Episodio 29: Happy Halloween (Feliz Halloween)

Duolingo English for Spanish Speakers Podcast

Des Moines, la ciudad capital del estado de Iowa es un lugar donde la gente se vuelve loca por Halloween.

Eso descubrió Katie Swanson-Niermann, que usa el apodo Swany, cuando se mudó allí en el 2013 a los veintiséis años.

I celebrated Halloween as a kid, but it was very different in Des Moines.

Everyone in our neighborhood loved Halloween.

Every house had amazing decorations that were both fun and scary, like spiders and ghosts.

Our neighbors wore zombie costumes and tried to scare people.

One man, who was very tall, dressed like a monster and walked around the streets at night.

Halloween es una celebración de disfraces, adornos y travesuras.

Una tradición muy conocida es el trick or treat.

Los niños se disfrazan y van de puerta en puerta gritando: “trick or treat!”.

El trick es una travesura, puede ser una broma o un chiste, y el treat es una golosina.

La verdad es que en la mayoría de los sitios, los niños ya no hacen travesuras.

But in Des Moines, tricks are still part of the tradition.

The kids trick or treat the night before Halloween, and they usually tell you jokes before you give them candy.

On my first Halloween in Des Moines, I woke up to a very surprising trick…

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, dos historias sobre cómo se celebra Halloween, una noche de fantasmas y disfraces… y también de calabazas, o pumpkins…

En el 2014, Swany y su esposo compraron una casa en Des Moines, cerca de donde ella estudiaba medicina.

Estaba en lo alto de una colina en un barrio histórico, y le rentaban un cuarto a una inquilina que les ayudaba a pagar la hipoteca.

To get to the front door of our house, you had to walk down a path through a small garden.

It was the smallest house on the street, and it needed some improvements, but we loved it.

We had friendly neighbors, a wonderful roommate, and a cute dog.

But I was so busy studying and going to class that I didn’t have time to help my husband with the house.

He cleaned and did all of the repairs.

I felt so bad that I couldn’t help! So, in October, I got three pumpkins to decorate our porch for Halloween.

They were bright orange, and I was very proud of them.

Halloween se celebra la noche del 31 de octubre, y en los Estados Unidos, decorar la casa es toda una tradición.

En Des Moines, era incluso más bien una pasión.

Des Moines loved Halloween! All of the houses in our neighborhood had lots of decorations.

Some were scary, but I enjoyed seeing everyone’s enthusiasm.

I loved how all of the neighbors came together to celebrate the holiday.

My pumpkins were simple, but they were special to me.

They made me feel like I was part of the Halloween celebrations.

Las calabazas son muy populares en Halloween.

Mucha gente las vacía y las talla, o carve, con caras y otros diseños.

Esas calabazas decoradas, con velas adentro, son muy populares; se llaman jack-o’-lanterns.

Most of our neighbors had pumpkins too.

They liked to carve monster faces, animals, or famous characters on them.

Then at night, they put candles in the pumpkins, and they became beautiful jack-o’-lanterns.

I always carved pumpkins when I was a kid too.

But that year, I didn’t have time to carve my pumpkins.

Aunque estaba muy ocupada, Swany estaba deseando que llegara Halloween.

Esperaba que muchos niños se disfrazarán, o dress up, y fueran a su casa a hacer trick or treat.

When I was a kid, I went out on Halloween with my brother and sister every year.

We used to dress up in costumes and go to our neighbors’ houses.

When they opened their doors, we yelled, “trick or treat!” and then we got candy! We didn’t have to do any tricks.

We had a map of the houses that gave the biggest chocolate bars.

Our neighbors gave us so much candy! We went home when we couldn’t carry any more.

Pero en Des Moines, el “golosina o travesura” es un poco diferente.

Primero, los niños van de puerta en puerta el día antes de Halloween, en lugar de la misma noche del 31, como sucede en los demás lugares.

Y así, el 30 de octubre, a las tres de la tarde, cuando los niños comenzaron a aparecer en la puerta de Swany ya disfrazados, algo inesperado sucedió…

I had a big bowl of candy.

Kids came to my door, dressed like animals and monsters.

When they yelled “trick or treat,” I tried to give them candy, but they said, “Wait!” They wanted to do a trick before they got their candy.

Usually, the trick was a really bad joke like, “Where do pencils go on vacation? … To Pennsylvania!”

A Swany le encantó que las travesuras fueran chistes tontos.

Pero más tarde, por la noche, a Swany le hicieron una travesura que no fue tan divertida…

Right after I fell asleep, I heard some noises outside.

We lived in a city, close to a bar, so it was normal to hear people outside laughing and talking while they walked home.

But I could hear the noises getting louder and louder.

Se oía como si la persona estuviera justo afuera de su casa.

Entonces, Swany, aun medio dormida, fue a la ventana de su cuarto en el segundo piso.

I looked out the window.

There was a young woman walking down the garden path towards my house.

At first, I thought maybe she was coming from the bar and got confused.

But then, she went to my porch and picked up one of my pumpkins.

So I opened the window and shouted, “Hey! Put my pumpkin down!”

La mujer se quedó paralizada.

I continued telling her to put down my pumpkin.

But she said, “You just don’t understand! You just don’t understand!” I had no idea what she meant.

Then, she started carrying the big pumpkin away!

Entre todo ese alboroto, el marido de Swany se despertó.

No tenía idea de lo que estaba pasando.

Le preguntó a Swany por qué estaba gritando.

I said, “Someone just stole the pumpkin!” He said, “It’s okay.

It’s just a pumpkin.” And I said, “No! You don’t understand.

She took my pumpkin!” I wanted to follow her and take my pumpkin back, but my husband convinced me to go back to bed.

He said he’d get me another pumpkin.

Swany se puso triste.

Pero convencida de que no había nada más que hacer, se volvió a dormir.

In the morning, it felt like a dream.

My husband didn’t remember very much.

And my roommate slept through the whole thing, so I explained what happened.

As I remembered the woman carrying my pumpkin away, I became mad and sad again.

I was upset that I let her take my pumpkin.

Sintiéndose triste, Swany decidió sacar a pasear a su perro.

When I opened the front door, there was a surprise.

My pumpkin was back! I couldn’t believe it!

Pero… la calabaza no se veía igual que antes.

Ahora la calabaza estaba tallada con muchos detalles y con una vela adentro.

Someone carved the big pumpkin into an amazing jack-o’-lantern! The pumpkin had scary eyes and a mouth with huge teeth.

The details were incredible! There was also a tiny pumpkin in the jack-o’-lantern’s mouth.

It looked like the big pumpkin was eating the small pumpkin.

La calabaza había sido tallada con unos detalles increíbles.

Swany estaba sorprendida… y feliz.

I loved it! I laughed when I thought about the night before.

When the woman took my pumpkin and said, “You just don’t understand!” I really didn’t understand! It was a trick — but it was a nice trick! In the end, I was happy she took the pumpkin.

Swany no solo recuperó su calabaza, ¡era la mejor calabaza de toda la cuadra!

My husband and I don’t live in Des Moines anymore, but we will always remember that Halloween.

Now, we carve pumpkins with our kids too.

But last year, we accidentally carved the mouth on the top of the pumpkin instead of the bottom! When we noticed it was wrong, we laughed.

It seemed like the pumpkin was playing a trick on us!

Es cierto que en los Estados Unidos son los niños los que van a pedir golosinas en Halloween con sus disfraces.

Pero a muchos adultos también les gusta disfrazarse.

Esa fue siempre la parte favorita de Halloween para Garett Reppenhagen.

When people ask me what my favorite holiday is, they’re surprised by my answer.

It’s not Christmas or Thanksgiving — it’s Halloween! I love dressing up.

I love having fun.

And most importantly, I love making people laugh.

A Garett le ha apasionado Halloween desde que era niño.

Su padre servía en el ejército, por lo que él creció en bases militares.

Recuerda que cuando era niño se pasaba Halloween yendo de casa en casa en la base.

Sus paradas favoritas eran las casas de los oficiales, ya que siempre tenían los mejores dulces.

I’m very serious about my costumes.

I was a pirate once, and another time, I dressed up as a character from the movie Star Wars — I was a stormtrooper.

I spent months designing my costumes.

Además de los disfraces, a Garett también le encantaban las travesuras que son típicas en Halloween.

Siendo el hijo del medio de tres varones, siempre les hacía bromas a sus hermanos y a los vecinos.

Él cree que Halloween es una fiesta que realmente se adapta a su personalidad.

I’ve always loved Halloween.

As an adult, I still get just as excited about the holiday as I did when I was a kid.

Pero hubo algunos años en los que Garett no pudo celebrar su fiesta favorita como le hubiera gustado.

Even though my dad was in the military, I never wanted to join.

But after high school, I was getting in trouble a lot, I felt lost.

I thought the military could be a good thing for me.

But a month after I joined the army, the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 happened, and I was sent abroad.

La vida cambió por completo para Garett.

Ahora estaba siendo enviado a bases militares, o military bases, en un frente de guerra.

Celebrar Halloween ya no era una opción.

For the first three years that I was in the army, I wasn’t able to celebrate Halloween.

I was living on military bases outside the U.S., so it wasn’t easy to go to a store and buy a costume.

And of course the Army didn’t give us the day off for Halloween.

Durante su cuarto año en el ejército, Garrett fue enviado a Irak.

Para el octavo mes, tanto él como muchos de los soldados se la estaban pasando mal.

Echaban de menos su casa y realmente necesitaban animarse.

Fue entonces cuando Garett decidió que ese año no iba a dejar que Halloween pasara de largo otra vez.

I was on a military base in Iraq, so I didn’t have a lot of options.

There were no stores where I could buy a costume.

And I didn’t have much time to make one.

But then one day, during a mission, I realized that the answer was right in front of me.

En lugar de un disfraz inventado, iba a vestirse como alguien que todos conocían en su escuadrón: el soldado que lo dirigía, el sargento Richardson, o Sergeant Richardson, que tenía un look fácil de imitar.

He was bald, with a big mustache.

And he always had tobacco in his mouth, so it always looked full.

He was easy to imitate.

I knew it was going to make the other soldiers laugh.

I started trying to act like him, which was actually pretty easy.

The only thing I needed to do was find the right costume.

A Garett se le ocurrió el plan un mes antes del 31 de octubre, por lo que tuvo tiempo de dejarse crecer el bigote para parecerse al sargento Richardson.

Luego fue al colmado de la base y compró una taza de café similar a la que usaba el sargento.

También compró chicle para imitar el tabaco de mascar que el sargento siempre tenía en la boca.

Incluso compró palillos de dientes para poder pegarlos en la parte posterior de las orejas para que sobresalieran como las de Richardson.

But I still needed the most important part of the costume — Sergeant Richardson’s uniform.

A cada soldado se le asigna un uniforme en el que figura su rango militar junto con el nombre.

Garett sabía que necesitaba conseguir una de las camisas del sargento Richardson para completar el disfraz… Pero conseguirlo no iba a ser fácil.

If I wanted to get Sergeant Richardson’s shirt, then his roommate needed to help me.

But the first time I asked his roommate, he refused.

Sergeant Richardson was a very serious person.

He didn’t like jokes.

Dressing up like him was dangerous because it could make him very angry.

I promised the sergeant’s roommate that I wouldn’t tell anyone on the base that he helped me, so finally, he said yes.

Garett ya tenía todo lo que necesitaba.

Así que la mañana de Halloween, se despertó, se afeitó la cabeza, se puso la camisa y se dirigió al comedor para desayunar.

When I entered the dining hall, I acted like everything was normal.

I just walked to the kitchen and ordered an omelet, like I always did.

I could hear everyone at their tables laughing and talking about me.

After I sat down to eat, I talked like Sergeant Richardson, I acted like him.

I was him.

People started joking and saying, “Good Morning, Sergeant Richardson.”

Pero unos minutos más tarde, el comandante de toda la base entró en el comedor buscando al sargento Richardson… el de verdad.

Since I looked exactly like Sergeant Richardson, the commander, our boss, walked over to my table.

Everyone around me started to move away.

They knew that I was going to be in trouble as soon as the commander realized that I wasn’t Sergeant Richardson.

Garett inmediatamente se levantó, se cuadró y saludó a su superior.

Sabía que esto no iba a terminar bien.

The commander looked at me and said, “What are you doing?” I responded, “I’m eating breakfast.” And he said, “No, why are you dressed like that?” And I said, “It’s Halloween.” And he said, “Wrong answer.

Throw your food in the trash, go to your room, and don’t leave until I come to find you.”

Garett estaba aterrorizado.

Hacerse pasar por otro soldado, especialmente un superior, era un delito grave en el ejército.

Tan grave que incluso puedes ir a la cárcel.

Por supuesto, Garett solo estaba tratando de divertirse, no había querido suplantar a un superior en el mundo real.

Realmente ni se había imaginado que la broma podría tener consecuencias reales… No tenía idea de lo que le podía pasar a continuación.

I was so scared that I thought I was going to vomit.

I thought that I might have to leave the military and that I might even go to jail.

I was in my room for hours until the commander finally came to my door.

El comandante entró en la habitación y le ordenó que se pusiera el uniforme del sargento Richardson.

Garett pensó: “Oh, no, esto no va a ser bueno.

Va a hacer que se lo devuelva al sargento Richardson, y él me va a castigar”.

I was really surprised by what happened next.

The commander told people on the base that I was in trouble, but actually, he just came into my room, ordered me to stand up, and took a photo of me and left.

I think he thought it was funny! No shouting, no jail, nothing.

I couldn’t believe it!

Later that night, I went on a mission with Sergeant Richardson.

When I arrived, I was wearing his shirt.

We took a picture together, but I don’t think he was very happy about it.

Los días siguientes, el disfraz de Garett fue de lo único de lo que se hablaba en la base.

I was in Iraq, in the middle of a war.

There weren’t a lot of opportunities to laugh and forget about everything that was happening there.

But on Halloween that year, I was able to make a few people happier, and to me, that was all worth it.

Garett Reppenhagen dejó el ejército al año siguiente.

Pero todavía hace todo lo posible por divertirse y hacer reír a los demás en Halloween.

Su historia fue producida por Paige Sutherland, una periodista en Boston.

Nuestra primera narradora, Katie Swanson-Niermann… Swany… trabaja como médica en Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Le siguen encantando las calabazas.

Su historia fue producida por Tressa Versteeg, una periodista que vive en Maine.

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

Puedes seguirnos en Spotify o tu plataforma preferida.

Yo soy Diana Gameros.

Thank you for listening!