Estoy Feliz

I have realized that it is not acceptable to get frustrated when not knowing enough Spanish to communicate well. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed when having a 5 minute long conversation with my Mexican grandma, only to figure out that she was trying to tell me that she would take me to the store to buy shampoo and conditioner this afternoon. Like, whaa?! It should NOT take that long to discuss that! These people word things in ways that Senora Kutsulis never taught me!!!

There are times that I feel I know exactly what’s going on. Like, in sacrament meeting. It was fast and testimony meeting and about every single person in the ward got up to bear their testimony (it was SO cool).  I could totally follow along with their testimonies and what they were sharing! In Sunday school and Relief Society, I could, for the most part, understand the lesson and the stories they would share. But, then there are those times like this evening…. I was driving home with my family from yet another fiesta and I was listening intently, trying to pick up as much of the conversation as possible. Either these people have the most BIZZARE and RANDOM conversations or…. I’m clueless. I swear my sister Mariella asked her boyfriend about politics or politician (using the word “politico”) and he responded with a sentence including the word “leche” (milk.) UNBELIEVABLE! What in the worrllddddd are they talking about?!?!

Or how about today when my sisters were talking about my hair and how blonde and thin it was (they were asking me if a lot of my hair falls out……. NO. It’s doesn’t fall out. It’s just naturally terribly thin! Thanks mama Tams.), and I responded in a sentence using the word “caballo” (horse) instead of “cabello” (hair). Ahhh this whole Spanish thing is so hard! I KNOW those two words. And I’ve known them for years! But when I’m trying to become a good speaker and try to speak fast, it all comes out incorrect! Haha. Bless my heart, right? 

This all makes me feel for that blessed Japanese exchange student my (American) family had for a week a few months ago. My sweet mother one day asked Kaito (the student) if he had enough blankets on his bed and if he was warm that previous night. He responded with, “you no have a lot of trees on your mountains….” Oh dear. That is for sure me. And for sure my Mexican family just laughs and laughs at me just the way my siblings and I did with sweet little Kaito.

So, a little update on these past few days… On Saturday I went to the school for a few hours to prepare for school a bit more. At 3, my mom and dad and sister, and my aunt came and picked me up from school and we drove out to San Felipe for a wedding reception of a friend. It was very cool to experience that and see how different their culture is. At the reception there was a mariachi band and about 40 invited guests. The bride and groom were the ones that prepared the food and served everyone. No catered food. No standing in a line greeting your hundreds of guests. No gifts were given. No specific wedding colors or themes. No bridesmaids or groomsmen. It was interesting. Who knows, maybe all weddings are different down here. Some may be more similar to the weddings I’m used to back in my American Mormon bubble. And some may be more rambunctious. It was quite different though. After the wedding we just came back home and hang out for a bit and went to bed.

This morning, I went to church. Really, realllyyy cool experience. The church is so true. Even in Spanish. Hahah! I love it. I want to figure out how to bear my testimony in Spanish and share in fast and testimony meeting in the next few months. How cool would that be!? Being at church was so comforting. It was like a little piece of home. What a blessing! Anyways, after church my co-teachers and I went to the school to organize a little more for our classes tomorrow! And then in the early evening we went with one of my friends’ host brother (a native Mexican, of course) for a walk around downtown to see it all and try to figure out this city a little more. And then, like I said earlier, there was another fiesta tonight – for my uncles birthday. It was a good time. I met many more people and had a lot more laughs.

I’m loving it down here. What a cool experience this is going to be! Until next time, Buenos tardes!

Photo: Christian (brother), Julietta (cousin), Me, Jesus (cousin), Angel (friend), and Donny (cousin). Love them all sooo much!