Instituto Cervantes and the Inappropriate Comment (Ire)
Aside from the urgency of enrolling for the second level of Beginners Spanish, I went to Instituto Cervantes Manila on 11 September 2009 with the intent to speak to the administrative officer regarding an incident the day before.
I was able to converse with the assistant of the Head Administrator — Srta. Tata. I narrated that I had been making an inquiry regarding enrollment when we were interrupted by another Instituto Cervantes employee who was going through the glass doors of the Administration Offices.
I recognized said person because he had also interrupted our Spanish class the week before, in order to extend an invitation to our instructor and the class for a cultural event that was ongoing at the Instituto. My seat mate and I were particularly impressed with the fact that he did so in Spanish.
So this man spoke to his co-employee in Filipino regarding where he was going, and then pulled the waistband of his pants slightly away and said, “Ang laki ng b—-g ko (My c—-k is big).”
He said this, I think, judging from the previous part of the conversation, in reference to the fact that he had to deliver a large sum of money, and, it was hidden in his pants.
Conclusively, it was an inappropriate comment to make, especially since he was in the presence of a female student. And, even if he had assumed that I only understood Spanish, it was still risky to do so because one can never know who is listening and what they understand. A perfect example would be the encounters of my friend in Paris where the French cab driver and pizzeria owner understood Filipino.
Also, the fact that the incident occurred within the walls of Instituto Cervantes, where, as Srta. Tata pointed out, “culture is being promoted,” makes it even more unprofessional.
Muchas gracias, Srta. Tata for listening and giving me your valuable time!
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