Are you ready? I am.
¿Yo hablo español? (Do I speak Spanish?)
¿Hablas español? (Do you speak Spanish?)
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream"
This is how my life feels at present. Sort of stuck riding on a ferris wheel going forward and backward, but always in a circle.
A view of two worlds from the top and a dizzy blur at the bottom.
"A Day In The Life"
The final track on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album comprises of two unfinished songs (one by John Lennon, one by Paul McCartney) bridged together by an orchestral arrangement.
I could use some of those orchestral arrangements about now. Where are The Beatles when you need them?!
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| Look Closely. Crucita!! |
There has not been a time in my life that I did not dream about traveling the world.
Even in Kindergarten. Seriously.
My mother began teaching me to read when I was three. She loved to read. Books have always been an important part of my life.
We would go to the library every two weeks to check out books. Well, my mother would check out the books. Some for herself, some for me.
By the time I was in second grade the librarian gave me my own library card. Reading a book was like going to some exotic place. Exotic places where I really could not go. I was just a kid.
But one day I would go. Maybe. Hopefully.
A small village in the Andes mountains, Ecuador; and a page from my favorite childhood book.
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| Rock Music in Ecuador! Bridging my worlds together. |
The students who could afford to go would spend the first seven months of the school year attending a special class to learn French. Of course I did not get to go. My family could not afford it. My parents thought I was too young for such a trip anyway.
One of my good friends went. I begged her to teach me the French she was learning. She taught me a few phrases. I still remember how to say them perfectly. However, I cannot write or spell them to save my life.
What is my point? I am coming around to it. I promise.
There were no other opportunities for me to learn other languages until I started high school. At fourteen years old, the trip to France (that I did not take) now a distant memory, I signed up to take Beginning Spanish.
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| A little surreal wall art in Canoa, Ecuador. |
Now, I bet you are thinking, "Wow, she knows three languages."
You would be wrong.
I know English.
I studied grammatical Spanish and German.
This is not the same as speaking Spanish and German. I can conjugate the heck out of those foreign verbs. I can tell you which nouns are masculine or feminine. I know the names of those special characters and how to pronounce the words that contain them. I can read both languages well enough to decipher most print material.
A view from the top of the ferris wheel!
None of that will help you when you are at the checkout in a grocery store and the clerk is asking you a question in what seems like lightning speed. It sounds nothing like what you heard in that classroom for three years. You have no idea how to begin to respond. But you have to. So you say something in your best "Americanized Spanish". The clerk stares at you blankly, having no idea what you just said.
The blur at the bottom of the ferris wheel!
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| I would not walk into any of these stores without knowing some Spanish. |
Here is my advice.
If you are planning on living in Ecuador for an extended period of time, take the time to learn some conversational Spanish.
I cannot stress this enough.
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| Thank goodness for Penguino! This is the town of Puerto Cayo. |
Central and South America is predominantly Spanish speaking. North America is predominantly English speaking. It took a while to achieve this - the homogenization and decimation of the many diverse languages that used to exist on these continents, down to two basic languages.
But what was done cannot be reversed. With such large populations speaking the same language, I suppose the need to learn another language does not seem necessary in the grand scheme of daily life.
Unless you want to go somewhere and interact with people who do not speak your language.
Crucita. West to the Pacific Ocean. East to the Andes Mountains.
Make no mistake. We have learned to speak a lot of Spanish since we arrived in Crucita. We got right out there and spoke with our neighbors, shops owners, etc. We did our Rosetta Stone lessons. I put little green Post It Notes all over the kitchen with words and phrases to help us remember. I work hard at it. Jason and I both do.
There are days when it is exhausting and I simply do not have the energy to try to speak another language. There are days when it is exhilarating because I am able to carry on a conversation with someone in Spanish.
So what is my point?
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| LEARN SPANISH! |
My point is that after all these years, I have finally traveled to another part of the world.
Because I arrived barely able to speak the language, there are many days when I am not getting all that I should be out of this experience.
This is a very recent realization. A very frustrating realization.
Knowing conversational Spanish would be one of those orchestral arrangements that will make the difference between a spectator and being a participant.
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| You guys need to learn Spanish. |
In case you were wondering.
Catspeak is the same in any country.
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