Blog #2
Fake It Till I Make It!
I have had to fake it till I make
it a few times. The time that sticks out to me the most is when my roommate/friend
had his family from Morocco coming to stay with us for a month and I wanted to
show I was a good hostess. His mom, dad and twin sixteen year old sister were
all coming at the same time. The minute I heard this was happening I started to
freak out. How was I going to cook and clean for all these people. I don’t even
know how to cook. I don’t really know how to clean other than surface stuff.
The year before they came to stay
with us I had stayed with them at their house in Morocco. I was treated like a
queen. They cooked great food. Their house is spotless. They cleaned it every
day. I didn’t even know where the trash can was because if I had trash they threw
it away for me. I had never been treated so well in my life. I kept thinking, how
was I supposed to do the same for them? Do they expect the same out of me? I
never even invite my own family over because I don’t cook. How was I supposed
to be a good hostess if I can’t cook? What if I cook and they don’t like it?
The pressure was on. I didn’t want
to disappoint but I didn’t even know where to begin to get ready. I started to freak out. I asked my grandma for
recipes. I went to the grocery store and stocked the house full of food. I cleaned
for days and days. I couldn’t do enough,
I was so nervous. I really tried to make it look like I was a good hostess.
When they finally arrived I had
snacks on the counter and everything was as clean as I could make it. I offered
to cook breakfast and dinner but thankfully they declined. I even had to argue
with his mom in order to help wash the dishes. Even though it was my house it
was his moms kitchen when she was here and I was happy with that. It was a
little awkward asking what’s for dinner in my own house but that’s what she wanted.
I would have embarrassed myself if I tried to cook. I was a good hostess in
other ways. I took his sisters to do fun activities and site see. When I wasn’t
busy hanging out with his sister and they were out as a family I cleaned the
house.
I had to adapt to this situation. Let
his mom run the show but also make sure she had everything she needed. Fake it
till I make it and I think I did a good job. His family said they had a great
time while they were here and that’s the main job of a good hostess.
Hi Cassandra,
ReplyDeleteThat was a unique experience you shared about mushfaking in order to impress your friend's family. The hospitality they showed you when you stayed with them would definitely put pressure on me to return the favor. Though funny, I also thought it impressive that you wanted to learn how to cook or research delicious recipes to cook for them. It seems you were saved from the full force of mushfaking when the family proved to be extremely accommodating(even offering to cook most times, as you said). Did you have any trouble communicating with them, however? You said they were from Morocco, I imagine there was quite a disconnect in trying to speak with them or understand the various foreign discourses they possessed?
In any event, thank you for sharing your run-in with mushfaking, I found it enlightening and entertaining.
-Adrian Enriquez
Cassandra,
ReplyDeleteYoutube is your best friend! I never knew how to cook until I started watching the Tasty videos, they are lifesavers and show you videos on how to do each step down to the correct way of chopping the vegetables. Just for a future tip! I love that you were preparing yourself and so nervous but at the end of the day you had nothing to fret about! It sounds like you had a lovely time and that is all that matters truly. Mushfaking is incredibly interesting to me, it is basically people pretending they can do something they "can't" but then all of the sudden you realize you can do all of it and more. Just believe in yourself because when it comes down to it you confidence and inner strength is more powerful than you realize. Great job on your blog post!
Cheers,
Shaelee Barry