Dinner in Latin America Part II
After reading my blog post last week, you should have a fairly good idea about the importance of food to Latin Americans. With that in mind, I’d like to share an experience that happened to me while living in a city called Vista Alegre. Every evening I would eat with the Silva family, and I eventually became good friends with the Silvas and Mrs. Silva became like a second mother to me.
One evening Mrs. Silva cooked pig’s feet. As always, she beamed as she presented the food to us. However, this time was a little different. She left our food with us and went into a different room while we ate with her children. This was the first time I had ever eaten pig’s feet. They looked a little bit like mushy gelatin. As I put a fork full in my mouth, I tried to swallow but couldn’t; the texture was too slimy and I gagged as I tried to swallow it. I felt horrible because I had been able to eat all of the culturally different foods up to that point. I then took a bite of bread, attempted to take another bite of the pigs feet and chase it down with water. Again I gagged. I tried a couple of different techniques to swallow the pig’s feet. I was met without success; I then began to worry. I physically could not eat the pig’s feet, but at the same time I really couldn’t offend Mrs. Silva.
I sat there for awhile until I devised what seemed to me to be an ingenious plan. I put the pigs feet inside of my rolls, rolled them up in a napkin planning to take them back to my apartment to secretly dispose of them. I tried to convince the children to think I was going to take them back to my apartment to eat later as a snack. Everything seemed to be going well and I had the packages neatly tucked away into a bag. However, when Mrs. Silva returned one of the children instantly, in a tattle-tale sort of voice said, “Mom, he put the pigs feet in a napkin and is going to throw them away outside!” Jerry Seinfeld didn’t end up getting away with hiding his mutton either.
I was devastated. Mrs. Silva was hurt and offended that I was going to do this with the food that she had made for me. I tried to explain that I was going to take them back to my apartment, but the harder I tried to explain, the worse it became. Finally, I left after saying “sorry” (”lo siento”) about twenty times while Mrs. Silva looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment.
What made it even worse was that I had to go to her home every morning and evening for the next two months to eat breakfast and dinner. It took me nearly two months of apologizing to finally get on her good side again.
Hopefully you can see that food and mealtime in Latin America is a very important part of life. If someone invites you to dinner at their home in Latin America, here is what I would suggest. If you feel that you have a strong enough stomach, go for it. You will enjoy the experience and be culturally enriched. If you don’t have a strong stomach, explain to them that you would love to come, but won’t be able to make it.
Remember, if you would like to communicate well with the family you are going to eat with, be sure to order your complete Visual Link Spanish™ course. It has been successfully taught at the university level and at major US corporations. It really works – Guaranteed!
Sneak Peak at Next Week: Food Part III – “Huevitos” and a Common Way to Show Caring in Spanish
¡Que tengan un buen día! (I hope you all have a good day!)
Free Lesson of the Week:
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