La Arrayán

“La Arrayán” is the name of a hotel…it is also the name of the soap opera which revolves around the people working at said hotel. This is the soap opera (or telenovela, whichever you prefer) that I have been sucked into. Monday through Thursday it’s on from 9:45-10:30 pm on CanalSur, channel six. Monday through Thursday nights my Señora and I eagerly await the next installment: is Sophía the blind girl finally going to realize that her best friend (I think her name is Montse?) is sabotaging her relationship with Alberto? Will Desiré accept Antonio, Gustavo or nobody? Is Martín ever going to visit his dying nanny? Will Sandra ever realize that Pablo is a much better man than Martín (her boyfriend, Pablo’s brother) and that Pablo has been in love with her ever since the game show? Will Isabel continue the charade of being a rich society girl, or will she admit to Gonzalo’s mother that she is just a poor waitress and not actually her son’s fiancé?

Oddly enough, all of these questions have become, well, interesting to me. Interesting enough that although I do not give into the impulse to stay home rather than go out if it means I’m going to miss Arrayán, I have to admit that the inclination is sometimes there. The moment of, “oh, if I go out, I don’t get to find out if Paco is dead or just unconscious…” Fortunately, I have so far been able to avoid missing out on social events because I want to stay home and watch my telenovela. However, I must say that watching Arrayán has become a social event for me and my Señora!

At first, I was only interested in the show because I could more or less figure out what was going on and that was exciting for me watching a show in Spanish. The opening music was catchy, but not that great and the plot and the acting left much to be desired. However, that didn’t last long. Now, I can sing along to the theme song (to my Señora’s infinite amusement) and know almost all the characters by name and circumstance. The two of us can lament over Martín’s stupidity, get teary when Pablo’s nanny dies, and throw napkins at the TV when Sophía’s “best friend” comes on the scene. We don’t like her because she’s always poisoning someone’s grandmother or putting things in Sophia’s way to make her trip all in the interest of stealing her boyfriend. La Arrayán gives us something in common that we can chat about, which helps my Spanish quite a bit.

It’s also amusing because Jen (one of my friends here) and her Señora watch all the same things that my Señora and I watch. To the bafflement of our other friends, Jen and I enjoy talking over what happened in the novela last night, expressing our amazement and checking with each other on things we didn’t understand. It’s great fun. We also both frequently have the theme song stuck in our heads and catch each other humming it every so often. Jen wants to learn the whole song and sing it to her Señora sometime out of the blue. It would be hilarious. In case you’re curious about this song, it can be found on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC8NF6HRf1Y