castle! I said that. Built by an Italian immigrant without plans, just what he had in his head. A cattle baron named Tovrea wanted it, he wouldn't sell. Baron built stockyards all around, drove down property value, raised stink level, drove immigrant to sell out. Now remembered by the cattle baron's name rather than the builder. Do like your big sister and go to the website!
P.S. I put "local" in parenthesis because I suspect that some of these people haven't lived here all that long themselves. I've been dragged around by strangers to meet their friends because I'm the first native Arizonan they've ever met.
Wow, tio. I passed the castle hundreds of times in my years living in the Valley of the Sun. I often wondered what it was. Guess I should have asked a local.
By the way, did you get the job?
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