Every language is different. And even within one language things from one region to another can differ greatly. So one of the greatest challenges of such a widely-spoken language as Spanish is navigating the differences in dialect: pronunciation, word usage, meaning changes, etc. And no word meaning change is more infuriating than that of ahora.
The way I learned (and the way I imagine many of you have learned if you´ve ever taken Spanish) that word, it simply means "now." And being a punctual American, raised on strict schedules and timeliness being a part of my very being, I was surprised to learn its slightly different meaning. Now should mean now, right? Nope. Ahora doesn´t mean "now" around here; ahora refers to some undetermined time in the future. Hours, days, months, who knows?
Example:
Me: So, when´s the bus coming?
Stranger: It´s coming ahora. (Read: at least two hours from now)
What I think: Oh good, because I´m ready to go home.
What I should have thought: Better start walking. Heck, crawling would get me there faster!
It´s even more upsetting when teachers speak to me in English with their Panamanian filters."I´ll call you now," one said to me. Really, I thought. Well, I won´t wait up, because it´s likely that you´ll never actually call me. "Nos vemos ahora," they say. Yep, I reply. You´re absolutely right. We may possibly see each other at some point in the vague, uncertain future. Who knows? Maybe the buses will start running on time. Maybe the chiva drivers won´t hang out at the bars on the weekends and then zoom down the dirt roads drunk.
That will definitely happen. Ahora.
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