There are always moments throughout the day where you catch yourself feeling like a total idiot. In reality, you aren't one, you're just a foreigner which at the moment seem freakishly similar. I had a moment the other day. After a long walk we wanted to go get these crepes at this store that we pass every day. They looked so good and we have been talking about them all week. We walk into the store and find no crepe supplies but a freezer full of gelato, which is delicious any other time but not when you are looking for a crepe. So we stand there, looking at the freezer, both of us separately trying to figure out what the hell is going on here. There is no menu, no english, no crepe supplies and the 3 workers are all standing there, staring at us, waiting for us to order. After a few minutes we start awkwardly looking around and at each other saying, "umm" and not wanting to look too painfully obvious in our confusion. So finally we come up with some broken spanish to ask where the F the crepes we so desire are. She says something I did not understands and points to a large round skillet and then back at the gelato. Still as confused as before, we made a few fruitless attempts to get ourselves a crepe and finally resided to the fact that we would not be having crepes that day. Having to order something we got some gelato which of course did not satisfy the crepe craving and in fact, wasnt very good anyways. Oh the joys of traveling.
Another daily struggle is how to use something as simple as a keyboard. I had forgotten how something that is pretty standard in the US could be so wrong abroad. For example, I am currently in a computer lab with 8 computers. They are all flat screen and newer as I am at school. Now any time you sit down you have to first make sure you know how to use the @ sign and the ? mark because on every keyboard it is different. Yesterday it took control 4 and 6 at the same time to get a question mark. This we figured out after pleading with an internet cafe attendant to show us how to use the @sign. He looked at us with a blank stare im sure asking himself "who are these buffoons?!"
On another note, last night we learned to Salsa! Well, just the basics but it was a lot of fun. Tonight we are going to a happy hour at an Americanish bar and then downstairs to try out our new skills. Our teacher told us never to say no to a boy who asks you to dance because its very hard for them to ask you in the first place. Ya. We'll see how that goes. Were going with our 2 housemates so its going to be quite the scene...4 Americans dressed in traveling clothes flopping around to the beat, probably not well.
Oh and for those of you that are following "Where's Miguel?" you'll be shocked to know that oddly enough the salsa teacher was named Miguel...but he was tiny, and made me feel like an ogre so that was a no go. Plus he was married, had a kid and is a dancing man...enough said I think. Here's to finding Miguel at the next stop!
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