Some pictures of the Ladies present at the Birthday... From the left: Me, Kelsey, Sarah and Taylor
Anoche (Last night), we (Sarah, Kelsey, Jesse, Eric and I) went over to Taylor Reis's apartment to celebrate her 21st birthday!! I ATE SOO MUCH!!! Her host mom was GREAT to us!! I think I had two hot dogs, 2 slices of pizza, some potatoes, potatoe chips, and OF COURSE BIRTHDAY CAKE!!
It was a really good fooD, and as much as I dont like "cliques" this small group of us is really getting to know each other. We ate and talked ALLL NIGHT!! I felt like I was at home with my friends...
besides the birthday festivities... i got some valuable insight into the lives of others...
I am VERY FORTUNATE and live with a family where the kids all speak a pretty good English. This is NOT the case for others such as Miss Sarah Kennedy... her host mom speaks no English and we always can tell when she is stressed from trying to communicate with her. LAST NIGHT I finally understood this!
I was getting ready to leave the house, so I went to tell Edgardo where I was going and why, and ask him how to pronounce the name of Taylor's street.... IT WAS JUST A HUGE FIASCO....
First, my parents here are GREAT!! They always want to know where Im going and who is going with me. Is there a professor there with you? What is the Name of the place? What is the number? What is the address? Make sure someone waits for a taxi with you. Dont walk alone at night.... ect. :)
However, Edgardo speaks pretty much no English and explaining this to him was quite a challenge. I didnt understand why I had to call the taxi instead of just going out on the street and waiving for one. He was trying to tell me what to tell the driver, which somehow included a story about school he went to as a child? Or that is what I understood atleast... I had to call Taylor twice to ask for the address and phone number so I could call the taxi there when I left her house too...
Calling the taxi to come was a huge ordeal too... OF COURSE I HAD NO IDEA what the guy on the phone was telling me. Finally I just told him the house number... and he kept saying "Listo" which means ready... but I did know if he was ready or if he was asking if I was... I just said yes a bunch of times, and good a few times. Then tried to make a sentence, but I failed miserably. He was still talking, so finally I just said, okay chau... and hung up and hoped the taxi would come....
OH I WAS JUST SOOO STRESSED at this point. So the taxi finally came. I still wasnt sure what Edgardo wanted me to tell him for directions, and I didnt know how to pronounce the name of the street. BUT I knew where I needed to go. So I got in the cab and proceeded to tell the driver where I needed to go. Edgardo was watching me at the door to make sure I left safely, I knew where I wanted to go, so after I KILLED the name of the street I proceeded to show him my map. Edgardo saw this and came over to the taxi to just tell the driver himself... OOOOHHHH I felt like I was 10 years old!! AHHH!!
It was all soo stressfull, and needless to say I was happy to see my new friends sitting on the stoop when the taxi drove up! They made me feel better and in then end we took some pictures like the one above :) Me, Kelsey, and Sarah
It was another small lessson that you can never FULLY understand some untill you have been in their shoes for a bit. :)
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