Peeing in the Dark

About a month ago, the light bulb burned out in the teacher's bathroom. The problem was temporarily remedied with a candle which barely lighted the toilet seat. Nonetheless, it was sufficient.

Now all the candles are gone. And I'm assuming because of budget cuts, the light bulb hasn't been replaced. But now, the bathroom is completely dark requiring master navigation of toilet paper, sink, and soap.

I'm really diversifying my talents here in Mexico.

Spanglish

When I visited family a couple weeks ago in Canada and the US, it was the first time being back in an English-speaking world. I quickly discovered that I had lost my English fluency.

In Mexico, the only people I speak English with are the other volunteers (and in my English classes). We speak a form of Spanglish. Mostly English, but when we forget a word in English or a Spanish word just fits better, we can use it without the worry of being misunderstood.

I quickly discovered, thanks to my mom's blank face, that when talking about not having the "ganas" to go out or that something was "mala onda" that I had lost my English.

So while my Spanish flunecy increases, my English fluency decreases. I guess there's only so much processing and containing of information my brain can do. But really, I'd like to speak just one language without any difficulty.

Reverse Culture Shock

Mexico has become my home so much to the point that when I went home to the US I found everything "weird." Upon my reutrn to Mexico, everything was once again "normal." Like, in the US, why couldn't I negotiate prices? Why did I blend in so much? Why is just a sandwich $6-7 instead of $3.50? Why is it so darn cold?

Whereas when I arrived I could write a blog entry a day based on cultural differences, I'm starting to have nothing to say because American culture customs have become a distant memory and I have replaced it with Mexican culture.

Soy Un Hombre

Today, while two of my girls were straightening their hair using my roommate's straightener, I was joking around with them about being a guy. Those of you who know me know I spend little time in front of the mirror putting on make-up, fixing my hair, etc. My girls were asking me why I don't straighten my hair, and I jokingly said "It's because I'm a man."

One of the girls continues to joke with me, while the other one falls silent for a few minutes. Finally, she looks at me from the mirror and goes:

"Naomi, are you really a man?"

...I don't think my sarcasm will ever come across in Spanish. That's what I get for having an American accent and not speaking fluently.

Family

This weekend, my uncle passed away.

I'm sad, but there's a strange comfort about being here at NPH. Being in the presence of my kids, of kids who have lost so much more than I have at a far younger age than anyone should, has calmed me. I feel far from alone.

I realized that I have become part of another family. And as long as I'm with my second family, the grief is bearable and loneliness a long way off.

Every 15 Days

To say “every two weeks” in Spanish is “cada quince días,” or literally in English “every 15 days.” Fifteen, you say? One, from the US as least, would question why it’s not fourteen.

Just as two weeks are referred to as every 15 days, every week is referred to as every eight days.

In English class, the kids this week are learning about budgeting and living within their means. They each had to chose something they spent on daily that isn’t a necessity, then calculate how much they spent a year on this.

Sonia said she spent $2 pesos a day on candy. So they teacher calculated how much she spent per year like so:

$2 pesos x 8 days x 52 weeks = $832 pesos

...my world is altering. I’m questioning my definition of a week. There are seven days in a week, aren’t there?

Translating

With these past two weeks, I feel I can now add “translator” to my resume under job experiences.

As I’ve mentioned, the kids produced Romeo and Juliet last Thursday. They’re doing so under the direction of three directors from Holland who have funded the play. They speak, as it seems, every language on earth – except Spanish. The poquito of Spanish they speak makes it difficult for them to communicate with the kids and staff here.
Sophie and Naomi to the rescue!

We became the official translators of NPH. We’ve decoded English to Spanish and vice versa, running into problems only when the Dutch start speaking in Dutch because they get confused when switching from English to Spanish to Dutch, then back again.

The UN is my next step.