Friday, December 16, 2011

Something Borrowed

I was talking on the phone with my friend, Tenley, yesterday. She lives across the street from me but is in Paris right now, taking care of Bella the dalmation. We are a tag team. She came up last week to take over from me and we spent a couple days together in Paris before I came back to Aix en Provence.

We were talking about the WORST SANDWICH EVER EATEN, which we had shared one night after our walk with Bella. We stopped at a little Greek sandwich shop and ordered a meat and cheese gyros. I asked for it to go and we ended up eating it trying it and giving the rest to the dog, at a little table outside the shop. It would follow that a sandwich like that would be lamb, feta and veggies and a garlic white sauce....correct? Mais non! Instead it was dried up turkey, smothered in a white, gelatinous, flavorless, substance and topped off with a slice of American cheese. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

As Tenley and I were laughing about the WSEE, she told me I've given her courage to go ahead and just speak the language, in spite of mistakes.

"Why is that?", I asked her.

"Because when you ordered the sandwich, you didn't ask for it to take-out, you asked him to print you out a sandwich! And it didn't matter...you still got the sandwich."

This is an example of how things go when one is prone to muck up a language. No wonder the guy had that stupid smile on his face. And all this time, I thought it was because he knew he was serving us a crappy sandwich and we were falling for it. In fact, if he had printed out a sandwich it would have tasted far better.

Today, I realized that she had it wrong as well. I did not ask for the sandwich to go (emporter), nor did I ask for the sandwich to be printed out (imprimer). I actually asked to borrow (emprunter) the sandwich.

I should have given it back.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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18 comments:

  1. It sounds a totally yukky sandwich and I'm surprised they are still in business!

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  2. I can only imagine making a thousand mistakes like this every day in a foreign country. Nice to know that you can find bad food everywhere, even France.

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  3. At least it was only borrowed...not blue!

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  4. A good laugh is what I needed today, thank you!

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  5. This story reminds me so much of me...even though I have lived over here for decades & partnered up with the native speaker, I still can't roll my Rs. Moral of your story NEVER order a sandwich in France that art is only part of our heritage!

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  6. I naively thought it impossible to get bad food in Paris. Now I know. Thanks for the chuckle.

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  7. Funny!!! Keep up the good work speaking however you can to get whatever you want.......

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  8. Sounds as bad as the Thai food we ate in Texas last night. It even had a hair in it which tends to activate my gag response.

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  9. Yikes, does that sound bad! Hope you had some great food while in Paris to make up for it. And I am so disappointed to hear the terrible American "cheese" is in France.

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  10. I pretty much speak French like a five year old, but I smile when I do it, and thankfully, most people (not all, definitely not all) are very patient and understanding.
    Happy holidays Delana!

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  11. hey, i'm on the same tag team! i recommend the chinese traiteur around the corner on rue de commerce.

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  12. i'm on your tag team too! i recommend the chinese traiteur around the corner on rue de commerce.

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  13. I was amazed to find what a difference just trying to speak the language made on our last trip. I think that making the attempt to speak the language puts you in a different category of not just tourist, but someone who loves the country and wants to learn about it. Our attempts at communicating were warmly welcomed. My first recommendation to anyone going to France is: learn some of the language.

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  14. You don't even want to know the horrors I have inflicted on the French and Italians. Yikes, yikes, and more yikes! They've been great about it though, and no one has been hurt due to my ineptitude. Your description of the sandwich makes me feel your pain. Nothing worse than bad food!

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  15. Soo very funny and I understand completely! Really made me laugh... so happy to have found your wonderful blog from the heart of Provence!

    bisous

    Kit

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  16. There came a point for me when I lost the total sense of self-consciousness and humiliation at the thought I might make an error in French. I know I cause pain to French ears, but I give it a go.

    I'm here with another motive in mind as well. I'm awarding you the Liebster Blog Award in honor of how much I love your blog and hope I can entice a few others to wander on over to Provence, too. If you'd like to accept the award, you can find instructions back at my blog, Traveling Sardine Class, http://travelingsardineclass.blogspot.com. Lee

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  17. Ah, lost in translation, but nothing said would have changed the taste of that sandwich.

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  18. Haha! Thank you for the big laugh today, Delana!

    It reminds me of the time I was shopping at Printemps and bought a small quilt.

    I clearly heard the clerk asked me, "C'est un cadeau?"

    I stood staring at her with a blank look on my face as I tried to figure out why she'd think it was a cake (gateau)! My brain eventually kicked in, but I still smile every time I think of it. Oy vey.

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