Onion Rings & Ice Cream Cones

Over Christmas break this year, we celebrated by going out to Burger King (yes, there are Burger Kings here in Managua—one of two restaurants that give free refills!). We had promised our kids ice cream after their meal, so after we finished eating and the kids were playing on the play place, Andrew went up and ordered 5 ice cream cones.  The server offered to bring them out to us, so Andrew came back and sat down by me.  I can’t remember what we were chatting about when the server began walking toward us, but as soon as we saw what was on the tray she was holding, we stopped talking, looked at each other and shook our heads.  On her tray was 5 orders of onion rings!  She set them down and Andrew and I both said “Gracias” with big eyes, and then burst out laughing as soon as she made it back behind the counter.  Andrew had obviously messed up his Spanish somehow, although we can’t figure out how he messed up THAT badly—the words aren’t even that similar; ice cream is “helado” or “cono” and onion rings are “aros de cebolla.”

Obviously getting onion rings instead of ice cream cones is not the end of the world (especially since after Andrew explained his mistake, the workers at Burger King were kind enough to exchange our onion rings for ice cream cones), but this is just one example of the many miscommunications that we have had because of the language barrier we face.  Most of the time, it is funny--Andrew just last week was talking to a student about eating a dust sandwich (“polvo”) instead of a turkey sandwich (“pavo”)—sometimes it’s frustrating, and sometimes it’s downright discouraging making us feel inadequate. 

The hardest thing for me has been my decreased ability to build relationships.  I am such an extrovert and a people-person, and I sometimes feel like my limited understanding of Spanish has stripped my personality of those characteristics.  When I am at the clinic taking a patient’s temperature, which as we all know takes FOREVER with a regular ‘ole thermometer, I want so badly to engage in small talk to pass the awkward time and put the patient at ease.  When I am at church chatting with Jocelyn, a 21 year old who I have become friends with, I want so badly to ask her about all the details of her love life so that I can tease her later.  These conversations are a part of who I am, and a part of who I have lost in the Spanish speaking world we live in. 

The upside to frustration is that it can be motivating.  Andrew and I have a strong desire and commitment to learn Spanish well so that we can build and engage in friendships here in Nicaragua (and so that we can order what we intend to at Burger King!).  We recently started meeting with a Spanish tutor three times a week to expedite this process.  This is a big time commitment, and often when we start our lesson after we tuck our kids into bed (which we do twice a week) our brains are already fried from the day of working in the heat, struggling to communicate, and avoiding cows and potholes in the car.  BUT, we are hopeful, and really, there are so many days when we are encouraged.  We have learned so much and come so far.  Our tutor, David, is great, and we know that with his help, and with lots of practice, patience and prayer we will be well on our way to making small talk, teasing and ordering ice cream instead of onion rings.