When I first arrived to this tiny country of just over three million people at the end of February, I felt like the only person without a social network. What I was feeling is really pretty common among exchange students; in fact, it's expected that they will feel lonely at first and as if they didn’t know a single soul in their entire host country. Rarely is this impression ever as grave as it may seem at first. However, in a country as small as Uruguay, where over half of the population lives in one major city and family members reside within blocks of one another, it became even more evident that everyone already knew everyone else and that I, sadly, did not. Thankfully, I’m finally starting to find my place among the Uruguayans.
For example, Flor, the woman I live with, her son Lucas, and I go to Flor’s parents’ house every Sunday for a family dinner. Flor is from a large family of five children, who are all adults now and have children of their own. Needless to say, our dinners are loud but jovial, and I’m really starting to feel like just another member of the family. In fact, Flor’s mother Margarita affectionately refers to me as her adopted daughter and jokes that I speak better Spanish than her other children.
(Here I am with Margarita and Enrique, enjoying the fire).At tonight’s dinner, we tried thinking of all the expressions in Spanish that use the word “hand,” or mano. There are lots if you really stop to think about it: mano derecha, right-hand man (er, person); mano de obra, work force; manos a la obra, get to work; and so on.
All in all, I think it’s pretty clear that “hacemos buenas migas.” I’ll let you look up that one on your own…
2 comments:
Your description of the trip to Buenos Aires brought back memories. I remember being just fascinated with the Recoletas Cemetery and Evita Peron's tomb. So glad you are feeling more like part of the "family"; your Sunday dinners brought back memories of growing up in Iowa where the family lived close together and had large gatherings. We're off to Costa Rica June 4. This is the first time our family has traveled together in years. We think and speak of you often.
Love,
Miss Bev
I have a feeling that I'm going to be feeling that loneliness you've talked about. Denmark has a population of around 5 million people, 1.3 million of which live in Copenhagen, the capital. Hopefully, like you, I'll enjoy family dinners that will bring me closer to feeling like I'm a part of something. Oh, and interesting comment in regaurds to mano.
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