Um...puedo tener...

You know how when people say they plan on studying abroad in England or Ireland or somewhere that speaks English and you just think, "Wow what a cop out" (at least I think that). After today's experience I am kicking myself in the butt for ever doubting these brilliant students who are making the right decision.

For all of you that didn't know, the central language in Barcelona is Catalan. Most people can also speak Spanish, but all signs, menus, directions, are in Catalan. Which leaves me knowing none of the language that is actually spoken and knowing some of the language that only some people speak.

Today, my friend Angie and I went to a restaurant for lunch. Like I mentioned in my last post, I have not had any desire to eat lately but today, I was starving. Naturally, I wanted to eat while I could. We walked up and down streets looking for somewhere to eat because many shops and cafes close for siesta (and I thought Americans were lazy...) but we finally found a decent looking restaurant and walked in. Once we sat down, I expected a waiter to come give us menus like they do in America. Instead, a Catalan-speaking woman came to the table and literally just looked at Angie and me. Staring. She started speaking in Catalan because we were obviously confused tourists and I caught the words "tomar algo" which I have been interpreting as being asked what I want to drink. I said, "Puedo tomar agua" and she just looked at me and kept talking (in Catalan) and Angie and I just kept looking at each other until Angie finally said "un minuto por favor" so we could gather our thoughts. After Angie said that, she brought us a stack of napkins about 3 inches high. I could have eaten an entire rack of ribs and still have had extra napkins. Needless to say, this confused us more. The set up of this restaurant was kind of like a buffet, but really fancy. But I didn't know if I was supposed to go get food or if I was supposed to ask the waitress for it and I was too terrified to do the wrong thing and get yelled at in Catalan that we just ordered coffee (the only kind of coffee we know how to order, which happened to be about 4 oz). After we drank the coffee, I was still hungry but my fear of being yelled at for doing the wrong thing kept me from eating. I am literally so intimidated by these people that I am willing to sacrifice food.

They also order food differently than we do in America. We are very polite and ask, "May I please have" (or at least us civilized people do) hence the title of today's post meaning, "Could I have". Apparently this is a dead giveaway that you are American. It is weird to be polite. Compared to America, everyone here is mean. There is no friendly smiling, rare eye contact, and no small talk whatsoever. As a rather smiley person, I'm working on my Spanish face. This is the face I make whenever anyone looks at me who I don't know. I hate being so mean but I also hate looking so damn American. These are the struggles I deal with on a daily basis.

I'm going to go read up on some Catalan now.

Angela