Baking.
I'm working as a German handbread baker for Christkindlmarket on the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago so I can pay off bills prior to serving in Ecuador. The majority of vendors are directly from Germany...and so THE language spoken in the kitchen tent is, of course, German. I know how to say 'hello', 'good morning', 'good night', 'yes', 'and', 'no'. So at the moment, I don't know how to communicate with most of the people I see all day and all week long aside from big smiles and awkward hand gestures. I don't have much time to learn a lot of the language, and besides, I'm trying to focus on Spanish...but I think I'd be really missing out if I didn't learn at least a little.
On the plus side, the cleaning crew speaks Spanish and seems totally friendly. And one of the other bakers at the booth I work in speaks it too so hopefully he won't mind an occasional 'What does this mean?' or 'How do you say...' And one of the vendors is from Ecuador! I hope they're friendly too...I'd definitely love to talk with them.
So, here's to a good season. Opening day is tomorrow and I should be in bed... the owner wants me there at 7 a.m. and it takes an hour and a half to ride the train in. The past two mornings, I've been blessing the presence of our neighborhood Coffee Station. Especially today. Soooo cold. Am totally wearing XtraTuffs, long johns, and a fleece hat to work tomorrow.
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