Portuguese Word Vomit

One of the hardest things about this transition is that we cannot talk to anyone. One of the first phrases we learned was "I don't speak Portuguese".   Now we are working on fixing that problem. We recently started language school. YAY!... well, sort of.. I have homework again. 

 Anyways, having started classes, hubby and I have decided that when we go out, we make it a point to use what we've learned. We went out a few days ago to get some Christmas shopping done, and then we went to dinner at a place we have been a few times. It's a buffet type place which makes it easier. No menu to read or ordering to do.  As we walked into the restaurant, we were giving each other phrases to use.

We were greeted by a waiter who had seen us before, but he had not been our waiter before. He asked us a few typical questions like, "what do you want to drink" and "do you want ice and lemon". We learned how to answer those questions shortly after arriving in Brazil, so no big deal. Hubby used his phrases in the first five minutes of being there, but I hadn't.

The waiter came back and started really trying to chat with us, so we finally said  "We only speak a little Portuguese". He laughed and then tried to talk to us some more. He asked if we were Americans and how long we had been in Brazil. We picked the few words we knew out of his phrases and pieced together what he was saying.

Oh, ok he said "America".. yes, we're Americans. he said "time" and "Brazil" .. ok, we've been here 4 months. Then he asked why we were in this city. We tried to tell him that we were going to language school. He kept saying "Oh, Professors?" ... uh, no... we're not professors...  "School. Professors?" .. no, no, no.... Students... He kept laughing, so I'm not sure what we said, unless he was just laughing at the thought of us being language professors... that thought makes me laugh too.

Towards the end of our meal, he came back. He had seen us there before with another missionary. So, he asked us, "The tall man. Is he your dad? or your dad?" Oh, we laughed. That was the second time someone had asked if he was our dad. Hubby said he was our friend, not our dad.

That's when it happened. I thought "He's not going to be happy that you thought he was our dad" ... then i thought "I know those words. Say them, it'll make the guy laugh." So, I opened my mouth and said the words in Portuguese "He no happy..." That was all I had. I suddenly realized I did not know all the words needed to say that phrase... but my mouth, for some reason, did not get the memo that was going through my brain. My mouth kept spewing Portuguese words. "He no happy like you dad no happy"..... I felt like I was watching myself, and my brain was screaming "SSSTTOOOOPPPP TALKING!!!!!" 

When I finally stopped saying words, the man just stared... then said "OI???" (HUH??) My hubby was trying really hard not to laugh, and his face was saying the same thing, "WHAT??".   OK, Google Translate to save the day. I typed it out, showed him, he laughed. When he walked away, hubby looked at me and said "Wow. You really wanted to talk didn't you?"  Ya, well my mouth was more confident than my brain.

Pretty much sums it up.                                

My first big blunder, and I'm sure there will be so many more to come.