Integration:
In general I feel like this week has been a good one as far as integration goes. Life is starting to feel a little bit more normal and I feel like I’m gaining a little bit more control. The woman next store called me over just to chat the other evening. I also went swimming in the town “pool” with the other locals. This pool is roughly the size of a baby pool and is actually the well where they get water for their crops. Approximately half of the pool is occupied by a large tube blasting seemingly wasteful amounts of water into the other half. Furthermore, I managed to actually cook dinner. Previously I considered adding a bit of spinach to my nightly eggs to be a major culinary achievement. This week I prepared spinach soup and pasta with tomatoes. Most importantly, I was allowed to walk to the store by myself. Why they consider this journey to be so difficult still baffles me. My mom commented to my sister that I now know the way. I’m not sure when it was that I didn’t know the way—it’s a straight shot 400 meters down the only road in town. Getting lost would be more of an achievement.
Now for some funny English translations:
From a restaurant menu:
Fish at male
Jelly of Fish: little pieces of breaded fish sprayed with a special onion sauce
Fish Crackling
Chicken to the coal
Leaped noodle of chicken or beef
Boneless kid
Kid with rice and beans
Loin skewer: juice thin beef pieces and vegetales cooked to the grill
Loin to the cracklin
Alfredo noodles: Spaguettis sprayed with a white cream sauce mad of jam, cheese, and milkcream
Milk: exquisite fresh milk very hot
Tea: shrub of the Far East with a pleasant flavor
Unfortunately for the restaurant, all of these translations were indeed found on the same menu. Gherkin also appeared more than once. Apparently gherkin is an acceptable English word for cucumber, which I previously did not know.
From a shirt: (not necessarily a translation but nonetheless amusing)
“Boys are loser. Throw rocks at them.”
Pick-up line:
“Hello, Mister!” (pronounced Heylow me-stair)
I have received this pick-up line more than once. If you ask me it lacks anything approaching flattery.
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5 comments:
So I find myself really craving some "kid with rice and beans." Do you suppose you could bring some back for us? Maybe we'll make it our staple at the next holiday dinner...
apparently men in developing countries think that calling women masculine names is a surefire way to pick them up; i'm constantly called "boss man," "nice guy," and "white man"...glad to see it's not just me :)
aw man. i am living vicariously through your life right now. i am freezing here in illinois, despairing my way through a dreaded plant anatomy class, trying to figure how exactly how graduate schools expect you to keep up grade-wise when, oh, you miss a third of the classes for interviews. but then, i do have tupperware, so apparently i'm okay. hope you are well!
Wow, you are making strides, I could send you a Mr. Turtle pool with a slide perhaps...you would be the hit of the town. And I am glad to hear you are finally finding your way 400 meters to town! Love you lots! Aunt Nancy
Oh Ms. Petersen...seriously, when you return, you should submit your blog posts to a publisher. Andrew and I have been getting such a kick out of them - I just caught him up on the last couple weeks. He went in for an appendectomy on Monday, so laughing hard probably wasn't the best medicine (he is doing great btw, recovering at light speed), but sure killed the boredom. Let us know if you need any books to read - Arla passes tons off to us and then we run out of shelf space. We'd be glad to send some to ya! :)
Katie (and Andrew)
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