Blogger: User Profile: Katheryne

Blogger: User Profile: Katheryne
It's been a busy couple months. First getting situated in another apartment, then scouting around trying to find materials and help for setting up an easle. Labor is very relaxed, not really interested in helping, even for pay. Not sure I get that one.

Well, I finally got a tripod easle set up with the help of a local friend. People who live here can get more to happen. I find in interesting that I am not the only one shy about interacting with a language barrier. The people who live here, also are shy about talking to me except when they know I can speak some of their language. My Spanish is coming along, by necessity, and after 3 months of dire necessity, I do OK.

The stress of only using Spanish is heavy. By the mid-day, my patience if fried, and I'm tired. Each day is the same one over and over and over. If it wasn't interesting, this would be a nightmare. But an interesting nightmare, it is.

Each day, a little more of what is going on around me becomes a little more visible. One day, I will hear a new word, that I know is used in everyday language. I did not hear it the day before. Nor do I remember hearing it ever before. But one day, there it is, repeated many times in the day. As my understanding of the language grows, it is like a window opening up, a little at a time. A little more light on the subject, one tiny ray at a time.

One day, my best friend was talking to me, and I asked (in Spanish), "Was everything you just said, in Spanish?" My friend said, "Sí." I thought everything had just been said in English. The different-ness had disappeared, and understanding as easy as my native language replaced the strain. I hope soon, every conversation is as smooth and invisible as that one.