Episodio 2: Modern Love (Amor moderno)

Duolingo English for Spanish Speakers Podcast

Una noche en el 2016, los papás de Disha Gulati fueron a cenar a la casa de los padres de su novio, Arun.

Era la primera vez que todos se reunían.

I met Arun four months before that dinner.

We actually met on the dating app Tinder.

His mum prepared us a delicious Indian meal.

As we were eating, Arun’s dad asked, “So, where did you two meet?”

Disha y Arun contestaron al mismo tiempo.

“Online,” I said.

“Through friends,” Arun said at exactly the same time.

Then he looked at me.

He seemed upset.

Clearly, he didn’t want his parents to know that we met online.

A lot of people disapprove of dating apps, but I didn’t want to accept that stigma!

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.

Todos nuestros 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 vamos a conocer a dos personas que encontraron a sus parejas de forma muy distinta.

A veces el amor aparece simplemente por casualidad.

En otras, buscamos ese amor creando perfiles en aplicaciones de citas, o dating apps, como Tinder o también Bumble.

Nuestros protagonistas, en el Reino Unido y Canadá, nos cuentan cómo conocieron a sus parejas.

En la primera historia nuestra narradora Disha habla con un acento irlandés.

Notarás que su “t” y “d” suenan un poco más ligeras y suaves.

En lugar de “that” Disha dice “thah” con un pequeño soplo al final.

Desde la adolescencia, Disha sintió que sus papás querían que encontrara marido dentro de la comunidad india en Inglaterra o Irlanda.

My parents wanted me to marry someone from a similar cultural background.

I thought that was funny because I grew up in rural Ireland.

And there aren’t many Indian families there!

Un tercio de las personas que contraen matrimonio en el Reino Unido se conocieron tras crear perfiles de citas, o dating profiles, en internet.

Disha sabía que algunas personas creen que no es normal encontrar pareja por internet, el llamado online dating, pero para ella era normal.

I was 26 and I was single in London.

For years before that, I dated nice guys that I met through friends.

But those relationships didn’t last very long.

So, I decided to try online dating.

Some of the dating profiles were really funny.

One guy was covered in dollar bills in his picture.

Another guy’s picture looked like that famous scene from the movie American Beauty.

But he had strawberries all over his body instead of rose petals!

Entonces, en la pantalla del teléfono apareció… Arun.

In comparison, Arun’s Tinder profile was pretty normal.

He looked cute, and his profile said that he had five stars on Uber! Who has five stars on Uber?! Then I noticed that we had a lot in common.

We both liked board games, and we had mutual friends.

He also lived near me! That was Christmas 2016, and we had our first date on New Year’s Day at a table tennis bar.

En Londres es común que tu primera cita sea en un club de tenis de mesa, o table tennis, porque ahí se puede beber y jugar a la vez en un ambiente muy relajado.

At first, Arun was very shy, and I thought about leaving our date early.

Then we played a few games of table tennis, and I won.

He became really competitive! After that, we got a drink and played a board game.

He was actually really good at board games! I started to realize that he was smart and interesting.

Después de esa cita, Disha y Arun siguieron saliendo… y pronto se dieron cuenta de que esta relación era especial.

Así se organizó la cena en la casa de los papás de Arun.

At dinner that night, I don’t know if Arun’s parents heard me say that we met online.

They didn’t say anything about it.

And Arun quickly started talking about something else.

It was very clear that he didn’t want his parents to know how we met.

Cuando hablaron después de la cena, Arun explicó que no estaba listo para hablar de cómo se habían conocido… Él tenía miedo de que a sus padres no les pareciera bien.

I understood.

Arun and I are both from traditional families.

It was only when my relationship with Arun became more serious that I told my parents all about online dating.

Disha cree que el estigma sobre conocer gente en internet es ridículo, ya que muchas parejas se conocen así.

Por eso, para ella es importante ser honesta y no esconderlo.

Online dating can be really frustrating, especially when you have a lot of bad dates! I wanted to celebrate finding love this way, so I told my parents how I met Arun.

At first, my mum was worried.

But soon she realized that my relationship with Arun was serious and that we might get married.

Then Tinder seemed more respectable to her.

Aunque los papás de Disha fueron comprensivos, Arun seguía resistiéndose a sincerarse con los suyos.

So, Arun wasn’t sure if they would understand online dating.

Arun’s parents didn’t go on dates before they got married.

Their parents arranged their marriage.

Los matrimonios de conveniencia, o arranged marriages, son uniones que deciden los padres, y muchas comunidades indias en todo el mundo los practican.

Justo porque sus padres eran más tradicionales, fue que Arun mantuvo silencio sobre cómo conoció a Disha.

Nine months after I met Arun on Tinder, I went to live in Singapore and then Australia for two years because of a job opportunity.

While I was abroad, Arun and I talked to each other on Skype often.

I don’t think we would still be together if we didn’t have technology.

And now we’re going down a new path together.

En el 2019, Disha y Arun hicieron un viaje a Berlín.

Arun planned a boat trip on the river.

He was wearing a formal shirt.

After we got in the little boat, Arun got down on one knee.

That made the boat move a lot! I was scared we would tip over! Then he asked me to marry him!

Disha le dijo que sí y fijaron una fecha de boda para el 2020… pero tuvieron que posponerla por la pandemia de coronavirus.

Our wedding had to be postponed, but our friends planned a virtual celebration for us.

All of our friends joined us on a Zoom video call, and they even had a quiz about our relationship!

Así que, como la boda quedó aplazada, Disha tiene un plan para cuando se celebre en unos meses.

Ella está preparando un discurso, o speech, que todavía es secreto… también para Arun.

During my wedding speech, I’m going to project Arun’s Tinder profile on the wall.

And I’m going to thank the founders of Tinder! I want to celebrate that we met through the app and that’s how lots of people meet now.

People should feel it’s OK to use dating apps.

I know that our friends and family, including Arun’s parents, will be very happy for us!

Arun y Disha se conocieron de una forma ya muy común para los millennials: a través de una App.

Pero eso no quiere decir que la casualidad no siga produciendo encuentros románticos… a veces en lugares muy inesperados.

En el año 2002, Lisa Ayuso trabajaba como productora de un programa de reportajes en la radio pública de Canadá, en la ciudad de Toronto.

Aunque le encantaba su trabajo en ese show, Lisa aceptó un traslado temporal a otro programa para sustituir a la presentadora.

A new woman started working at my company.

She was doing my old job.

I heard a lot of people talking about this person named Victoria Stacey, or Vicki.

I asked my friends, “Who’s this new girl?”

Lisa sentía curiosidad por saber quién la había reemplazado.

One day, Vicki came to my work area to give me something.

We talked a bit and I noticed that she was funny, and she had a big smile! I wondered if she might be gay, like me.

Lisa había salido del closet, o come out of the closet, unos cuantos años antes, y tenía muchos amigos y amigas en la comunidad LGBTQ, conocida como the queer community.

My friends knew I was gay, but I knew a lot of LGBTQ people who were still in the closet.

At the time, Vicki had short hair, and she wore button-down shirts.

But, obviously, you can’t know that someone is part of the queer community because of how they look.

I just had a feeling that she was gay.

When I asked my colleague Sue, she also thought Vicki was gay but then said, “Vicki is married…to a man.”

Lisa pensó que quizás su primera impresión sobre Vicki había sido incorrecta.

Además, estaba algo celosa, o jealous.

Everyone at work loved Vicki.

She was always baking for the office.

She made these incredible cakes and cookies.

I got jealous because I thought she was going to steal my work friends.

But, at that time, I didn’t realize that Vicki was really depressed.

Después de almorzar juntas varias veces, Vicki se empezó a sincerar con Lisa.

Le contó que su depresión era porque todavía no había salido del closet.

So, Vicki knew that she was gay, but she wasn’t out of the closet yet.

Yes, she was married to a man, but she was unhappy.

Vicki and I started talking a lot more.

I stopped being jealous, and Vicki started to tell me more about her life.

Vicki creció en Quebec, que es la provincia de Canadá donde principalmente se habla francés, y Lisa en Toronto, donde se habla inglés.

You know, I was always a city girl.

When I was growing up, my mom worked for an airline, so I traveled internationally a lot.

But Vicki grew up in a small community in northern Quebec.

She didn’t know a lot of people in the queer community when she was young.

Un día, durante una de sus conversaciones, Vicki anunció algo importante.

Vicki was very nervous.

She told me that she was ready to come out to her husband and her family.

She wanted to leave her marriage.

Poco después de esa conversación, Vicki dejó a su marido y se mudó sola a su propio apartamento con su perra, Phoebe.

Lisa y Vicki continuaron siendo amigas, hasta que un día, hubo un accidente.

Vicki rode her bike to work that day.

She was very close to our office building when a taxi driver opened his door, hit Vicki, and she fell off of her bike.

One of our colleagues was outside of the building.

He saw everything and brought Vicki upstairs.

Vicki was able to walk, but she was really hurt and bleeding.

Our boss said, “Oh, my God! Someone needs to take her to the hospital!” She turned to me and said, “Lisa, you take her.”

Lisa acompañó a Vicki al hospital.

Allí le dijeron que tenía el brazo roto y se lo tenían que enyesar.

Vicki had an injured arm, so I offered to walk Phoebe, her dog, every day.

I loved walking Phoebe.

Vicki and I became close friends during that time.

She told me about dating people in the LGBTQ community, which was a new experience for her.

Her dates sounded intense.

There was a lot of drama!

Lisa tenía miedo que, de nuevo, Vicki la pasara mal en una cita.

I thought of a date as just a casual conversation during a meal.

But Vicki was very nervous about dating.

So one day, without thinking, I said, “Dating isn’t scary! Let’s go on a date!” I didn’t realize it then, but I obviously really liked Vicki.

Vicki aceptó la propuesta, y, posteriormente, ofreció prepararle la cena a Lisa en su casa, pero… el día de la cita, ¡hubo un apagón!

I thought about canceling our date because I knew Vicki couldn’t cook without electricity! But in the end, Vicki convinced me to come over.

Vicki tuvo que trabajar hasta tarde en la radio, informando sobre el apagón en Toronto.

Después, invitó a Lisa a su apartamento.

I walked Vicki’s dog for many months, but I never went inside her apartment.

I was very curious! I thought Vicki’s apartment would show her fun personality.

But when I finally entered the apartment, I was surprised by how it was decorated! There were doilies everywhere!

Los doilies son chambritas, esos mantelitos de gancho hechos con croché, y a Lisa le parecían algo de otra época.

I thought, “What the hell is this?” It was like being at my grandmother’s house!

La decoración de Vicki le pareció extraña y dulce a la vez.

Pero más dulce aún le pareció lo que ella le ofreció de cena, ya que no pudo cocinar por el apagón.

She offered me granola bars and juice boxes.

I was happy to be there.

We talked all night.

When it was time to leave, she walked me home with her dog.

She brought a candle on the walk because it was so dark outside.

After that, we went on more dates.

And we fell in love.

Con el tiempo, Vicki empezó a hablar de matrimonio.

Pero Lisa venía de una familia de papás divorciados, y además ella pensaba que el matrimonio era más para gente heterosexual, o straight.

Vicki wanted a more conventional wedding ceremony.

She wanted to get married in a church!

En Canadá, como en Estados Unidos, hay iglesias protestantes que permiten el matrimonio gay.

Vicki wanted her family to see that our marriage could be legitimate, just like her siblings’ marriages.

For me, it was hard to accept this idea.

Pero pronto Lisa comenzó a ver el matrimonio de una forma diferente, algo especial para ella y para Vicki.

I thought, “Why do we have to get married in an old, traditional way? Why can’t we have the kind of wedding that we want and make new traditions?” So that’s what we did.

We decided to get married in 2005.

Para Lisa y Vicki fue muy especial casarse en el 2005, porque es el año en el que Canadá legalizó el matrimonio gay en todo el país.

Antes era legal pero sólo en algunas provincias.

Our wedding was amazing.

We played music by Dolly Parton, our favorite singer.

It was just perfect.

We’ve been married for 15 years now.

When I think about the first time we met, I shake my head and laugh.

I can’t believe that a car accident and a blackout brought us together.

Now we have two beautiful daughters.

And, of course, a house full of doilies.

Lisa Ayuso es periodista y vive en Toronto.

Su historia la produjo Caro Rolando.

Disha Gulati vive en Londres, Reino Unido, con su novio Arun, y su historia la contó Eloise Stevens.

“Relatos en inglés” es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media.

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También hay una versión en video disponible en YouTube.

Yo soy Diana Gameros.

Thank you for listening!