Day 3 - Part 1: Learning to Love My New Life

On Day 1, I posted in the evening about the struggle that I had in trying to go out with my friend Elisa for coffee. Last night, however, I went out with her to TapHouse for a drink. This experience was for some reason, much better than the last one.

For starters, watching the drunk people, but being unable to hear them or any of the music they were "dancing" to, was perhaps the most entertaining thing in the world. I highly recommend that anyone in need of a good laugh take a high quality pair of earplugs with them the next time they go out to a bar or club.

However, I think that Elisa and I both also started to be able to understand each others' mode of communication a little better. I can't speak for her, but I know that I actually found it much easier to read her lips last night than I did on Day 1. Now, I suppose this could have been because the nature of a busy bar versus a quiet coffee shop allows for louder, more prominent enunciation when speaking out loud. However, it may also be that I'm just getting used to her particular enunciating/"accent" when she mouths words.

I, too, began to combine mouthing English with signing - a no-no when talking to any other fellow-signer, but acceptable when interacting with the hearing world. There were times that she seemed to understand my signing much better than the night before - perhaps because she's seen some of the same signs over and over again, or perhaps because I was over-exaggeratedly mouthing them, or perhaps a combination of each.

In general, I'm becoming quite comfortable with my new Deaf status. I'm learning little things like, instead of verbally saying "good morning" to people on the street, I can just smile and wave hello. The same message comes across. I am learning that bus rides are actually much shorter than I thought they were, and that clerks/cashiers tend to be very helpful. I used to dread the thought of going completely deaf, but now I accept that I will be able to embrace this if it happens.