Abuse.

Yesterday, I finally found the nerve to go talk to Leslie (a superior) here at the school concerning María, because, while María is absolutely wonderful, she would feed us way to much. I would eat and be full, and then she would say, "You don't like it?" and I would say, "No, I like it very much, but I'm full," and she would say, "No, no eat, eat," and sometimes put more on my plate. Thus, after almost every meal (what with the bread and the spread and the fruit, and the main course, and the salad, etc) I would feel somewhat disgusting and it just so happened that Ellen felt the same way. It's hard, because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, or offend María, but it's not good to be gaining weight off of entirely healthy food, especially when I'm trying to lose a tiny bit.

So, I talked to Leslie, and Leslie had Ana call María. When I got home, María said nothing. When I sat down to eat though, she plopped a small spoonful of the rice dish on my plate, said, "Is that good?!" and hit me upside the head pretty hard.

I was entirely stunned and then realized that María was joking. It was almost impossible to convince her that Ellen felt the same way, as María thinks that I think I'm fat...it's all very complicated. It's hard to communicate in a second language all the time, you know? I can't convince her otherwise. So yes, now we have less food, thankfully and María is constantly feeding us, saying, "See, now you can't say that I'm saying, "eat, eat." Now you can eat as much as you want."

It's hilarious

It has also occurred me to that if an adult in the United States ever did what María does-hit me upside the head, for example- I would very, very displeased, but because it's María, weird as it is, it's ok.

But the complicated part. The Spanish (and by "the Spanish" I mean, "the María") seem to categorize people into 3, maybe 4, categories: Fat (gorda), (a little fat (gordita)), normal (Delgatita), and anorexic (anoréxica). As María sees it (I think), because I am normal, but am trying to lose a little weight, and don't want to overeat, I am trying to move down a rung on the ladder of body composition; that is, I want to look anorexic (which is often described by holding up your pinky finger and talking about how crazy thin the crown prince's wife,who is a former journalist and is the daughter of so-and-so and whose daughter started kindergarten, is). So although Ellen feels the same way, because María seems to think I'm going for the skeletal look, and, probably, because I sit next to her at dinner, I get a lot of prodding. I don't mind. It's just so interesting how this cultural thinking works. I like trying to adjust.

I also think María's ideas of how much we actually eat are skewed, because today, Ellen wasn't with me for lunch, but I ate the exact same amount as I would at any time (less than before at María's table) and she was impressed with how hungry I was. I think she just can't keep track of how much Ellen and I are eating individually.

It's all feels so very strange and all feels so very normal at the same time.

Except for being hit upside the head.