All we wanted was to bring burgers home for dinner after a long day of classes, so we headed to the restaurant around the corner. Standing in the entryway wondering if someone would come up to us, or rather, if we should head to the counter, we were approached by a waitress. She asked us if we wanted to be seated and we promptly responded “we want to-go.” This was followed by an awkward silence in which we were still wondering where to place our order and I’m sure the waitress was wondering if we wanted to go, why hadn’t we left yet? Needless to say, our hunger quickly allowed us to bridge the gap between our different English languages, and we left satisfied.

Our studies abroad in London were only one of the ways we connected with the English. While traveling in Madrid we decided to try our first authentic paella, complete with a crayfish staring us in the face. As we were enjoying and admittedly playing with our food, we overheard the woman next to us yelling “chips!” in her English accent. This woman seemed to be under the impression that yelling progressively louder and slower would help the Spanish speaking waitress to understand. Thanks to our new found knowledge of English culture and some basic Spanish skills, we excitedly exclaimed “patatas!” and both the woman and the waitress were grateful for our efforts! We saved the day!

The favor was returned during our stay in Athens. After a long day of exploring ruins and eating gyros, we took a break to people watch on a cobble street filled with vendors. We soon befriended Yanni and Armando, who invited us to a local hangout near the Acropolis. After some singing and guitar playing, and of course learning to dance the Zorba, we realized that were running late for our ferry to Santorini. Thankfully, Yanni offered to bring us to the ferry. Upon our arrival to the port, we realized how unprepared we were to leave, as there was an excessive amount gates and our tickets were in Greek. We have never been so grateful for new friends who are capable of reading and shouting in Greek. “Efharisto!” we shouted and waved as our ferry pulled away from the shore. The most important phrase in every language, “thank you.”