Foreign situations, part I

Something I enjoy about being in a new place is experiencing uncomfortable moments, strange situations, feeling a bit out of place, and realizing that it's okay.  This may seem odd, since it's usually preferable to feel comfortable in a place.  But, I think that living a bit outside of one's comfort zone can be an opportunity for growth, when handled with confidence and a bit of wisdom.  Rather than call these moments uncomfortable or strange, I'll simply consider them "foreign", and write about them periodically here, if only to remind myself later of some of the funnier and humbling situations I found myself in, and in one way or another overcame. 

Also, I should note that I may on occasion call myself "gringa", a term used here to describe a foreigner ("gringo" is the masculine version).  In my experience, this has not been derogatory in any way, so I'll continue to consider myself as such.

Okay, a couple of fun experiences:

1. Day one, walking to a new friend's house for a barbecue.  First of all, I planned to arrive at 6, and excited about the nice summer weather, I decided to walk rather than find a taxi.  Who wants to pay for a ride on such a nice evening?  One time I had been near to the barbecue destination, so I thought I knew exactly where I was going.  At every bend in the road, I expected to see the house.  30 minutes later, still walking, I'm starting to question my directional memory.  Just when I think I should call someone and ensure I'm not lost (i.e. I'm feeling marginally lost), a car of Chileans slows down to ask me where is the metro station from there.  I nearly burst out laughing at the irony, since I had arrived in their country about 12 hours prior, and was truly feeling lost at that moment.  And, probably they nearly burst out laughing when I opened my Gringa mouth and stammered through the directions, "at the end, and to the right" (in spanish).  I didn't feel quite so lost any more, and even found the house shortly after.

2. Day two, committed to getting a Chilean cell phone number, and to jump start my social life here (just kidding) I ventured to the Entel store to buy a "chip" (SIM card) for my US cell phone.  To start, when I walked into the store the greeter completely ignored me for a pair of cute Chilean girls.  Oh well, I finally figured out that everyone else waiting around had picked up a number, so I followed suit.  I was #37, they were currently serving #30.  Well, an hour later, I was fortunate to have a really patient sales attendant who quickly understood what I wanted, and began the process of changing the chip in my phone.  Incredibly, it worked!!  Feeling suddenly ambitious, I decided to ask her how much it would cost me to make a phone call, send a text message, etc.  And, I promptly forgot all of my numbers, so when she told me it costs $260 pesos to call the US, I wrote down $270, and she started to recognize my incomplete grasp of the language (ok, she likely already knew this).  She then started telling me everything in single numbers, for example dos-seis-cero (2-6-0) pesos.  And, when she asked me for $3500 pesos to pay for the chip (only about 7 US dollars, by the way!), and I fumbled with the cash, she explained that I would need three of my $1000 peso bills and one coin for $500 pesos.  Thanks for the help.

I'll be honest, I like to think that I am good enough at math to determine which combination of bills to use, but at this moment, my brain was so focused on the language that my math skills had slowed significantly.  They don't teach these kind of coping skills at the University, I guess I just have to get out on the street and give it a try!