Fish Out of Water

It's funny how you realize all the litte things you've taken for granted when you're thrown completely out of your element. One minute you're just fine, and then next you're in a whole new world, new rules, new game, but someone seems to have forgotten to throw you the rule book along the way. Luckily, I seem to have a better head start than most because I grew up in a bicultural family. However, it doesn't stop my presence from screaming "foreigner" most of the time. For instance, knowing how to order a cup of coffee. Something so simple and, for those of us coffee addicts, as natural as sleep. But, when my uncle took me out to get coffee today, suddenly I had no clue what to say. With this sudden loss of the familiar, I was like a fish out of water. To be honest, I probably even looked like one too, opening and closing my mouth a couple of times, each false start more awkward than the previous, as I scrambled for tenses and tried to decide which person to use.  I made my best attempt of course, but that didn't stop the waiter from peering at me as though trying to guess what planet I had come from.

Haha, who knew the way you order anything is to point at the menu and say "give me a number 3"? Handy, as it avoids any embarrassment of mispronouncing foreign words and completely eliminates that few seconds of complete panic, as you try to guess how in the world to pronounce "petit déjeuner" without coming across as a bumbling idiot to your waiter. And then as she stares at you expectantly, you curse your high school self for taking Spanish instead of French, but then justify your lack of knowledge with your courage in ordering foreign cuisine, and therefore expanding your horizons. Finally, you blurt out your best attempt but it couldn't sound more Americanized if you tried. And there's that look again, a mix of trying to understand what exactly you just said and questioning what sky you just fell from. But I digress, as in this instance it wasn't a petite déjeuner I was ordering, but a simple latte, which I politely asked for in a perfectly Bangla-English mix of "I would like ekta (one) latte please". Needless to say, my Uncle was doing his best to supress his grin the entire walk back to our table. Haha, you live and you learn. 

Anyways going back to taking things for granted. I decided I would come up with a top five list and share my appreciation with you guys.

  

1. Good California weather - I seem to have a permanent sheen to my complexion with this 109 degree weather. So I've come to the conclusion that either I'm one of the sparkling vampires my little cousins are always reading books about or it's just so hot here that even if you just step out of the shower, you will still have that pleasant after gym shine. I prefer disillusioning myself with the former at the present moment. 

2. Fast internet - even with the fastest internet here (3G), there is still a loading bar. I am slowly learning the meaning of patience each time the blue bar almost makes it all the way over only to spend the next five minutes filling in the last millimeter of gray space. -.- I guess I better find my inner zen soon or I'll probably go mad. 

3. Not having a lizard larger than the size of my hand lurking in my room - I've seem him. I know he's in here. No, I did not sleep last night. 

4. Water - it seems that each time I travel I have a newfound appreciation for being able to order tap water in the US. Being confined to Evian water bottles only makes me realize just how much water I do drink and how expensive it is!

5.  Driving - I will not complain next time my parents send me on a last minute grocery run or ask me to pick up my brother from school. Hmm this may be a little dangerous to put in writing. Okay, I'll rephrase that, I will try to not complain next time my parents send me on a last minute grocery run or ask me to pick up my brother from school. I miss having the independence and freedom of mobility; to get in a car and just go. Yes, I can get to where I want to go here, but I have to take my uncle with me and it takes 10000000000 times longer because of this awful traffic. Not that I'm complaining, it's just different. 

As you can see I obviously have way to much time on my hands and therefore have gone on and on. So I'll give you the highlights of my day. I am starting to learn how to read and write bangla! It's very exciting but also a whole new alphabet. Hopefully, it will go faster because I already know the language and therefore can recognize the different words, but it's still pretty hard. So far I've memorized four letters :). My grandma's response to this was questioning why I was learning bangla because it was ugly. She also said that I was going to marry an American anyways so why should I bother. Hahahahahah. She's hilarious, and much to her chagrin, all my other grandmas staying with us jumped to my defense, so she left the subject alone. I thinks she's secretly happy though. Also, today I crossed the street! Oh my goodness. Three rickshaws nearly ran me over and my heart was beating so fast. I held onto my uncle's hand so tightly that I'm pretty sure his fingers lost circulation. It was probably only 100 meters of road to cross, but I was so scared I laughed the entire way. Note to self: my natural reaction to extreme fear is laughing...I'm sure if that's a good or a bad thing hahaha. Finally I've been crocheting this scarf for Spain and I'm pretty sure I've made more than half of it and have another whole skein and a half of yarn left. Looks like I need to find another pattern. Like I said, I have lots of free time for now. Anyways, I'll let you guys get on with your day.

Love and miss you all,

Carolyn