How and Why to Laugh and Embarrass Yourself Abroad
“Será que puedo botar más comida…”
“Como, Chris??” my friend exclaimed with her voice climbing octaves in disbelief, cutting me off as I tried to ask for seconds of the food she and her family had cooked up with much love and craft for me to try.
I had succeeded not in asking for more food in my best intentions but rather in asking to throw out—botar—my food. In any culture, this would be a touchy misunderstanding. In Peru, where food reigns supreme as the ultimate point of familial and cultural pride, I had committed a mortal sin just a couple of weeks into my time in Lima.
My penance was literally dished out onto my plate. I was forced to prove I had enjoyed the food so much I wanted to eat more and not waste it. I felt all of the Irish blood in my body rise to my cheeks in an uncontrollable flush of embarrassment. Yet, I was beginning to realize that that mistake had not cost me the hospitality of my friend or her family. Nor were they upset after the initial shock I had caused them. In fact, they understood even better than me that these mistakes are simply a part of learning a new language and culture that need to be taken with good humor and consideration.