These are three terms that are purely Chapín/Guatemalan phrases.

These are just my observations on a language that isn’t mine. That must be considered as I opine on these words!

Learning a new language in the context of the culture that speaks it is like putting together a puzzle, linking your own cultural perspective with common phrases and statements and comparing notes until you can understand the true meaning of something. You can study a textbook all you want but there will always be the influence of culture. For example in the US I learned the names of furniture in Spanish, but it will be common items you find in a home in the US. I learned microwave ‘microondas’ and vacuum ‘la aspiradora’ but guess what, I don’t live with any of those things. And I didn’t not learn “plancha” iron stovetop in high school, but I say “plancha” everyday because I cook lunch and dinner on it. I didn’t learn “cosecha” harvest, or regatear “bargain” in school, but they are everyday words.

It’s impossible to learn a language outside of a culture, really, and the culture I learned in high school was not Guatemalan Spanish.

So I will share very Guatemalan words I use here all the time:

Pilas are the cement sinks that you do the wash in. All of the washing: your hair, your dishes, your teeth-brushing and your laundry, your mop towel once it’s been used..

Every house in Guatemala has a pila (at least, that I have seen so far) and I have been in a lot of houses. Pilas exist, I think, because there is not running water all day which is what the basin in the middle is for: water storage. I also think they exist because there are not dishwashers and or laundry washing machines. Sometimes one side of the pila is flat and the other side is ridged. The flat side is for dish-washing and the ridged side is for washing close, like a cement washboard.

There are also public pilas where the women take their laundry and use the communal water.

But if you describe a person as pilas, or tell a person as a command: pilas! those are unrelated to the pila. You are not calling a person a massive sink. A person who is pilas is quick-thinking and fast on their feet, they’re sharp and quick: someone who is on another playing field of efficiency, smarts and willpower. I think “go-getter” might be the best translation to English but with an added layer of smarts to back it. If you say: Pilas! to someone that means “Be quick about it.” In either case, I do not understand what this has to do with a cement sink.

Aguas means “look out!” You might hear people sing/yell it out on the street.  And It took me a long to figure that out because it literally means “Waters!” How did this happen? My theory is that it is because we have a rainy season where the water pours for months, and then it goes away for the rest of the year. You cannot complain about Guatemalan weather, it does not get too hot or too cold. But maybe when that first rain comes after 7 months of sun, you get overwhelmed and yell “Waters!” and that’s how it came to be? It means “Look Out.” To advise someone to be careful, you might say “Aguas con eso porque…”

I also think it’s because when your laundry is hanging up outside, and it’s nearly dry and at 2pm it starts to rain, you know that you are in trouble.. It’s likely someone would yell “Aguas!” so that you go grab your clothes before they are sopping wet again.

“Ganas” is my favorite of all: I don’t think ganas is just a local thing because I think I’ve heard it said by other Central Americans. Anyway, I first heard “Ganas” in reference to a person having them. Si tiene ganas… If you have the willpower. But ganas can also refer to a simple desire. “No me da ganas para lavar mis trastes” I don’t feel like washing the dishes. I’ll do it in the morning. But after a long time, I heard “quiere ganas” and I wondered what that was about.. Wants willpower? Then I learned that it means when something is difficult, it means it like requires all of your ability to get through it. Like if you hear about someone passing away, you might say “quiere ganas” referring to the loss for the family. That will require their willpower to get through.

But I’ve also heard ‘ganas’ at graduations. “Échale ganas” Put willpower… Lean into your power, summon motivation. Work hard. I think that’s what that means.

So if you can be a go-getter, look out and have willpower, then you are pilas, have ganas and listen out for ‘aguas!’ Watch out!