It looks like my time in language school is really paying off. Twice in the past week I have been asked if I speak Spanish. The first was the other day at lunch when ten year-old Kevin was going to tell me a joke and then hesitated and said, "well, do you speak Spanish?" I was caught off guard since we have had many conversations in Spanish but it was really too funny to be offensive. I said, "a little" to which he responded, "umm... then you're not going to understand me" -- implying why waste his time. I told him to go ahead and I laughed hard after he finished telling the joke, but sadly I must admit he was right -- I didn't understand a word!
The second question was posed today when our car (which we are yet to find out if it is a lemon!) wouldn't start after we filled it with gas. Several Guatemalan men who work at the gas station came over and tried to help us -- mainly by banging on the battery with the windshield squeegee. They decided to give the car a rolling start to see if that would do the trick so one of the men got behind the wheel and he began to talk to me. I attempted to respond, thinking that I understood what he was saying but then he interrupted and said, "do you speak any Spanish?" That's was not a good sign nor did it help with my confidence in speaking the language!
Oh well, better luck next time!
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4 comments:
Your story was too funny! I bet you will get the hang of it as you are in the airport getting ready to return home!
So, did the car go after the rolling start?
Unfortunately no, the rolling start did not help. Kendon had to come with jumper cables. I think for a "rolling" start you really need a small hill of some sort, not just five Guatemalan men giving a hard push on a flat parking lot! It was nice of them to try though.
This was really funny to read Kara! Just to reassure you, I think you speak great Spanish! I miss little Kevin! -Stephanie Stewart (AC)
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