Rodolfo is a fuerte Chileno.
I am from the good ol' USA.
We are also married...for life.
Babies, little house with a big kitchen, reliable boxy car, perhaps a sturdy plant, the whole caboodle, it's all in the cards! Now deciding in which country this all occurs....just a bit tricky!
There are a lot of fun little pros and cons to being from two different countries; odd eccentricities that have to get worked around. Rodolfo's managed to consume Norwegian Lutefisk with my family and I've recently become a fan of stewed monkey brain looking peaches with barley with his! Rodolfo gets by with a "Ya, Hey, Don' cha know" and I throw in a "Huevon" every once in a while! Rodolfo lets me freak out over Thanksgiving turkey and this year, I am ACTUALLY going to try and stay awake ALL NIGHT for Chilean style New Year's Eve! (Yup....Chileans do that! The party starts at midnight, when well behaved Midwesterners hit the hay!)
Something I didn't appreciate enough while I was on the road was that when we were both in a foreign country together, the country we were from didn't matter quite as much...well, accept for Visas...damn friendly Chilean international relations, it's a lot cheaper for Rodolfo to get around! (Chile: 1, USA: 0)
Travelers, foreigners, tourists - we were the same! It didn't matter what country was filled in the blank on the Hotel registry, as long as we had the cash to pay for the room! Getting to travel allowed us a chance to not worry so much about which of us had an accent... we both did!
We are both pretty open minded people, so when it comes to things like family customs or traditions, religions or political views, blah...no pressure! Granted, I love baking, Rodolfo loves his soccer, but I'm not going to force Rodolfo to make me holiday spritz cookies any more then he could push me onto a football field!
I did go to the world cup though, I get points for that, right?!? (Chile: 1, USA: 1!) Who we are is not going to change by what country we live in, especially our devotion for each other.
That all being said, after 8 years for Rodolfo living in the States with an accent and a funny sounding name, the tides have turned and as you already know, we are giving it a go in Chile. For the first time in my life, I'm the outsider with the funny voice getting the odd looks, and unlike the comfortable neutrality of the open road, we are no longer a duo of odd fellows...I'm the odd man out.
As time passes, it's going to be interesting to see how well I adapt. I sometimes joke that Rodolfo has become more of a gringo then me, with his dislike for Salsa dancing or fancy 'bling bling' suits and a great love for things like recycling and organic carrots. I can only fathom what a Chilena Saritah will be like 8 years from now! Mixing up pisco sours and buying empanadas and pastel de choclo from my favorite street vendor?!? Having a favorite Chilean soccer team and recognizing a 'good' wine from a bad one... Time will tell!
I'm honestly quite a shy person. It takes a long time for me to befriend someone and I'm generally not the one to jump up and say hello at a party...so! Throwing me into a mix of new faces in a new language in a new place, I'm trying my best not to freak out. I am just now beginning to understand how brave Rodolfo was to decide to leave his home and live on his own for the first time in the States....no friends, no family, no personal guide to make sure he was nice and comfy; a true explorer! Getting to experience all of the crazy cultural differences also makes us stronger and richer people. Plus, it's fun to live in a new place! I can't complain about that!
Although our love for each other has no borders, the world we live in does. The challenge is learning to live within these borders for the sake of our future...aka...little mini curly haired Rodolfito's running after soccer balls in between bites of spritz cookies!
