IS THIS MIC ON?

Host Maritza returns to the Interpreters and Interrupters podcast to apologize for her absence, thank listeners worldwide, and explain why she’s been away since her last episode in February. She shares how she received unsettling news right before interpreting for a cancer patient and discusses the challenge of suppressing emotions on the job, including a clip of an interpreter becoming emotional while interpreting for an 11-year-old Ukrainian boy’s testimony in the European Parliament. 

Maritza talks about posting more audio episodes and previews upcoming episodes.

Interpreter Gets Emotional: https://youtube.com/shorts/NvsDU-rE56A?si=0EUUtwQlj5DYBuZC

Transcript

Welcome Back Intro

Maritza 0:13

Hi, and welcome to Interpreters and Interrupters. I'm your host Maritza. Welcome if you're new. Welcome back for those who have been viewing the podcast or listening on anywhere you can get your podcasts. I also wanna give a shout-out to Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, Vietnam, Argentina, Indonesia, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Peru, Kenya,

Why I Disappeared

Maritza 0:42

Habari Kenya, Nicaragua, and the United Kingdom. I owe you an apology. I have been away for some time. I do wanna tell you why I was away, and at the same time, tell you what episodes are coming up. Thank you for supporting the channel by subscribing, like this episode, and follow us on Facebook. The last episode

Mom Emergency Surgery

Maritza 1:05

I recorded was in February, but I was away before that. In November, I was getting ready to interpret for a cancer patient. I was in the hallway waiting for the provider to come in when I got a text from my sister. She told me that my mom got very ill and needed emergency surgery. My mom was 91 at the time. I was very scared. I started praying for my mom. I got very emotional, and then it was like, "Oh, my gosh, I can't cry because I'm getting ready to see a cancer patient, and they're emotional, too, and I don't want to show

Interpreters Have Feelings

Maritza 1:43

my emotions." As an interpreter, we can't be displaying our emotions. And speaking of becoming emotional during an interpreting session, watch this video of an interpreter that couldn't contain her emotions. No shade on the interpreter. I just want to show that interpreters, we're humans, we're not robots, and we have feelings, and sometimes it is very difficult to compress our feelings, not only in what's happening to us in our personal lives, but what is happening at the moment that we're interpreting. For those of you listening, let me give you a brief description of what the video is about, 'cause you'll be hearing the audio only. I am including a link to the video in the description so you can see it yourself. So what we see in the video is an interpreter. She's interpreting for an 11-year-old Ukrainian boy who is severely scarred. He's testifying in the European Parliament. He's talking about a Russian bomb that injured him and killed his mother. The interpreter is very, very emotional about what he is saying, and I can guarantee you that when you see this video, you

Ukrainian Boy Testimony

Maritza 2:56

too will become emotional. It's a very sad story. Let's watch it now.

Roman 3:17

Hello to everybody. My name is Roman. I'm eleven years old. I'm from Ukraine and now I'm living in Lviv. On the fourteenth of July, uh, twenty twenty-second... Sorry, I'm a bit emotional as well. I was in Vinnytsia with my mama, um, in hospital, and the bomb came to this hospital Це був останній раз, коли я бачив свою маму. Це був останній раз, коли я зміг з нею попрощатися I will help you. No worries. Um, it was the last time when I saw my mom and the last time when I was able to say, uh, goodbye

Maritza 4:11

I'm so thankful that the other interpreter was kind enough to tell the interpreter, "Let me take over," and allow her to recover I didn't have that, so I had to put myself together, enter the exam room with the provider, and pretend that I'm good. Nothing's going on in my life,

Holding It Together

Maritza 4:33

and I'm not displaying any emotions. But as soon as I was done, yes, I took a break and I let out my emotions, me, myself, and I, and I was good. The next week, I went to Puerto Rico, where my mom lives, and I was able to care for her for three weeks. Luckily, there is a program in my state of Colorado called FAMLI. It allows employees to take leave to take care of themselves if they need caring for a surgery or some kind of illness,

Leave Program Explained

Maritza 5:06

as well as take care of their family members. The program also paid a portion of my salary. I was fortunate enough to take the three weeks, not lose my job, and get some kind of compensation. When I came back, everything was good. I was back at work. I was working, and within days, I got very, very ill. Actually, I only felt under the weather for a day and a half, but when the symptoms went away, I lost my voice. I could not talk. It was awful. It lasted two weeks, so I couldn't even record my podcast.

Health Setbacks Recovery

Maritza 5:44

Every time I went to an appointment, because I work at a hospital, I had to immediately give the warning that, "Hey, I'm not contagious. I just lost my voice, and I'm wearing a mask." After the two weeks, I was good again. But within days, I woke up with an excruciating pain in my knee. I couldn't walk. I got really, really scared. But I managed with a cane, and soon I was able to get a steroid injection and six weeks of physical therapy, and I'm good now. Actually, I'm doing so well that this week I'm going to Alaska for a seven-day hiking trip. So I'm so thankful that I was able to get well. As soon as all that ended, I sat down to do an episode for all of you, and wouldn't you know, I was interviewing my friend Elena for the Five Signs That You Could Be

Internet Tech Nightmares

Maritza 6:40

a Great Interpreter episode, and the internet started lagging. The recording would start and stop and start and stop. It was supposed to be a smooth, less than one-hour interview. I could edit it and get it out to you as soon as possible, but it didn't work out that way. So I just put out the audio, and then I contacted my internet service provider. They couldn't help me. After being on the phone forever, if you've ever called an internet service provider, you know that You're on hold forever, and then when they start troubleshooting, it's all these questions, and they can't seem to figure out what's going on. And that's what happened to me, so I had to schedule an appointment with a technician. They came, they switched out the modem. It still didn't work. Then I was told that I had the wrong modem, so I had to go to the ISP store and get another modem. That still didn't work. Meanwhile, the platform that I use for video editing made some big changes, wonderful changes, but they were all AI, and it was a lot. So now I'm relearning how to use the platform. In the meantime, I switch ISPs, and the new ISP told me not a problem. They could get me up and running on Wi-Fi by simply giving my information over the phone, and they would flip a switch, and I'd be good. Not so. The internet still didn't work, so I had to schedule another appointment with another technician, and that alone took two and a half weeks. In the meantime, my laptop, I realized, because it's a little old, it wasn't fast enough to keep up with all the AI features that the video platform had released. So now I'm buying a new laptop and getting the microphone hooked up to the laptop 'cause that wouldn't work. I still can't get my headphones to work with my laptop. It's been a nightmare to say the least, but I'm here. All of you are 25 to 36 years of age. You're either studying to become an interpreter or you're already working as an interpreter, and I want to let you know that all the episodes that I create are to help you in your journey. I love interpreters. I love being an interpreter.

Why Audio First Now

Maritza 9:10

I love languages. I wish I could go back in time and switch out my journalism degree for a degree in linguistics. I really love doing this. But then again, it's a little bit too much at times because even though I watch lots and lots of YouTube videos and YouTubers, and they make it look so easy, and they look so suave, and they don't even have a script, and yet I struggle The lighting, the sound, the editing, making sure that I come across as friendly, but not too goofy and not too serious. It's a lot, and I can't memorize my script. So from now on, I'm just going to do more audio episodes. I'll be able to put them out faster because with audio, of course, I don't have to worry about lighting. All I have to worry about is sound, and this microphone is amazing. I will put out some video, and I've already got some upcoming videos for you. And by the way, I'll be reading more from my script because I'm an interpreter. I have short-term memory. I only memorize what I need to memorize when I'm interpreting. Which, by the way, for those of you who have watched my note-taking episode, thank you. I almost didn't put out that episode because I've noticed that a lot of you are obsessing about note-taking and asking me if there's a class, if they have to study for note-taking, and that they worry about forgetting some of the symbols

Note Taking Reality Check

Maritza 10:54

and abbreviations. Stop. Please stop. I said it in the episode. You need to do active listening. If you're not listening, you're not going to be able to interpret what was said. Note-taking is not interpreting. It's just an aid. Active listening is part of interpreting, okay? Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox and tell you that coming up for video episodes is how to overcome anxiety while you're interpreting. Yes, we get anxious. I know I'm one of them. I actually suffer from imposter syndrome. I recently left the hospital where I worked and now work at a different hospital, and I was scared about the

Upcoming Episodes Preview

Maritza 11:38

interview. I was scared about the testing. I was scared on day one. Why? I don't know. It's imposter syndrome. It overtakes your mind, and it tells you that you're not good enough. What are you doing here? Why didn't you stay at the other hospital? What if this happens? What if that happens? Oh, my goodness. So How to overcome anxiety. I'm also putting out a video episode on interpreter secrets, and I'm also going to have a video on how to stop sabotaging yourself. I just released Super Legal. It's a long list of legal terminology. I'm also going to post Super Medical, a list of terminology, including quite a bit of cancer terms. And for the Spanish-English interpreters out there, I'm going to be posting really soon two episodes in Spanish, Spanish medical, Spanish legal. We're going to talk about terminology that you may be incorrectly interpreting. Thank you for joining me. I really appreciate the support. Thank you to all the new subscribers. Thank you to the current subscribers. Thanks for your likes. I really appreciate it. I just want to share

Thanks And Goodbye

Maritza 12:59

my knowledge and the knowledge of the people that I interview so that it can help you become a better interpreter. I love you all. I'll see you soon