Or so the expat wives here call it. It means a day when everything goes wrong, I can't communicate, and I can't figure out what my husband was thinking dragging me all the way here!
According to them, a little venting cures a Brazil day, so here it goes.
This week has really gone very well. I've been proud of myself for being able to somewhat communicate and get along this week using the few words I know and gestures.
But today was just too much.
We have several things needing to be fixed in our apartment- a leaky dishwasher, windows without locks, a missing key to the front door, a rede for the balcony (a sort of safety net to keep Ethan and Lydia from climbing up and jumping off), etc.
My phone rang ALL morning. It was various people trying to talk to me about (as best as I could figure) these various home maintenance issues. I tried to communicate, but always ended with a defeated, "Eu nao entendo" (I don't understand). This was followed by a short pause, and then another long and rapid dialogue in Portuguese! What didn't they understand about I don't understand? I'd reply with "Eu nao falo Portuguese" (I don't speak Portuguese), followed by another pause, then another long Portuguese response.
What don't they get?! EU NAO FALO PORTUGUESE! I actually hung up on the last 2 of about 15 callers because they didn't seem to care that I didn't understand a word they were saying and kept right on talking. At one point I put the housekeeper on to talk, but a whole lot of good that did. She doesn't speak anymore English than I do Portuguese.
It all hit the fan when I had 4 different people in my apartment at the same time, 3 of whom were frustrated that I wasn't understanding them or answering their questions. The 4th was my Portuguese tutor who was kind, but arrived in the middle of all of this and had to have been frustrated that she spent the first 45 minutes of today's lesson trying to translate between me the others.
My last resort was to call Matt and just pass the phone around the room so I could get to my much needed lesson, but of course he didn't answer. I felt utterly helpless and I am sure they all think I'm a completely uneducated idiot.
If I had known how to say, "Everyone just get out of here!" I would have.
Instead I just started to cry.
At least that got me a little compassion. Actually a lot of compassion. Maybe I'll turn on the waterworks more often. The 3 of them all seemed to figure out what they needed to know, patted me on the shoulder, kindly said goodbye, and I started my lesson.
Okay, I do feel better. Now, I'm going to move on. The rest of my day will include:
~enjoying this view on our walk to pick up Garrett from school,
(this picture does NOT do the landscape here justice. It is absolutely beautiful. Our nice brand new camera has been missing since last week, so we're using our old, worthless one)
~going to the pool with these guys, fully recognizing the fact that we are blessed to not be snowed in, suffering from the flu season, or worse,
~ordering take out for dinner,
~and celebrating the weekend that will start in 3 hours when Matt gets home.
11 comments:
I'm sorry Mary! Big HUGS over the internet! Hopefully the rest of the afternoon and weekend will go better for you!
Oh Mary! I'm so sorry!!! No fun!! I guess I can only echo Amy with lots of HUGS!!
Too bad you didn't have a push-two-for-English button. I'm sorry. It's gotta be frustrating.
must have been a stressful time around the world -- this week was a toughy for us too :P
pete gets mad at the language thing too -- i think they think they are trying, but it is totally overwhelming. you definitely need someone who could be called for translation at the drop of a hat. i think that would make things roll more smoothly. we have a foreign liason we can call, our Turkish teacher, and vairous other Turkish teachers on campus who are super helpful about helping with translation. just find someone who is available and is willing to take "translation" phone calls. usually they don't last too long -- it is just a simple conversation compounded by the inability to have it if neither party unserstands the other. shake it off -- you will laugh at this moment a month from now. i still think these are good tears too -- another step toward understanding people who come to make their life in the US and do not know the language. not easy.
Hurray for takeout! Hurray for the pool! Hurray for the housekeeper! Hurray for the tutor! Sorry it's rough. You're still my hero for taking it all on with such gusto!Hopefully it will all get better. The kids look so happy. I had to show Ian Brazil on the map so he knew where you guys went too. Even though we only saw you guys a handful of times, we miss you!
Everytime I get on your blog to endulge myself, I find myself laughing, crying, relating, empethizing (okay more like sympathizing), and loving every moment. I realized that you have taught me an amazing lesson. You might not have know it but you have... I'm going to try my hardest to REALLY care and REALLY get to know the people around me, especially those girls in my ward. I know more about you now then when we lived 10 feet (exagerated) from each other at Wymount...and I wish I would have taken the time to REALLY get to know you! You are an amazing person! I hope things get easier for you! If it makes you feel any better...I could only dream of doing the exotic living your doing!
WOW! What a day! I hope the weekend has done much to help you out. You are so strong.
Sounds so exhausting. Thanks for sharing EVERYTHING about your experience - it makes me want to be more honest about my struggles, too. Love from the Smiths.
Every once in awhile, Colter & I will talk about going to Brazil on sabbatical someday; so I've been really interested in your experience! It certainly isn't all peaches and cream, huh? It does give me second thoughts! But thanks for sharing! I'll be praying for you!
so sorry you had such a stinky day. love from san ramon.
I just have to tell you that I was telling Drostan about how you're down in Brazil and that I could relate with a lot of the homesickness and feeling SO FAR from home in a foreign place with a foreign culture, etc...and he told me that I don't even know what it's like. (Oh, by the way, he served his mission in Brazil--Ribeirao Preto). He told me moving to Cayman was nothing like going to Brazil for him. Cayman was pretty much American-ized. The grocery stores are pretty similar, and the people speak English (even if it takes a while to pick up the dialect and takes asking people to repeat themselves sometimse 3 or 4 times. It's still English). He said that it's a lot different--it's a whole different world down there. So I give it to you! I thought going to Cayman was bad enough. I had plenty of those Brazil Days (Cayman Days) at first where I'd just bawl, so don't feel bad. You're doing great, and it'll get better! Really!
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