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English to Spanish: Never Give Up Detailed field: History
Source text - English Chapter One
The Gift
Alexandria, Egypt, 1967
Dream Big. Throughout my whole life, I have always been able to push myself just a little
further. Maybe not everybody is born with that kind of drive, but everyone can learn it.
On May 26, 1960, in Alexandria, Egypt, I was born to Alexander and Marina Sachtouras.
They named me Ioannis, which is Greek for John. For more than two thousand
years, Alexandria has been a cosmopolitan city, made up of people of all races, creeds, professions,
and it has been a center of Greek scholarship. The city was founded on the northern coast of Africa by
the famous conqueror Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. As Michael David Wood, an English historian
and broadcaster, said, “It was the first city of the civilized world in size, elegance, riches, and
luxuries.” It It was a great place to be in the early 1950s. It was safe, and there were lots of other
Greeks around, including my uncles, aunts, and other relatives.
When I went to primary school in Alexandria, my aunt Annette was one of the teachers. She taught French and mathematics. She was stricter on me than anybody else in the school. I used to complain to her, “Why do you treat me like this? Why are you harder on me than the other kids?”
She said, “Because you are my nephew you have to be an example for the entire class.” Although I sometimes disliked it, in the long run, her discipline was good for me. At a very young age, she implanted in me a sense of responsibility and the desire to be a good example. She also taught me to speak French, which was the Western language that most of the educated people in Alexandria spoke at that time.
The Gift of Faith
As a young boy, I was quite wild and was always getting into trouble. One day, three friends and I raced our bikes through the narrow streets and back alleys in our neighborhood. Trying to catch my friends, I zipped around a corner and nearly ran into a truck. I quickly veered to my left and saw my friends race into a flock of chickens that started squawking and flopping about. I was so determined to win that despite the chickens, I raced ahead. Evidencing great skill, I plowed squarely into some garbage bags and ended up slamming my forehead on a post. Everything went flying: garbage, chickens, and feathers were everywhere. The boys laughed as they headed home. “Happy birthday,” they shouted. It was May 26, 1967, my seventh birthday.
When I got home, my mother saw the bloodstains on my shirt and the gash on my head, and she just shook her head and smiled, proud to have such an adventurous son who was not timid about figuring out what he wanted in life and going after it, even though we both knew that my father would not approve of such wild behavior. My mother cleaned me up nicely so that my father wouldn’t notice what happened to me.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but my seventh birthday forever marked my life. After my birthday dinner, my father indicated to me to follow him into my room. He wanted to speak to me alone.
“Johnny,” my father said, speaking more seriously than usual. “You are a great blessing to me and to our family. I am very proud of you, son. You are a special boy, and you will be a special man, a good man. You will do something great with your life—like Alexander the Great. Someday you may even be known as John the Great.”
Even though it made me feel very good to hear my father say these things, I was a little bit confused. My father rarely spoke to me this way. Usually, it was, “Do this. Do that. Hurry up. You’re too slow. What's wrong with you? Pay attention.” I always knew that my father loved me, but I did not appreciate his tough love back then. Now I understand that he wanted to instill in me the discipline and the necessary strength to succeed in life.
My father reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a shiny object. He took my hand and opened it. Then he dropped a gold cross on a gold chain necklace onto my palm. I looked at it and could not find any words.
“It’s real gold, son,” said my father. “Gold is a precious metal.” He turned over the cross. “See these words written on the back? ‘Dream Big.’ In life, you should always dream big. Never lose this gold cross. Always wear it around your neck. Keep it with you, close to your heart.” As I promised I would, he said, “Make sure you always keep your word and fulfill your promises. A true man always keeps his word.”
I looked at the cross and slipped the necklace through my small fingers. I had never seen anything like it. My mother had jewelry, of course. She had many fine pieces. But this was something different. It was something special. It was mine.
“Put it on, son. As your father, I say to you today: may you wear it for the rest of a long and wonderful life. Happy seventh birthday, my beloved son, Johnny Sachtouras.”
I was anxious. I wasn’t sure how much the gold necklace and the cross were worth, but I knew they were valuable. I held the necklace in my hand and put it around my neck, and I looked at it as it shined.
I never forgot that moment. That short talk I had with my father forever shaped my thoughts and actions throughout my life. It continues to do so today.
Just One More
A few weeks after my birthday, my family decided to move to Greece for a number of reasons, including the changing political climate in Egypt. Once we settled down in the city of Athens, we began to live a fairly normal life. We lived an average, middle-class family lifestyle. There were certain limitations, but we never lacked food or basic comforts.
When I was nine years old, my parents wanted me to build a strong, healthy body, so they enrolled me in a gym to start gymnastics. To me, it was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed the bars and the rings. I loved gymnastics so much that I went to the gym four to five times a week.
Throughout my teenage years I continued exercising. At the age of fourteen, I started taking martial arts classes. At the age of sixteen, as I began lifting weights, the trainers were adding more weights and increased my sets to the point that it hurt. I was telling them “I cannot keep doing this. It hurts!”
They replied, “It hurts now, but don’t think about the pain, it will go away. Lift one more set. Just one more.” Then they kept adding more weights and asked for more sets and repetitions. The same thing happened when I did gymnastics. My trainers made my routines more and more difficult. Although it was painful at times, I always told myself, just one more.
At the age of eighteen, my friends used to call me “the body” because I was muscular and in top physical condition. It felt great to be able to look that good, but it didn’t happen overnight. It took an incredible amount of discipline and constant work. Starting to exercise at a young age helped throughout the years in many areas in my life.
While in high school, during my summer vacations I worked with my father at his tour and travel business. I learned a lot with him: preparing financial proposals and projections, creating tour and travel packages, assisting in the accounting, and organizing conventions for major companies.
My father used to tell me, “Johnny, no matter what you do in life, make sure you do whatever it takes to be the best: the best student, the best athlete, the best at everything you do. Never stop dreaming big.” I pushed myself to live by those words.
Facing Life
After graduating from high school in Athens, I met an American girl at my job, and we started to date. We had such a great time that a couple of months later, we decided that it would be nice to live together. I liked the idea of moving out of my parents’ home and being on my own.
I went to talk to my father. “Dad, I am dating an American girlfriend, and I think I’m going to live with her. What do you think?”
His reply was firm, strong, and unexpected: “If you think you are old enough and man enough to live on your own, on your salary, I will support your decision. But you see that door? Once you go out that door, you aren’t coming back to live here. You can always come for a weekend or for a meal, but it’s not going to be your home. If you really think you can do it, and you have the guts to do it, then do it,” he told me.
Without hesitation—and without thinking about the possible consequences—I moved out from my parents’ home and moved in with my American girlfriend in a small, one-bedroom, studio apartment. It was a new feeling being on my own and I liked the sensation of freedom.
Unfortunately, three months later, she decided to go back to America and left me alone with an apartment and a stack of bills. I couldn’t even pay the rent. But I wasn’t going to go back to my parents’ home. Luckily, my Uncle Elias, my mother’s brother, helped me out for a couple of months while I was figuring out what to do. “Don’t look back,” he said. “You just have to find different ways to generate more income.”
I took my uncle’s advice and focused on selling additional tours at my job, for which I would earn an extra commission. I became creative in making additional money. In those days, a lot of tourists came to Greece, most of them with prepaid packages and planned itineraries, and usually they had a day or two of leisure time that they could use to plan any additional tour they wanted. So I would review their travel plan and offer them a variety of options to choose from, such as a one-day cruise to three islands, a dinner with Greek dances, a half-day afternoon tour by the beach, etc.
I would offer to take them to a gold shop to buy some jewelry and then to another shop to buy Greek souvenirs, and I would get a small commission from the shopkeepers for bringing them customers. I figured out every angle to provide more travel services and get higher commissions on sales. Just starting out as a young man, I learned that it was better to get paid a percentage of sales than a fixed salary. The determination to always do better, to do more, to earn more, and to be independent shaped my future career.
“When you start in life, if you find you are wrongly placed, don't hesitate to change, but don't
change because troubles come up and difficulties arise. You must meet and overcome and conquer them. And in meeting and overcoming and conquering them, you will make yourself stronger for the future.” —Charles M. Schwab
Translation - Spanish Capítulo Uno
El Regalo
Alejandria, Egipto, 1967
Sueñe en grande. A través de toda mi vida, siempre he podido exigirme algo más. Puede que no todo el mundo nazca con esta habilidad, pero la puede aprender.
El 26 de Mayo de 1960 nací en Alejandría, Egipto. Mis padres fueron Alexander y Marina Sachtouras.
Me pusieron por nombre Ioannis, griego de Juan. Por más de dos mil años Alejandría ha sido una ciudad cosmopolita, con ciudadanos de todas las razas, creencias, profesiones y fué centro de la intelectualidad griega. Fué fundada en la costa norte de Africa por el famoso Alejandro el Grande en el 331 AC. Como el historiador y radiodifusor inglés Michael David Wood, dijo “Fué la primera ciudad del mundo civilizado en su época en tamaño, elegancia, riqueza y lujos”. Era un buen sitio en el cual estar en los inicios de los ‘50. Había seguridad, y había mucha familia de mi entorno, tíos, tías, y otros familiares cercanos.
Cuando asistí a la escuela primaria, tuve como una de mis maestras a mi tía Annette, quien enseñaba francés y matemáticas. Era estricta, especialmente conmigo y cuando me le quejaba de porqué me trataba con más rudeza que a los demás, me decía que yo era su sobrino y mi obligación era la de ser ejemplo para mis compañeros. Aún cuando no me gustaba el planteamiento, su disciplina me hizo mucho bien. A una escasa edad ella implantó en mí un gran sentido de responsabilidad y el deseo de ser un buen ejemplo. También me enseñó francés, el idioma occidental más hablado en Alejandría en esa época.
Un Regalo de Fe
Cuando era un muchacho, era bastante alocado y estaba constantemente teniendo problemas.. Un día, junto con tres amigos corríamos en nuestras bicicletas por las angostas calles y callejuelas de nuestro vecindario. Tratando de alcanzarlos di una brusca vuelta en una intersección y estuve muy cerca de colisionar con un camión. Rápidamente giré a la izquierda y alcancé a ver a mis amigos que arrollaban unas gallinas en la vía. Estas aleteaban y cacarearon, pero yo continué pedaleando para pasarlos hasta que me fui de frente contra unas bolsas de basura y terminé pegando la cabeza contra un poste. Todo salió por los aires: basura, gallinas y plumas estaban por todas partes. Mis amigo reían mientras se iban a sus casas. “Feliz cumpleaños,” me gritaron. Era el 26 de mayo de 1967, día de mi séptimo cumpleaños.
Cuando llegué a casa, mi madre vio las manchas de sangre en mi camisa y la herida en mi cabeza, sacudió la cabeza y sonrió, orgullosa de tener un hijo aventurero que no era tímido para definir lo que quería en la vida y tratar de conseguirlo, aunque ambos sabíamos que mi padre no aprobaba un comportamiento tan directo. Mi madre me limpió muy bien para que mi padre no se diera cuenta de lo que me pasó. No me di cuenta en ese momento, pero mi séptimo cumpleaños marcó para siempre mi vida. Después de mi cena de cumpleaños, mi padre me indicó que lo siguiera a mi habitación. Quería hablar conmigo a solas.
“Johnny,” me dijo, más serio que lo que usualmente era. “Eres una gran bendición para mí y la familia. Estoy orgulloso de ti, hijo. Eres muy especial, y lo serás como adulto, un buen adulto. Harás cosas grandes en tu vida---como Alejandro El Grande. Algún día serás conocido como John El Grande. Estaba un poco confundido. Mi padre rara vez me hablaba de esta manera. Por lo general, era: "Haz esto. Haz eso. Date prisa. Eres muy lento. ¿Qué sucede contigo? Presta atención ”. Siempre supe que mi padre me amaba, pero no aprecié su duro amor en ese entonces. Ahora entiendo que él quería inculcarme la disciplina y la fuerza necesarias para tener éxito en la vida.Mi padre metió la mano en el bolsillo y sacó un objeto brillante. Tomó mi mano, la abrió y sobre la palma de ésta dejó caer una cruz con una cadena, ambas de oro, Lo miré y no pude pronunciar palabra alguna."Es oro de verdad, hijo", dijo mi padre. "El oro es un metal precioso". Dio la vuelta a la cruz. ¿Ves estas palabras escritas en la parte de atrás? "Sueña en grande". En la vida, siempre debes soñar en grande. Nunca pierdas esta cruz de oro. Úsala siempre alrededor de tu cuello. Mantenla contigo, cerca de tu corazón ". Como prometí que lo haría, él dijo:" Asegúrate de cumplir siempre tu palabra y cumplir tus promesas. Un verdadero hombre siempre cumple su palabra. Miré la cruz y deslicé la cadena entre mis dedos. Nunca había visto algo así. Mi madre tenía joyas, por supuesto. Ella tenía muchas piezas finas. Pero esto era algo diferente. Era algo especial. Era mío. “Póntelo, hijo. Como tu padre, te digo hoy: que la uses por el resto de una vida larga y maravillosa. Feliz séptimo cumpleaños, mi amado hijo, Johnny Sachtouras ". Estaba ansioso; no estaba seguro de cuánto valían la cadena y la cruz, pero sabía que eran valiosos. Sostuve el collar en mi mano y lo puse alrededor de mi cuello, y lo miré mientras brillaba. Nunca olvidé ese momento. Esa breve conversación que tuve con mi padre moldeó para siempre mis pensamientos y acciones a lo largo de mi vida. Sigue haciéndolo hoy.
Sólo uno más
Unas semanas después de mi cumpleaños, mi familia decidió mudarse a Grecia por varias razones,incluido el clima político cambiante en Egipto. Una vez que nos instalamos en la ciudad de Atenas, comenzamos a vivir una vida bastante normal. Vivíamos un estilo de vida promedio de clase media. Hubo ciertas limitaciones, pero nunca nos faltaron alimentos o comodidades básicas.Cuando tenía nueve años, mis padres, que querían que tuviera un cuerpo fuerte y saludable, me inscribieron en un gimnasio para comenzar a ejercitarme. Para mí, fue muy divertido, y realmente disfruté las barras y las argollas. Me gustó tanto que iba al gimnasio cuatro o cinco veces por semana.A lo largo de mi adolescencia seguí ejercitándome. A los catorce años, comencé a tomar clases de artes marciales. A los dieciséis, cuando comencé a levantar pesas, los entrenadores agregaban más pesas y aumentaban las series hasta el punto de que dolía. Les decía "No puedo continuar, necesito descansar, ¡Duele!" Respondían: "Duele ahora, pero no pienses en el dolor, desaparecerá. Repite una serie más. Solo una más ”. Agregaban más pesas y pedían más series y repeticiones. Lo mismo sucedió cuando hice gimnasia. Mis entrenadores hicieron mis rutinas cada vez más difíciles. Aunque a veces era doloroso, aprendí a decirme, ‘solo uno más’. A los dieciocho años, mis amigos solían llamarme "el cuerpo" porque era musculoso y estaba en excelente condición física. Me sentía genial al verme tan bien, pero no sucedió de la noche a la mañana. Tomó una increíble cantidad de disciplina y trabajo constante. Comenzar a hacer ejercicio a una edad temprana ayudó a lo largo de los años en muchas áreas de mi vida. Estudiando en la escuela secundaria, durante mis vacaciones de verano, trabajé con mi padre en su negocio de viajes y turismo. Aprendí mucho con él: preparando propuestas y proyecciones financieras, creando paquetes turísticos y de viaje, ayudando en la contabilidad y organizando convenciones para grandes empresas.Mi padre solía decirme: “Johnny, no importa lo que hagas en la vida, asegúrate de hacer lo que sea necesario para ser el mejor: el mejor estudiante, el mejor atleta, el mejor en todo lo que haces. Nunca dejes de soñar en grande. Me esforcé por vivir con esas palabras.
Frente a la vida
Después de graduarme de la escuela secundaria en Atenas, conocí a una chica estadounidense en mi trabajo y comenzamos a salir. La pasamos tan bien que un par de meses después, decidimos que sería agradable vivir juntos. Me gustó la idea de mudarme de la casa de mis padres y estar solo.Fui a hablar con mi padre. "Papá, estoy saliendo con una novia estadounidense y creo que voy a vivir con ella. ¿Qué piensas?"Su respuesta fue firme, fuerte e inesperada: “Si crees que eres lo suficientemente mayor y lo suficientemente hombre como para vivir solo, con tu salario, te apoyaré ¿Pero ves esa puerta? Una vez que salgas por ella, no volverás a vivir aquí. Siempre podrás venir un fin de semana o a una comida, pero no será tu hogar. Si realmente crees que puedes hacerlo y tienes las agallas para hacerlo, entonces hazlo ”, me dijo.
Sin dudarlo, y sin pensar en las posibles consecuencias, me mudé de la casa de mis padres y me mudé con mi novia estadounidense a un pequeño apartamento tipo estudio de una habitación. Era un sentimiento nuevo estar solo y me gustaba la sensación de libertad.
Desafortunadamente, tres meses después, decidió regresar a Estados Unidos y me dejó solo con un departamento y un fajo de recibos por pagar. Ni siquiera podía pagar el alquiler. Pero no iba a volver a la casa de mis padres. Tuve la suerte de que mi tío Elías, el hermano de mi madre, me ayudó durante un par de meses mientras yo resolvía qué hacer. "No mires atrás", dijo. "Solo tienes que encontrar diferentes formas de generar más ingresos".Seguí el consejo de mi tío y me concentré en vender tours adicionales en mi trabajo, por lo que pagaban una comisión. Me volví creativo para ganar dinero adicional. En esos días, muchos turistas venían a Grecia, la mayoría de ellos con paquetes prepagos e itinerarios planificados, y generalmente tenían un día o dos de tiempo libre que podían usar para planificar cualquier recorrido adicional que quisieran. Así que revisaba sus planes de viaje y ofrecía una variedad de opciones para elegir, como un crucero de un día a tres islas, una cena con bailes griegos, un recorrido de medio día por la tarde en la playa, etc. Les ofrecía llevarlos a una tienda de artículos de oro, para comprar algunas joyas, y luego a otra tienda para comprar recuerdos griegos, y recibía una pequeña comisión de los comerciantes por traerles clientes. Descubrí todos los ángulos para proporcionar más servicios turísticos y obtener mayores comisiones en ventas. Al comenzar de joven, aprendí que era mejor que me pagaran un porcentaje de las ventas que un salario fijo. La determinación de hacerlo siempre mejor, hacer más, ganar más y ser independiente dio forma a mi futura carrera.
“Cuando comiences algo en la vida, si encuentras que estás mal ubicado, no dudes en cambiar, pero no cambiar porque surgen problemas y surgen dificultades. Debes conocerlos, vencerlos y conquistarlos. Y al conocerlos, superarlos y conquistarlos, te fortalecerás para el futuro. ”—Charles M. Schwab
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Years of experience: 53. Registered at ProZ.com: Apr 2020.
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Bio
I am a retired general surgeon with training in premedical school in the United States for five years (1 year learning the language and 4 years of pre-med at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt.)
I came back home to Valencia, Venezuela where I finished medical school at the Universidad de Carabobo, in Valencia in 1964.
Trained as a surgeon, was employed by some American companies that had started their businesses in this city as a result of the growth of the country with large reserves of oil. Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Chrysler Corp., Sherwin-Williams, Firestone, Good Year, just to name the ones that needed English speaking personnel to attend to their American employees and their families. At that time there were only two physicians in the city that spoke fluent English, and I was one of them.
I adjusted my working hours to do surgery in the mornings at the local Central Hospital and the Red Cross Hospital. In the afternoons I would dedicate my time to care for the expatriates and their families.
I did this for over 40 years, creating a relationship that included translating all sorts of information for the companies which were exchanged with their HQ in the US.
In 1990 some young surgeons won scholarships to attend post-graduate courses in England and the USA. Some had a vague knowledge of the language, but the lack of practice had made understanding the spoken part of it quite challenging. We designed a "method" by which the student would listen to texts read out of medical articles and recorded in English with the purpose of training their listening and understanding skills. It proved to be a satisfactory method.
Keywords: del inglés al español y viceversa, traductor médico
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