language awkwardness

You know, we never realize how much our language means to us until it is rendered useless for a situation. I have had people asking for stories from Peru, so I thought I'd share the first awkward moment of the trip.

It was our first day in Lima. We were exhausted an hungry. We'd been on a city tour that mornign and now they set us lose to fend for oursleves and see what kind of food we could come up with. Mark, Katie, Nanette and I headed for the coast. There was bound to be food over that way. We really didn't want to eat at the mall so we turned up a street. The streets there are rather small compared to home and the people are not like us in how we need our personal space. So we were walking up the street and a bell hop from a hotel right there suddenly appeared next to me. I have no idea where he came from or what his purpose was, but as we walked passed he nodded his head and said, "Hola". Immediately, three languages popped into my head (none of which were spanish). I knew to say nothing was rude an in an instant I'd ruled out all the workds in my head. But before I knew waht was passing from my lips I heard myself say something to the effect of "w.. Viola!". It sounded a little more like vocal regurgitation than anything slavageable in any language that I know. I just managed to hurry up the street and live in my own mortification. The three wondered what had been said and suddenly, I knew I was caught. iw ould be known as the girl who sitll can't "Speak it".