Language

Other people on my dialogue have had language miscommunication but I had never experienced one until this week. It was totally embarrassing but still a little funny and a good story to bring back to the States with me. I went to a cafe with a friend and she ordered tea with milk. After she ordered, the man at the counter asked something we couldn’t quite understand. He repeated it and then said in English “inside or outside.” I thought he meant do we want to have our drinks inside or outside. I said inside and he said he would bring it to us.
We sat down, and I thought it was over. But when he brought the tea it looked like milk. I thought maybe we just needed to stir it but nope. It was hot milk with a tea bag in it. I went to go ask the man for another cup with milk on the side and he gave me a look I can’t even explain. All I know is that I wanted to hide with embarrassment. He then grabbed a notepad and started writing. I was thinking “Oh God what did I do? What is he writing?”
Turns out he was explaining that when he asked inside or outside he was talking about the milk not us. He proceeded to laugh at me and lecture me about what “afuera” means versus “dentro” and asked repeatedly “Do you understand now? Do you understand now?” I do understand now that “afuera” and “dentro” can also mean inside or outside a drink and not just a building. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that again.