"Jenna?" Pause.
"Here!" Yes, we call role in Accommo. Every morning is a flashback to
6th grade when the kids would try and be brilliant with their one chance to get
in a double helping of clever. "Brian?" "Not Here."
(giggles) "Samantha?" "Here." (says boy in high-pitched
voice)
That's when I heard, "Ok, Jenna, Adela, Karla, y Lucia. Ustedes son un equipo. Y Jenna, vas a manejar, el treinta y cuatro. Ten cuidado, Chica."
There was this little incident when I worked accommodations back in January where my supervisor said I was bilingual. After that all of that ladies that I work with who speak Spanish as their first language only talk to me in Spanish. I became 'Gina.' And, did I mention that each of them are from a different Spanish-speaking country, which means they each speak a different dialect?
Granted I took four years of Spanish in high school, most of the vocabulary is stuffed away in my brain, but when they think you're bilingual instead of just a white girl who doesn't even know her own first language fluently they cut you no slack on their speech speed.
So, I was driving this tank of a van full of cleaning supplies and three extremely talkative native Spanish speakers, and they insisted on including me in the conversation. It was kind of like listening to someone with a bad phone connection or an ancient VHS tape with the sound going in and out. I could hear the sounds of the words but they weren't forming words in my brain. It was one of those times where I wished life had subtitles.
The conversation would be moving right a long and then it'd come to me. And of course, I wasn't paying attention because they were using so many Spanish dialectical colloquialisms that I wasn't sure if they were even understanding each other. Suddenly, I'd hear...nothing...which cued me in on their expectant stares and then, I was on the spot. There was a long pause as my brain rewound the last couple of minutes grasping desperately for the question I needed to answer. And then, "Pues, que fue la pregunta?" Laughter erupted.
Honestly, it was one of the most fun days I've ever had working up there and I don't even know 3/4 of what was said within the members of my team. Adela said something about un avion, and una sandia, and then there was something about being tired and old and Lucia driving her crazy. Lucia talked like if she stopped she would keel over and there was something about muchas ratas en las camas. Karla was the expressive mediator whose instantaneous smile cued me in on a joke. Oh I hope there's not a quiz on this tomorrow.
That's when I heard, "Ok, Jenna, Adela, Karla, y Lucia. Ustedes son un equipo. Y Jenna, vas a manejar, el treinta y cuatro. Ten cuidado, Chica."
There was this little incident when I worked accommodations back in January where my supervisor said I was bilingual. After that all of that ladies that I work with who speak Spanish as their first language only talk to me in Spanish. I became 'Gina.' And, did I mention that each of them are from a different Spanish-speaking country, which means they each speak a different dialect?
Granted I took four years of Spanish in high school, most of the vocabulary is stuffed away in my brain, but when they think you're bilingual instead of just a white girl who doesn't even know her own first language fluently they cut you no slack on their speech speed.
So, I was driving this tank of a van full of cleaning supplies and three extremely talkative native Spanish speakers, and they insisted on including me in the conversation. It was kind of like listening to someone with a bad phone connection or an ancient VHS tape with the sound going in and out. I could hear the sounds of the words but they weren't forming words in my brain. It was one of those times where I wished life had subtitles.
The conversation would be moving right a long and then it'd come to me. And of course, I wasn't paying attention because they were using so many Spanish dialectical colloquialisms that I wasn't sure if they were even understanding each other. Suddenly, I'd hear...nothing...which cued me in on their expectant stares and then, I was on the spot. There was a long pause as my brain rewound the last couple of minutes grasping desperately for the question I needed to answer. And then, "Pues, que fue la pregunta?" Laughter erupted.
Honestly, it was one of the most fun days I've ever had working up there and I don't even know 3/4 of what was said within the members of my team. Adela said something about un avion, and una sandia, and then there was something about being tired and old and Lucia driving her crazy. Lucia talked like if she stopped she would keel over and there was something about muchas ratas en las camas. Karla was the expressive mediator whose instantaneous smile cued me in on a joke. Oh I hope there's not a quiz on this tomorrow.
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