Fresa

In Mexico, visiting people in their homes is very important. People show their love and respect by hosting others in their homes and providing a meal, and you honor them when you come for a visit at their houses. In fact, you're not even supposed to wait for an invitation...you are supposed to invite yourself over! Thus, visiting church members in their homes is something we do a lot of around here to build relationships. Since Felicia and I are new and still learning Spanish, we have been going on various visits with some of our other team members. Each family is so kind and generous, and it is a privilege to be welcomed into their homes.

Today, I went with my two of my roommates, Karen and Felicia, to Dona Olga's house. Dona Olga was one of the very first members of the church and has hosted in her home every missionary who has ever been here (or at least, I think that's what she said!). She has several daughters ranging in age from 12 to 24, and they joined us today for the meal and visit. We had such a blast talking and laughing with them! Olga endearingly calls them "locas" or crazy; they have contagious smiles and laughs and are constantly making jokes or telling stories. My favorite topic of conversation today was about the word, "fresa."

You might know that fresa means strawberry in Spanish. Today, I learned another meaning for the word fresa. It can be used as an adjective and might loosely be translated "girly." A "chica fresa" would be someone who likes to buy new clothes, always wants her outfits to be coordinated, enjoys bright colors, is constantly fixing her hair, etc. Olga named a few people we know who might be considered this, and then looked at me and told me that I was somewhat "fresa" even though she barely knows me. Felicia then heartily agreed with this statement! As we continued to talk about different examples of fresa, they definitely came to this conclusion.

I guess this makes sense because if someone asked me if I considered myself girly, I would say "yes, somewhat." Ever since I was little, I have liked my clothes to match, and I do usually make sure that I have a hairbrush with me at all times. I made sure to explain to Olga that I still loved playing sports though! Makes me think of how my high school volleyball team was very competitive, but yet we all wore matching ribbons in our hair. :)

So, today I learned that I not only love to eat fresas, but I also am a bit fresa.