When I first arrived Hugo had a few initial jobs for me. One was, from what I understood, to help an older woman make videos of the retreat on Saturday morning. I didn’t quite understand why this woman wanted to make a video, or why she wanted to do so Saturday morning in particular, but Hugo explained that she does it all the time and simply needs assistance because of her age. I went with it.
Saturday morning comes along and I am drinking a cup of coffee, talking to one of the parents helping with the retreat and she asks if I am ready to work with Maria preparing the food. It is then that I realize that she doesn’t need help making videos, but really fideos. And the reason she couldn’t work the machine was because it requires a bit of elbow grease, not because she lacked technical skills.
I was ecstatic because I know way more about making “fideos” than I do “videos”. Maria and I then spent the morning making past and sharing stories of Italian ancestry. Maria was incredible. She had worked as a teacher for 43 years and was still helping when she could. She was the boss of the kitchen and after tasting her pasta sauce everyone knew why. I have never been more proud of my Italian background and grateful for my knowledge of pasta (Shout out to Grandma Crea), the only disappointment she had was that I couldn’t speak Italian with her.
To Be Determined 
Who knew…fideos videos… I’m loving this, Jake. Thanks for sharing your impressions and experiences. Abrazos… “Ana Maria”
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Love it! Who would have thought your Italian heritage would come to play in Argentina? Desidero io sono in questo per tradurre Italiano per voi (I wish I had been there to translate Italian for you) – although I think Maria would have said it sounded like I had never spoken Italian before.
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