Hernán is at the computer typing something for the principal. I need the computer to "plan" for the classes I won't have, but I wait patiently instead of booting him off. He starts in on why I'm drinking Diet Coke. And where does it come from. And it causes cancer. And it doesn't taste good, so I should drink Coke. Then he doesn't believe me that it's been around for longer than ten or so years. He absolutely refuses to believe that it's a common drink in the US (as if I wouldn't know!).
Hernán, as I think I have previously mentioned, speaks very quickly and mumbly. Then, when I didn't understand and reply, "Mande?" he either repeats just one word from the sentence (usually one I already understood) with no context, or he slowly says one word at a time asking me if I know what that word means. It's very frustrating. I'm just askin' ya to repeat fella; I don't need a sentence diagram. I explained to him once, probably a little too frustratedly, that he speaks with his mouth closed and too quickly. I think he now understands.
So...
He starts telling me that he was in my neighborhood the day before. I asked what for and he told me that his afternoon job is with Homex, the company whose building is literally right behind my house. He said that they had a meeting with a German man and he spoke German, but had a translator. And what did I think of that?
"Now, what do you think of that?" is often a rhetorical question in my mind, or at least a question that gets answered with "yeah" or the like.
Hernán was looking for an actual response. I told him I didn't understand. He goes into the whole explain one word thing and I said, "No, I understand what you said. I don't understand what you mean!" He was confused. So he replayed the whole conversation again. Again I told him that I understood the statements, but that I didn't understand how I was supposed to answer that question. I picked up my Coca Light bottle and said, "This is my Coca Light that I'm drinking. What do you think of that?" His eyebrows crinkled and he cocked his head with an appropriate, "Huh?" I repeated what I had just said. Then I added, "These are my English books that I teach from. What do you think of that?" I explained that he didn't ask a very clear question.
He still didn't get it. I did him a favor and started talking about how I would hate the job of an interpreter and how hard it was and on and on. Then he said something to the effect of that's what he was asking me. So, I told him to ask an actual question next time!
It was much longer and much more detailed, but with the passing of two days, I'm not as annoyed.
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