Awkward

I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes…many times, I just feel awkward. I mean how do you tell someone that you are meeting for the first time, after having stayed in their house for a night, that your bed doesn’t have sheets on it…in Spanish?

“Hola. Buenos Dias.”

We got through the initial good mornings and introductions and all that jazz. Do you drink coffee? Do you eat fruit? Yes. Yes. Oh and by the way my bed doesn’t have sheets. (I even looked up the word for sheets in Spanish before I went downstairs and I miraculously remembered it!)

I tried to slip it in as politely as possible. I told him it was fine now but maybe later I’d need some. Of course as soon as I got back upstairs with my cup of coffee his son arrived with an armload of blanket and sheet. I accepted graciously and proceeded to make my bed.

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Awkward. Shannon and I went exploring yesterday. We found our way to the bus stop (we thought) without a hitch and stood waiting for our ride to arrive. We waited. We chatted. We got a lot of stares and other such nonsense. And we waited. Finally this kid across the street asked if we were waiting for the bus. Yes. It doesn’t stop there. It’s over here. Oh.

We crossed the street and followed him up around the corner and another half bock to the actual bus stop and were headed on our way within 5 minutes.

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Of course this brings me to yet another sorta awkward thing. Personal space. I have a pretty good sense of it, and when it is being invaded. Buses don’t help. They are a space invasion waiting to happen. You have X number of people trying to get from point A to point B and only so much space to fit them in. Your bubble is bound to be completely annihilated. Prepare to be uncomfortable. Two white girls standing right in the middle of this bus. No empty seats. Nobody cares. But if you’re me, you just want to get your butt out of one person’s face without having to put it in someone else’s.  Awkward. And I’ll be doing that every day for the next 4 weeks.

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Really, if any situation exists in which I am in the same room or area as even just one other person, I can make it awkward. I try not to. Really I do. But I will find a way to suddenly have gas or to trip, or to have spinach in my teeth. It’s a talent really. So here’s to taking it global.