I noticed this morning that the charge cord for my phone was fraying, needing a repair with some electrical tape, which I didn’t have. So it was time for me to finally set foot in Isla’s small hardware store.

I thought I’d be able to poke around and so did not do any linguistic research ahead of time… As it turns out, the store really is tiny and you have to ask for what you want at the counter. So I told the gal behind the desk, “Busco cinta électrica para reparar alambre,” which was the best I could come up with off the top of my head. Literally, “I’m looking for electrical tape to repair wiring.” I knew cinta means tape in the context of sewing (cinta de contact is velcro) and alambre means wiring in the telecom world, but I had no idea if the words applied in this particular context. Well, the gal replied with the magical “¡Claro!”, which means you’ve been understood, and pulled out two different roll sizes. Woohoo!

As it turns out, the proper term for electrical tape is “cinta de aislar,” with aislar meaning isolation or insulation. The latter makes sense in an electrical context, in that you use the tape to insulate your wires.

The roll of tape was $7, or 0.54CAD. I’m pretty sure I pay a lot more than that back home.

So that was fun. Apple, please make better charging cables.