Monday, November 16, 2009

you should be proud of me...

I accomplished something major today. Something that I haven't been able to do for the last 1.5 years of living here.

I ordered a pizza all by myself.

That's right! Aren't you proud? What's that? No? You don't think that's a big deal?

Oh but it is. It really really is.

You see, ordering a pizza here requires speaking Spanish. Duh. But ordering it isn't the most difficult part. It's giving the directions. And when you live in Tegucigalpa and there are no street names (and if there are, who knows what they are because there are no signs), giving directions is quite a task. In the US, you tell the pizza guy "I live at 123 Mulberry Drive." In Honduras, directions usually go something like this: "I live in X neighborhood. Do you know where the Esso (gas station) in that neighborhood is? Ok, from there turn right, and then take the 3rd right, and then the 1st left. And then turn by the old movie theater. You know, the one they tore down 10 years ago. Then my house is on the right. The one with the wall. And the barbed wire. It's beige/yellow/white. Oh wait, all the houses here look like that. So, stop and ask the guard at the gate to the neighborhood, and he'll tell you the wrong way so you can end up lost. So, you know what? I'll meet you at the Esso and pick up the pizza there."

Okay, okay...maybe that's a bit dramatic. But it really is quite a task. Especially when you don't speak Spanish all that great.

So tonight I was realllly craving a pineapple pizza from Il Padrino. But Jose is out of town for work. I'm a little ashamed to say I called him and asked him to order me a pizza...from San Pedro Sula (a city 5 hours from here!). But he said no and told me it was time for me to do it myself. I said no way, and sent him a message telling him I hated him for making me order my own pizza. HAHA. I even contemplated calling my friend to order it for me.

But I decided to try it. What can it hurt? I thought. These people can't see me through the phone. If I sound like an idiot, I'll just hang up and eat a sandwich. ;)

So I took a deep breath. And I called. And I ordered. And I gave the directions. ALL BY MYSELF. Easy peasy.

And now I'm waiting for it to get here.

I guess the true test to my direction-giving skills will be whether or not the pizza guy shows up. :)

8 comments:

Cindy in California said...

I hope you get it and I hope it's a Pineapple Pizza, too. :-)

Live Simply Love Strongly said...

You should be proud. That's a whole conversation. That's a conversation on the PHONE! In Spanish. Awesome! Keep it up. The only way to sound good is to sound awful first. The more you sound like an idiot, the closer you are to sounding decent. Push yourself to speak in any and every situation. It doesn't have to be perfect. Yea for you!

La Gringa said...

Good for you! As you said, the delivery person will get lost anyway. ;-) Funny, but I give directions to my neighbors' houses to the pizza guys all the time. I don't know why they stop here to ask, but they do.

The Shepherd's Journal said...

YAY - I can't wait until I am able to do this. Giving directions in Costa Rica is the same and I think it's crazy that we don't have real addresses or street names.

Please tell me that the directions you posted are phony!

Hannah said...

Update: the pizza arrived, safe and sound. It was yummy. And even more delicious today as leftovers!

Mom, and stalkers (if applicable): those were not the actual directions to my house!

Live Simply Love Strongly said...

"mom and stalkers(if applicable)" ROFL!!

DON GODO said...

We're so proud of you...

Alejandra said...

LOL, curiosity was killing me the moment I finished reading! It´s good to know that it arrived!!!
It´s hard enough to give directions in Spanish, when you were born here, I can only imagine how it was for you!