But none of these books prepared me to for the moment Saturday at McDonalds, when I wished to say, "So, I already ordered this salad, but somewhere in translation, it was lost that I asked for pollo crispy, and now I just have basic lettuce and few tomatoes, and that's not enough for lunch. Can I please buy some crispy chicken to add to my salad for only 35 pesos?"
So, instead, I just stood there and sheepishly asked, "Habla ingles?" It's still bothering me that I don't totally know if that is the correct way to ask, grammatically. But the cashier figured it out. He spoke only un poquito ingles, but between the two of us, we hacked at our two languages until we finally figured out what needed to happen.
I take pride in my communication skills. I spend probably more time than is wise to admit drafting emails, going over the same paragraph multiple times to be sure meaning is clear, and that there is no room for misunderstanding. I probably over-communicate, and people have told me that they sometimes wonder if I think they are dumb, because I work to communicate so much that there is no need on the other person's part to patch things together or connect the dots themselves.
Which is why being in Uruguay has been a real challenge, but ultimately, it's helped me learn to trust others.
You wouldn't probably guess, but Fargo and Grand Forks did give me a lot of opportunities to meet people who were not fluent English speakers.
Throughout my life, I've loved the people I've known who don't speak English fluently. Why? Well, there's something very vulnerable when you don't really speak the language. You have to get to the heart of things because you don't have a million ways to deflect your meaning. I've treasured these non-native-English speakers, because it always seemed we had a closer friendship sooner - maybe because of the vulnerability. Maybe because of the trust you have to give to the person you're speaking to, that they can work with you to discover your needs. When you don't speak the language, you have to relinquish control, and that can be a great gift to another person.
So, I've smiled my best smile and just said, "Muchos gracias," a million times in the last week - to the lady who saw that I needed to get Kateri in her stroller up a tall flight of steps - to the person who helped me get Kateri (again in a stroller) through the doors that were hard to open, to the waitress who waited with Kateri at our table while I went through the buffet.
People see a lot more than I give them credit for. Sometimes instead of making things clearer, more language just muddies the waters.
I'm thankful for this gift of humility (even though it's kind of tiring too) :)
