Joss, Jossiño, Pepe

It was a cold, rainy evening in November of 1999, and I was sitting in my room with the space heater on listening to Carlos Nuñez or Ella Baila Sola...I can't remember which. The doorbell rang. I went to ansewer it and it was my next door neighbor. He asked to borrow some glasses for a little get-together he was having with friends. (At least that is what I thought he wanted according to my 10th grade spanish. If not, he must have been pretty shocked when I handed him three glasses.) He asked if I wanted to come over to the party for awhile and I said, sure. (Again, if that wasn't what he said he must have thought I was pretty rude for just inviting myself.) You see, if I were to have the same conversation now I'd have no problems, seeing that I've become fluent, but at the time I had pretty much just stepped off the plane and felt like I was in a Peanuts cartoon. Wawawa.

Anyway, I decided to venture out and give it a try. I walked across the hall and into their apartment. My neigbor led me into the kitchen and introductions were made. That was the first time we met. I was immediately drawn to this interesting guy with beer and cigarette in hand sitting in the corner. I can't really remember anything about the conversation because it felt like I had a high pitched hum in my head all night. That's what it feels like when you can't understand anything for 3 hours.

That was the day our friendship began.

Jose and company would come over to our apartment in the evenings and we'd have coffee and play escoba. It wasn't until one night having chocolate con churros in the old city that I started to see Jose as more than just a friend. I loved hearing him talk about his passion...history. I could see myself spending the rest of my life with him.

I'd always been the assertive type when it came to relationships. Boys had always been somewhat afraid of me for some reason, so I'd gotten used to making the first move. This time was no different. But considering I sounded like a 5-year-old speaking in spanish I decided that this time I'd write everything I had to say to Jose down. I'll never forget the look on his face when he read it. I'm not sure if it was shock from the content of the letter or shock at how pitiful my written spanish was. Needless to say, we've been married almost 7 years now and I'm pretty sure he still has that letter stuck between the pages of a history book on the shelf.