What
Did She Say?!
“Farmirios
iren alit ku iniit aldbo ang me tu Kolbelei!” the woman screamed at
me from behind her parambulator.
“What?!”
I replied, “Do I have fish sauce on my face?”
“Kiiny
tu magda bin changoo la”, she specified.
“Your
baby and I are related? What?” I honestly couldn't make out this
complex tongue she was spewing on me and my latte was beginning to
get below the optimal temperature.
“I'm
sorry I don't speak that! Try a Starbucks!” I pointed in there
perhaps with the faint hope that it might be Sumatra she was speaking
and the sight of the coffee blend title would make her feel somewhat
more at ease.
“Chinka
hop ling tu stau yong tikaka leek!” She finished me off.
“Thank
you, thanks a lot” and I was on my way to my brand new linguistics
class I'm taking at The New School.
Well
that was a spirited encounter, I thought to myself and the 60,000
others listening in. I'll have to have a row with my new instructor
the minute I can tell where North is from this particular Starbuck's.
Honestly, DO I have fish sauce on my face?
As
soon as I gathered my bearings, I always do, I bumped into another
strange woman, this one was pushing a Rik Shaw.
“Con permiso
porfavor, me puedes decir adonde esta la tienda de pescado?” She
asked in a hurry.
“I'm
sorry. Can you slow down, I'm from Chile where we speak Spanish like
humans. What am I saying? I'm so rude. Porfavor mas lento. Yo soy de
Chile, donde hablamos Espanol comos humanos. Gracias”.
She
seemed confused, after all she found herself feeling strangely
aroused and insulted at the same time, not to mention the Rik Shaw.
She later got a grande latte, extra shot. I got an espresso neat,
just to mess with her. Some people waste an entire lifetime behind
inanimate objects. It's sad really and even sadder when they don't
know it's happening. I chose to lead rather than to follow an object.
I chose to lead rather than to push. And I chose to walk with others
rather than in front of them.
