Walking in someone elses shoes.....I felt so out of place the first few days. Now I know how other people must feel when they move to the US. I feel like such an outsider. Things that are so simple at home seem so complicated for me here. i wandered around for days looking for a store like walgreens. I would stop at places called farmecias but they only seem to sell cellulite and wrinkle cream! It took me three days before someone was awesome enough to tell me about Carrefour and then another 2 hours just to find it. Then when I bought an apple I was so embarrassed when I got to the check out line and she told me I had to weigh it first. She she was nice enough to leave the register and do it for me, but that kept the whole line waiting. She and many others have been very patient, but there have also been a fair amount of people who have been impatient with me. I feel I have had a small taste of what it feels like to be in an unfamiliar place so far from home. Now when I encounter newly arrived people in the US I will make an extra effort to help people feel comfortable.
I also realize how much more comfortable I am speaking English. I have an American roomate and I felt bad one night when I realized that I was speaking in English to her in front of my house mother. It was totally unintentional. Then I thought back to times in the US where Ive heard Americans get so angry when people spoke in their native tongue and I felt bad. I remember recently how one city wanted to have an "Enlish Only" sign in his business. During that time I sympathized with the people in that city, but now I can say I empathize with them. When people told me this trip would change my life I thought it would make me somehow see my life clearer but in all honesty it has made me see the immigration issue from a different perspective. I no longer feel like Im on the outside looking in. My empathy and understanding has grown in leaps and bounds on this trip.
Hmm no me gusta la comida en mi casa. Mi senora cocino mucho carne. Es muy rica pero me gusta veraduras. Quiero mas frutas tambien. Busce un fruteria y estoy muy alegra. la senora era muy simpatica. Cuando compre dos mansanas, ella me prugunta algo. Entonce lava mis mansanas por mi! Ella era muy amable!