This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at NCSU chapter.
Tis the season: less than a week ’til Valentine’s Day and love is in the air! Couples walking hand and hand across campus, new singles drowning their sorrows in chocolate, and the rest of us out there snookin’ for love. Even if your content with what you have, bitter for what you don’t or hopeful for what you might find, I think we can all share a good laugh at one of my dating mishaps.
First I must confess that I hate first dates, and everything they entail. The awkward small talk, the “should we kiss?” or “shouldn’t we kiss?” moment and the whole “best behavior” gig. It’s just exhausting to me. Hence why my love life is suffering so much right now. Regardless, there have been dates and one date in particular I will always remember…
I have always been up for trying new things. I love learning about different cultures and certainly appreciate men from all around the world. So when the spicy Cuban exchange student asked me on a date, I decided maybe dating wouldn’t be so exhausting.
But, there was still that lurking feeling in my stomach that first dates seemly always bring. I tried to ignore it, telling myself that I’d be mesmerized by his sexy Spanish accent. I’d be too caught up in enjoying the way he rolled his R’s to worry about “awkward” small talk. So I left for the date with my hopes high and my roommate by the phone incase there was an “emergency.”
We went to an Italian restaurant and sat in a booth in front of the window. We didn’t really know each other that well because we had only spoken a handful of times prior to our date. So small talk it was. Two hours tops, no problem right? Wrong. This guy was Cuban, born in Cuba, and his English was not as good as I had remembered. Now this might not sound like that big of a deal, but for me it was. My
hearing is not exactly great and my Spanish skills are definitely below average. We had a serious language barrier on our hands.
Our conversation went a little something like this:
Cuban: How you say “study?” es school?
Me: I’m sorry what?
Cuban: “Stud-ee”
Me: Wait, what?
(Silence)
Cuban: School, you learn at school?
Me: Oh!! You mean my major?
Cuban: Si, si!
Two hours. Two hours of this extremely awkward broken English. Two hours of me apologizing and asking him to repeat himself. I felt like a total idiot. I awkwardly laughed to cover up my embarrassment and eventually when our food came we stopped talking all together. I looked around the restaurant, twiddling my thumbs, searching for a clock. And he just kept shoveling in his food. I think he gave me a compliment once or twice, but it was hard to tell either way.
By the end of the date I was ready to leave, but before he got the check he started trying to tell me about his old girlfriend: how they lived together, why they broke up, and that she called him a woman once, or something along that line.
I was trying to be nice, I mean after all he did pay for my meal, but wasn’t it a rule not to talk about past relationships on first dates? Maybe not in Cuba? I don’t know, either way I was not capable of playing therapist for this gentlemen. And I was not really interested because clearly there was no way we were going to build any sort of relationship due to the fact we couldn’t understand each other.
But by far the most awkward part of the date was at the end, after he asked me if I would be his roommate. I politely declined his dead serious offer, and after very long pause, we went our separate ways.
Can you TOP that!? Share YOUR Worst date stories anonymously in the comment section below!
