Christmas Carols and Language Confusion

It is the Sunday before Christmas, so this morning we sang Christmas carols in church. I LOVE Christmas. I love singing. Hence, I really love singing Christmas carols. I was thinking while I sang today...

Oh Come, All Ye Faithful

So this line caught my attention: "Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above". Guess who's a citizen of heaven above? Well, I know that all of us who're in relationship with Christ are, though we're not home yet. But I was thinking of people who're already there, like my cute funny mom whom I miss more than words can express. It made me happy to think about her in heaven, singing O Come, All Ye Faithful along with the congregation at EFC. And me.

Go Tell It On the Mountain

I hate this carol. A lot. It annoys me. Especially the big, nasty slide up the scale at the end of each verse. Ai-yah. Shudder.

And why is it that, no matter how few Christmas carols I get to sing on any given Sunday of Advent, this is always one of them? It's like a special sixth sense music planners have. "Hmm, I bet Leslie Foster will be here this week. Better throw in Go Tell It On the Mountain".

In other news...

After church I went to brunch with some friends. I was ordering an omelet which came with whole wheat toast. I knew that I don't like the toast at this place, so I asked if I could exchange the toast for something else. I'll re-create the scene for your amusement, below [approximate translation in brackets]:

Leslie: Podria cambiar la tostada?

[could I change the toast?]

Waiter: Por que quiere cambiarlo

[what do you want to change it for?; but I thought he meant, "why do you want to change it?" "Por que" can mean 'for what' or 'why']

Leslie: (confused look as I wonder what difference it makes to the waiter if I don't want toast) Por que no me gusta tostada!

[because I don't like toast]

A moment of confusion passes. We blink at each other. The waiter tries again

Waiter: Pero, por que quiere cambiarlo?

[but, what do you want to trade it for?]

A light begins to dawn in my brain.

Leslie: "Significa, que yo quiero en vez de tostado?"

[do you mean, what do I want instead of toast?]

My bilingual friend, Rachel, jumped in at this point and brought a bit more clarification to the situation. Happily, the waiter was a good sport and when it was all said and done, I got pita bread instead of toast. All's well that ends well, I guess. Maybe one day I'll speak Spanish. But then, what would I write to you about?