I think that most people who know me have come to realize that I find a lot of things about life funnier than most people. The world honestly cracks me up a large percentage of the time which, as it turns out, helps a ton when you’re living in a foreign country for three months and don’t understand the language. Something as simple as ordering a hamburger (which come with ground beef and actual ham) can become a very painful trial if not done with the right attitude. I feel like I now can know enough of the language to survive (how to order food, how to ask for the bathroom, and how to tell the Combi driver that I want to get off) so now the next step is expanding my vocabulary so I can hold an intelligent conversation. That is coming along, helped by the fact that I now know how to say things in the past tense (both forms), future tense (both ways), and the subjuntive. Hooray me! The problem is now I have all this info rattling around in my head that is nowhere close to perfect or natural, so I sometimes sound like I’m stuttering. Scratch that... I always sound like I’m stuttering and about 50 points below my actual IQ level. Most of the time I don’t mind though, cause that’s all part of life and I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this trip.
Wow, that made me sound like I was adjusting perfectly to life here. I wouldn’t say that... though I guess I just did. I suppose you could say that it is just as hard as I thought it would be, and since I was expecting it to be pretty hard I can’t get too mad at myself for coming here.
My host cousin Karla (who I think I would really like if we could communicate) is getting married in November on the beach (should be really fun) and I went to her bridal shower last night. It was held in my other aunt’s house (my HM has three and they all look exactly alike. Between the four of them they have six girls and they all look exactly alike. It’s kinda creepy.) and I had a good time. It’s hard to be surrounded by just Spanish for six hours straight, but when I can prepare myself for it I handle it pretty well. There are just times when I have to space out and not pay attention to the conversation around me so I can give my brain a break from translating everything. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at looking like I'm paying attention when I'm really not, so watch out when I get back to the States... just kidding I love to listen to people while actually understand the language that they are speaking, which is one thing that I miss.
I just survived my first real case of food-homesickness. I wanted (in no particular order and all at the same time): a slurpee from 7-11, Aba’s fudge, a good salad (the lettace is terrible here), some Olive Garden bread sticks, and a egg roll from Kowloons, a chinese restaurant in Eugene (only need one, they’re that big). Luckily the next day my HM made a really good meal for Comida, and I am now back to normal. I still love the home-made tortillas that my HM buys from the neighbor lady every couple days, which is good cause we eat them at every meal.
I am still getting along with my family and the other girls here. Everybody's personality doesn't always mix, but there have been no big problems, which I am very grateful for. School is pretty ridiculous right now, and I really only like my Spanish class. The other three are very unorganized, so way more difficult than they should be, and I don't feel like I'm learning very much from them. Hopefully they will improve during the second half of my time here.
Que te vaya bien (I'm pretty sure that's directly translated into "that you go well" but basically means have a great day),
Rheana
