Greek to me

I FINALLY DID IT!!!! I know a lot of you must be wondering what "it" is, and so I'll tell you. I spent the week in clinic without an interpreter, just me talking to the Brazilians and them talking to me (which was, of course, quite interesting at times). I am so excited that after 5 months of being here, I could actually do that. Now before you get any ideas, my "expertise" in the language doesn't stray very far outside of the world of pharmacy. You know, "Take 1 tablet 3 times daily with food." But what a blessing to be able to do even that!
Some Brazilians were talking the other night about how when I got here, I would just nod at everything. True statement. I understood almost nothing and caught a word here and there. Now, I am catching more words and understanding much more of the "sentido" or feeling (intent?) of a sentence. My roommate and I go back and forth, and when there is not a good word in Portuguese (or we don't know it), we say it in English, and vice versa. I think that it will be quite frustrating for me when I get home, because very few people will understand what I am trying to say....