That Recently Happened to Me in English

So, a lot has happened, and it’s been… a lot of things:  exciting, overwhelming, challenging, eye opening and a million other describing words.  Let me try to bring you up to speed really quickly.

I had a week-long orientation in Chicago, where the group of 50 of us, who are now currently dispersed in various parts of the world, had the opportunity to get to know each other better and learn more about ourselves, our places in the world, and our faith in a broader spectrum.  Then, I traveled with the other 4 girls in my Argentina/Uruguay group to Buenos Aires where we had another week-long orientation.  At the end of this orientation, I was sitting with two of the other participants, and we were discussing what our actual placements might be like and what we were anticipating.  The 3 of us were sharing our concerns about using Spanish and were agreeing that, if worse came to worse, we could rely on the “smile and nod” technique.  This eventually led to the conversation about when that doesn’t work;  when you’re sitting there, nodding, smiling, and hoping that it’s just a yes or no question, and then you realize that people are staring at you, looking for a better answer, and you are completely lost.

“You know,” said Katie, one of my fellow participants, “that recently happened to me in English.”  To which we all had a good laugh.

Ok, so fast forward to a couple days ago.  I’d been going to my placement site just to observe for the first week, and to get there, I needed to take a bus.  Well, I’m not really accustomed to taking buses in the U.S., but this system is pretty straightforward, so it hasn’t been too tricky.  I was standing at the bus stop, along with a couple who were busy sharing some romantic, bus stop kisses.  I saw the bus approach, and I waved it down, as did the female component of the embracing couple.  The bus pulled over, slowed down a bit (i.e. didn’t really stop), and the girl got on the bus.  Being the polite Wisconsinite I am, I waited for her counterpart to follow.  Unfortunately, the guy didn’t follow.   Instead, he settled for one last embrace and then walked away from the door -  and the bus drove away.  And all I could do was watch it drive away from me.  Needless to say, I felt a little stupid and frustrated; I’d have to arrive late that morning, having missed a bus that I’d flagged down.  And my Spanish skills are not adept enough to be able to tell that story in a way that doesn’t make me sound like an idiot.

 I was standing at the bus stop (alongside the now solo component of our couple) feeling simultaneously sorry for myself, frustrated, anxious, and annoyed with the conduct of the buses, when Katie’s words hit me- “That recently happened to me in English”. 

Just about two weeks before I left to start this program, I was supposed to help some of the St. Matthew’s youth get on a bus to go to the Wisconsin State Fair.  In Wauwatosa, I hadn’t had the proper bus etiquette either, and the bus just drove right past us, leaving 13 of us gawking in disbelief.

Ok, so what is the point of these long, drawn out, random stories?  Buses just aren’t my thing, and I’m going to need to start collecting funds to buy a car to use here.

 Kidding.

Here’s my point.  That little saying of Katie’s keeps flowing through my head.  When I get overwhelmed here, it helps to be able to remind myself that overwhelming things happened to me at home, too.  Conversely, when I’m missing the really awesome people I know at home, it’s nice to realize that those types of conversations and relationships can happen in Spanish, too (and, they do).  Doing everything in Spanish here and having everything happen to me in Spanish is a bit of a challenge, and my reaction times have definitely slowed; it takes me about a minute and a half to process what people are saying to me, and at least that long to respond.   But, I would have to say that my appreciation and gratitude for any type of kind gesture has grown exponentially.

A further example of this happened today.  Apparently, I can’t say the word bag correctly in Spanish, and a couple of the kids at the community center have been getting a kick out of it, asking me to repeat it and imitating how I say it.  Today, a little 8 year old girl took it upon herself to teach me how to say it correctly.  She slowed down each sound, had me repeat, and then had me say all the sounds together.  Then she had me try it a little faster, but she made sure to remind me not to be afraid to slow down and take my time with it and get it right.  Eventually, her face lit up and she announced to her all friends that I’d learned, and she invited them over to hear.  The thing is, I can’t really hear what I’m doing wrong, but, as I’m from Wisconsin, I’ve had the way I pronounce bag corrected in English, as well.  The biggest difference?  The extreme thankfulness I feel towards this little girl and her encouragement and patience with my ambling Spanish.  It is so awesome.

Ok, so that’s what I have to share this time.  It’s a little silly, and maybe just another way of saying “wherever you go, there you are”.  But, it’s helping me not find a corner to cry in when I get overwhelmed or frustrated.  And it’s reminding me to stop and be able to laugh at myself and get perspective when I make a mistake.  My life could be happening in English right now, but I’m lucky enough for it to be happening in Spanish.