The call to my host family

The e-mail I sent my host family last week bounced back, and I´ve since been trying to work up the nerve to call them. A few of the other WorldTeach volunteers have met their families -- all have been great -- and I was feeling guilty that mine didn´t even know I was in Santiago already.

The first attempt to call last night was a no-go because I used an area code when I wasn´t supposed to (very confusing, this) and got a wrong number. After asking for every last person in my host family and not understanding a bit of what the woman said back, she hung up on me.

Oddly enough, that boosted my confidence to call my real family. I figured, hell, surely it must be easier to bumble through a call when the people have a clue who I am! I ended up getting my host brother and we had a very difficult 15-minute conversation. It was SO hard to understand Spanish over the phone and the stress of it all made me forget all my verbs. Luckily, we were both laughing about it, but calls here are VERY expensive, so I paid a bunch for such a short call.

Somehow we managed to agree to talk again tonight at 8 PM. I gave him my e-mail address and he said he´d write right away. But I didn´t get anything from him, so I´m guessing that my correct e-mail address was yet another casualty in our battle to understand each other.

I figure this was a great benchmark for my Spanish at the beginning of this year abroad. I expect that by the end of the year, he and I will laugh at my awkward, halting, totally dumbfounded end of the conversation -- and marvel at how far I´ve come. Don´t want to forget that last part!