FIRST DAY OFF

So today was my first day off before I jump into 5 full days of learning how to do my work whilst actually doing my work. I had the pleasure of sleeping in late then decided to stroll down to a pastry shop near the Metro for fresh pastry to go with my banana for breakfast

After being quite pleased with myself for remembering the proper greetings and phrases necessary for placing my order I was faced with something unexpected. The follow up statement/question that I can't interpret based on the phrase I finally know how to say and just said. I stood baffled and repeated what the clerk had said with a puzzled look on my face. She repeated and I reverted to "I'm sorry I don't understand". She smiled, said it slower and made some motions that did not look familiar to me. I continued to have a puzzled look on my face and repeated the words she'd used loudly to myself thinking I wasn't familiar with them at all. As I did she started walking away. As she did one of the words I repeated sounded like the English word "hot" to me. By that time she reached the toaster/microwave contraption and I exclaimed, "OH! HOT! That's the word for hot!" I remembered just recently reading the words for hot and cold 2 days ago but my pronunciation is way off. She pointed at the toaster/microwave contraption and I told her yes, I wanted it heated and thanked her. She got my order and heated my breakfast, then told me the price. I actually understood (probably because it was less than the number 5), paid for my purchases, thanked her profusely and told her goodbye.

The rest of the day I spent for the most part reading and researching. This afternoon I went ahead and did a budget and grocery list for the week. It looks like it'll be a good idea to pack a lunch for the week and prepare dinner since I'm unfamiliar with any of the places I'll be near at lunch time and I really want to avoid getting acid reflux again like I did last summer so it's probably best for me to eat before evening meetings.

I had called another coworker earlier to ask for directions to a grocery store that is nearby. She explained that it was very close to the grocery store that I'm familiar with and I set out trying to follow what looked familiar to me while trying to make sure I was observant enough to notice the store I was looking for. I actually like the layout of the store which was kind of tucked away in the basement of another store. Store layout/organization is a VERY important thing to me. Now I'm realizing that it's even more helpful/important in a country where I am a beginner at reading, writing, speaking, listening- let's just say understanding the language.

It wasn't until I was browsing an aisle in search of fish that it dawned on me that I'd left my dictionary! I wasn't interested in returning to the apartment because I was sure the stores closed early here and I figured I was in for an interesting experience. Have you ever tried searching for sliced cheese and not being able to tell which was the kind of cheese you want or if they had the kind of cheese you want, how to pronounce the words you see or even how to ask someone for help? Lunchmeat was pretty much the same experience. Thankfully my reading/recognizing words I know is MUCH better than pronouncing or hearing it so I recognized chicken, figured out what was ham and knew I wanted to stay away from that (it tastes like bologna to me here) but couldn't figure out which was turkey. After browsing quite a selection and saying the words softly to myself, it dawned on me that one word that didn't at all look like the way I think it'd be pronounced was the word I remember hearing my friend use for turkey. Eureka! I'd found it! Turkey and chicken in my cart, I was off in search of bread. I never thought before that bread buying wold be so difficult. What is the word for whole-grain. What's the word for fiber? What about enriched? Finally, I just started looking at the actual bread IN the bag and picked what was pleasing and seemed familiar to me. Yogurt was another story. I had come to this store because I had hoped they had soy yogurt. It never occurred to me that soy might be said and spelled differently than I'm used to. Perhaps they didn't have it at all. I was also confused by a yogurt looking product that had the word cheese in it. Interesting. Finally, my eyes lighted on a familiar looking brand- Activa. I saw several varieties and finally chose the prune yogurt. How could I pass that up, it's like pizza flavored brownies (by that I mean 2 amazing foods combined into one but I'm realizing now that might not always be quite desirable-I still think I struck gold with the prune yogurt though)!

I paid for my purchases and as I put the groceries in the bag I realized that everyone was waiting on me to finish (ie. the cashier, the customers on line behind me) and watching me. Perhaps I was supposed to bag groceries as she was ringing them up. The kind young man on line behind me offered to help (at least I think he did) and I said "yes please", or maybe I said "yes, thank you" . Anyway, he helped me speed the process along and feeling relieved, I made my way home with groceries in tow.

A few minutes after arriving at the apartment, I realized that I forgot to buy mustard and I canNOT have a sandwich without mustard. Seriously how do you make tasty chicken, turkey or egg salad sandwiches without mustard? So off I went again! It was MUCH easier the second time around.