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Life is good. I have a job and I like it. I am staying busy and I LOVE that. The weather is so much cooler and we sleep so much better. Life is good.
I only have one complaint. One which I’m not quite sure how to handle.
Let’s start with this. I was a chubby little thing growing up. But thankfully I had good friends. I was never made fun of (at least not to a great extent) , I was always accepted. I was lucky. (Just ask my sister, her experience was the exact opposite growing up)
However, at 26 years old, I find that I have a bully. I have a bully in the form of a 9 year old little girl that lives up the street. My crime? I speak English. My downfall? I cant speak Portuguese well enough to put this little girl in her place.
And here is the other thing. This little girl is uneducated. She lives in with a pack of children about 12 strong (not sure if they are all siblings), with 3 other women (not sure who is the mom), and 2 men. So she is never alone. She is usually with 4 or 5 other kids and usually a mother type figure…or at least a woman old enough to be the mom. I always happen upon them while I am walking home generally. The Mom never says anything, the other kids find me intimidating, and seem in awe that their sister (or whatever) has the balls to talk to me. So basically I find myself hoping as I walk home, that they are in school or at home and not walking around the neighborhood.
Thankfully I haven’t had any other encounters this week. And it’s not that I’m scared of her, it is just irritating, because many things in English run through my head to say to her, I just don’t know how to translate them. And I don’t want to perpetuate her ignorance either. So I’m going back to that whole kindness kills thing.
In other news, the other night when we went out for pizza, there was another little girl. She was leaving with her Mom and she was staring me down with the strangest look. And her I am thinking(and smiling at her), how does she KNOW I’m different?? She hasn’t even heard me say anything! Only to hear her exclaim to her Mom after she had walked past me(in Portuguese of course), “Mom, she has the eyes of a mermaid!” How could you not smile after hearing something like that! Restoring my faith in little girls everywhere…
13 comments:
Glad everythings going well & you're enjoying your job!
And I'm glad that lil girls comment about your eyes made your lil girl situation a lil better, lol.
That is so cute about that 2nd little girl. You do have the eyes of a mermaid!!! To that other little shit, I am proud that you haven't slapped or attempted to slap her yet. What a little turd!! I hope you can learn a quick and smart thing to say to her to put her in her place. Or just ignore like most adults, minus me, would do ha ha I am a stinker!
Love you!
I googled how to say "Be quiet yu little pest" in Portugese:
Esteja tranqüilo você pequena peste
So happy that you are loving your job and that it is cooler. Getting hot here!
Some kids are just brats and you just want to slap them up side the head! And they probably need it!!
Hang in there 'mermaid eyes'.
Lisa Q
I wouldn't mess with little Brazilian thugs-in-training; they can be wicked vicious. Just tell her she's pretty. She won't expect it, and it's probably what she's been dying to hear. "Oi lindinha! Sabe que você é muito bonita?"
That's the problem with many brazilians, not only kids... they mind everybody's business! It's not like it in the USA (at least places I had been to) where people don't care what you look like. People accept the differences. In Brazil, people are so judgemental, and they think being pretty is to look like tv actresses, skin and bones.
Well, just so you know, I think you are just beautiful !!!
And yes, you do have mermaid eyes!
Oh, I agree with Corin... the best way is to tell her how pretty she is! Maybe she will start liking you and not bother you anymore.
ugh that is unfortunate. she probably has no examples in her life of kindness, so i'd try to be that for her. when she's rude, say hello or thank you and go about your day. you're lovely and that is all that matters. :)
your eyes are beautiful! That's what you have to remember with that other little girl...
living in another country is not fun sometimes. It can be great, fun, wonderful....but sometimes there are people who are just never going to accept differences..and usually they are the uneducated or unwilling to learn!
BG
You totally need to find out who that girl's mom is and become best friends with her. Then one day the girl will come in from playing/bullying and see you sipping whatever they sip in Brazil and you'll both smile and her and she will know she has lost. Show no mercy!
Aaawww... that is so sweet! I love the mermaid comment. Maybe it's your eyes that intimidate the other little girl. Bully's are probably the same, no matter where you live - you know what adults always said while we were kids: bully's are just jealous of you (after all).
Oh, I like Corin's idea... that would probably surprise her and leaving her feeling guilty about pestering you. ;)
I agree with Corin, just give her a compliment. Ignoring her may only egg her on, and I would not try to think of a comeback in Portuguese. When I go out with Kevin we get a bunch of kids hovering around us, because I speak to him in English. Last time this happened was at his school. They kept wanted me to speak "normal", i.e. Portuguese. It bothers me, but I have gotten used to it. My sensation in BH, different from Rio was people seemed to want to "out" you - identify you as foreign, not for any real reason than because you are and they figured it out. Must be multiplied by 10 in a small town. Patience.
I'm sorry about the rude little girl. Sometimes kids can be extremely frustrating. I was catching up on your blog and it sounds like things are going very well! Your job sounds great!
P.S. I had no idea your sister got married! Where the heck have I been?
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