Cultural Miscommunication

      When I was with my host family, I told them where I was planning on meeting up with my friends for the night.  Granted I know no Spanish and they knew no English so it was all in Google Translate.  They started speaking a lot of Spanish and trying to talk to me.  I had no idea what was going on.  The google translate ended up causing more confusion than it did helping.  They then pulled up a map of the city and tried to talk to me again.  They were pointing to places on the map which just confused me more.  Then my host mom started calling people on the phone and I was even more bewildered.

     My host family was trying to figure out where I was going and where I was meeting up with my friends.  They were worried about me and my plans since it was New Years Eve.  Also, I had just arrived in Viña Del Mar so I was not situated with the city yet.  They were trying to figure out my plans for the night.

      The problem was the language barrier in this situation.  I figured out later what they were trying to say.  The club we wanted to go to was close to my house and where I was going to meet my friends was in the opposite direction.  They were trying to protect me and make me do less walking alone.  I did not want to change my plans with my friends at the last minute.  It would be confusing and stress me out.  This situation made me realize how important communication is and understanding people.  This was my first situation in which I couldn't understand someone speaking at all.