We had some guests. I had a cold. We were eating a quick lunch and one commented on how hot a pepper was. I had eaten a little bit of one, which wasn’t hot at all. So, being the dunce that I am, I took about a third of the pepper, stuck it on bread, and stuffed it in my mouth. Did I mention that I had a cold? Yeah, I hacked and hawed so much that I had to excuse myself to the bathroom ("excuse myself" - more like run a full sprint with 5 or 6 napkins around my face) and coughed a ton there, too. I was pretty miserable for the rest of the day.
Then, in front of the same guests, I stepped into a manhole in front of the partner church in Prishtina. Somehow the cover wasn't on tightly and it turned 90 degrees as my foot plummeted to the bottom. I fell "gracefully" as one colleague told me repeatedly...as if that helped the fact that I cluzified in front of 20+ people (not just a few inches but to where my legs come together). I was a little sore - and not just my pride :).
At a church picnic, I wanted to swim but didn’t have my suit. A guy who is about 5 feet tall lent me his small shorts, and I accidentally put them on backwards. It felt so great to be in water…but I felt totally, totally ridiculous when I climbed out of it.
I made breakfast with a friend at her house. After we ate like it was our job, I totally zonked out on her parents' couch...for over 2 hours! Guests here don't just fall asleep on hosts' couches...it was kind of embarrassing!
Sometimes I have, “this is so awkward!!” written all over my face. When we dance at wedding events and people insist that I do the little fancy hand motions and hip wiggles – I look absurd (not even a cute absurd – an awkward, everyone is embarrassed absurd). Or when someone asks me for something (my camera, my glasses, my jeans) and I respond by staring at them in the eyes waiting for a good response to come to my tongue…and so I stare indefinitely. Or when I catch myself mimicking peoples’ facial expressions and filler noises or repeating them word for word. ...all in the name of language and cultural acquisition.
That's enough for now.
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4 comments:
Oh Bertie! Your posts always leave us laughing and missing all those "glimpses" of Albanian life -- the everyday, delicious, awkward moments. You capture them so well.
I stumbled upon your site through some district email/prayer list thingy a few months ago. It's now one of my favorites. I cry-laugh, just great! Thanks. KK
KK - thanks :)
melissa - We're very excited to have you back soon! Then we can experience the everyday, delicious, awkward moments together :)
One more before i forget it - I told my very pregnant and tired neighbor lady that it might feel refreshing if she put cucumbers on her eyes. After awhile she picked up 2 pieces of cuc. from a plate and stuck them on her eyes. Unfortunately, they were salted and she had tears running down her face. Refreshing, indeed!
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