the Mareks out there

I was visting a Nica friend the other week when her husband came home for the noontime meal.  We’ve spoken before and have had at least mildly interesting conversations. This day he had heard that women were more intelligent than men and we started talking about generalizations and stereotypes.  I made plenty of mistakes and there were lots of pauses while I figured out what I was trying to say but we weren’t exactly talking about the weather.  Then I mentioned trying to improve my Spanish. He took my interest to heart and immediately became the schoolteacher.  But he started by asking me if I knew how to say, “Hola”!  It is, of course, POSSIBLE that I would be able to hold a conversation but not know the very basics but it struck me as so funny that, after a half an hour of conversation, he really thought I might not know how to say “Hi”.  Since then, I’ve noticed that he is just the type of person who really wants to make sure you know exactly what’s going on in a conversation.  He checks in with me and checks to make sure I know each word.  I remember this kind of person from other countries I’ve lived in.  In Kenya it was my host father, in the Czech Republic it was always Marek and in Sweden it was an Anna (not Myrén).  I remember often being annoyed, since most understanding happens in broader terms (i.e. it’s not necessary to understand every word to understand a story) but I have come to appreciate it.  In part, I appreciate it now because I am better at accepting help in general but also because I recognize that understanding every single word is NOT what I’m good at and so I could use the pressure.  So thank you to the Mareks out there.