True Life: Living with Bibi

"This is the true story of [two] strangers, picked to live in a house, [converse] together and have their lives [changed], to find out what happens when people [really try to be] polite... and start getting real."

So when I started this blog, I talked about Bibi and how welcoming she was and how blessed I felt to have her here. That hasn’t changed exactly, I’m still SUPER grateful for her…but I also haven’t been completely honest about our relationship, so I’m gonna get real.

Bibi is 80 years old. She is from Buenos Aires, Argentina and does not speak a word of English.

I, Katy Link am 21 years old, from the United States, and am fluent in English…and struggling to be fluent in español.

You can see why it would be hard for us to fully understand each other sometimes, not only linguistically but also culturally. She has helped me SO much to understand more and appreciate more about Argentine culture and that is an invaluable gift because I struggled a little bit with that at first. BUT we have had a few run ins. Here’s what went down:

Run in # 1:

I had just returned from Uruguay and Bibi had prepared a bowl of soup and small salad for dinner. I devoured the soup and then approached my salad. I found that it was composed mostly of large chunks of tomato with a few pieces of lettuce. Now, I like tomato, but normally on a sandwich or a few on a salad to give it a little umph and I just wasn’t feeling those big raw tomatoes this particular evening so I picked around them.  When Bibi noticed this, she said “¿no te gusta tomates? Te gustó tomates ayer.”  (You don’t like tomatoes? You liked tomatoes yesterday.) I tried to explain that I DO like tomatoes but that I just wasn’t in the mood tonight but that I would put them on my salad tomorrow. She BLEW up. She bustled about the kitchen rambling about how strange I am and how she had never heard of such a thing and how tomatoes are expensive and how she couldn’t believe I wouldn’t eat them. Maybe she thought I was being ungrateful or telling her I didn’t like her food, and I meant neither of those things. Needless to say, I was scared. You better believe I ate those tomatoes.

Run in # 2:

Bibi offered me an apple after dinner. I said I would LOVE one later but that I was full because her food was so delicious. (I am never turning my nose up to any food that she provides EVER again). I was doing my homework when I decided I would like to eat that apple. I peeked into her room and told her I was going to go grab that apple if that would be ok. I went to the kitchen and realized I still had my apples from el supermercado in the fridge so I grabbed one of those, trying to be considerate. When I told Bibi that, she sat straight up in bed and said “¿Hay un problema con mis manzanas?” (Is there a problem with my apples?). I told her no, of course not…that I was just trying to save her apples since I had my own. She got out of bed and stormed straight to the kitchen. I waited nervously in my room. She then brought the apple to my room and insisted that I eat hers and told me to eat mine at school tomorrow. No questions asked, I did just that…but I never meant to make her mad.  Eeek.

Run in # 3:

Every Saturday morning the cleaning lady, Claudia (who is SO sweet and fun to talk to) comes early in the morning to deep clean the apartment. Bibi tells me every Friday night that I have to be up and out of my room by 11 am. That’s a tiny bit hard considering the night life here in B.A. lasts ALL night but I do as Bibi says (that goes without being said I guess…).  I was up this past Saturday morning and helping clean up a little bit around the house. I left to take my laundry to the Lavadero down the street and when I came back Claudia was cleaning my room. She had taken EVERYTHING out my drawers, off of my desk, and moved all of my things from their normal place to clean. Ok, it makes sense to do that in order to really clean the room but when I returned I was really overwhelmed after seeing it. Bibi saw the stress all over my face and asked why I was stressed out. I told her that it just surprised me to see my room like that but that everything was fine. She then said over and over “Bien. Bien.  No necesitamos limpiar tu cuarto si tienes un problema”  (Fine. Fine. We do not need to clean your room if you have a problem with it.) Because of my language barrier, I couldn’t make it clear that it merely surprised me to see my things all over the place and that I trust Claudia and that I was not upset but Bibi kept pushing it and she seemed offended. Then I started to cry which didn’t help my chances of explaining that I wasn’t upset. At that point I was just so frustrated with my inability to clear the silly conflict up with a few words, like I could have done in English. Anyway, we talked about it later that night and cleared everything up.

 Ok so all of that being said…don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Bibi. I really do. I just went and sat in her room and watched an episode of Glee with her a few minutes ago. (I heard Lea Michele’s voice and bolted in there.) The concept of Glee is sort of hard to explain in Spanish, I discovered. Anyway, I am learning a lot about patience and being culturally aware. And Bibi’s sometimes obvious frustration with my inability to communicate fluently only heightens my desire to continue to pursue fluency in Español. Although our relationship has not been as lovey as I initially thought it would be, I praise God for her every day. It is apparent that the Lord´s plans for how I would grow through my relationship with Bibi, were different that I expected and I love her nonetheless.

Ok friends, thanks for reading! Coming up soon: Comida de Buenos Aires (FOOD, can’t believe I haven’t blogged about that yet), more from the Hogar de Los Niños, and hopefully a picture of Bibi (she always seems to be in her nightgown and won't let me snap a photo of her)!

Spending warm hugs and kisses from Buenos Aires where WINTER has set in,

Katy