How’s your Spanish?
Conversant and constantly getting better. As crazy as it sounds, I am not often in situations where I am forced to speak only Spanish. Both of my roommates speak English, I teach English, and all of my local friends speak English (though some of them try to only speak to me in Spanish). Anyone in Argentina who has had a decent education is conversational in English and seizes any opportunity to practice, which is great for them, but bad for my Spanish.
El Alamo, the bar where I work, is my saving grace in this regard. About 80% of the clientele are locals and many of my co-workers don’t speak any English at all. Having conversation and forming friendships in another language is both exciting and frustrating. Exciting because you can’t help but think to yourself, “Wow, I don’t suck at this. I’m actually relating to this person in a language that isn’t my own.” Frustrating because there are times when I want to elaborate on a point or make a witty joke and as I open my mouth to do so, I realize my Spanish isn’t advanced enough yet. I often wonder how much stronger some of my relationships would be if I could speak fluently with everyone I wanted.
Luckily, it’s impossible to live in a Spanish-speaking country without learning something new every day. I have Spanish conversations with cab drivers, my doormen, and the old man who works at the mom-and-pop store across the street.
What are you doing for work?
I teach English about 5-6 hours a week. My students are all adults who work at either HP, 20th Century Fox, or the Mormon church. I enjoy teaching adults because it’s more laid back. They are all choosing to take classes and therefore are specific about what they want to learn, which is helpful. It’s also nice because they are all flexible with their schedules and mine. They understand when I go out of town for a few days and have no problem making up classes another time.
I work at Alamo 3-4 days a week, as well. Right now I’ve been working Saturday and Sunday afternoons for the American football season. Though I don’t get to practice my Spanish on these days, it’s a nice change because I actually get tipped and get paid to watch all the football games. I will never stop appreciating rich Americans who have no regard for the peso because the exchange rate is so highly in their favor. “Why, thank you for this 50 peso tip, sir. You just funded my drinking habits for the next few nights.”
Meredith and I also started volunteering with an organization called L.I.F.E. Once a week we take a van to the outskirts of the city to the “villas,” which are the poorest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. We spend a few hours there working on math and English with the kids. It takes up an entire afternoon, but it reminds us how lucky we are to have the standard of living that we do.
Have you met any Argentine men?
Yes and no. I've met plenty of new guys, but I haven't met anyone that puts me at any risk of coming home with a South American boyfriend.
I initially thought my problem was that, despite the evidence one would find in my dating past, I’ve always fancied myself a girl who prefers fair features... and light hair and/or eyes are rare commodities down here. That theory was nullified when I assessed how many devastatingly beautiful dark-featured men I’d met.
That’s when I realized that it’s not that I can’t find a beautiful Argi man, it’s that I’m not looking for one. Romance just isn’t a priority right now. I left romance behind when I came here. My goal is to have the time of my life and meet as many new people as possible. My Argentine girlfriends, on the other hand, are all on the prowl on my behalf. Their thought process is that if they can make me fall in love with a local I’ll never leave. That’s a dilemma I’ll address if it ever comes to it.
What are your upcoming travel plans?
I am taking a solo trip to Cuzco, Peru in mid-November to do a 4-day Inca Trail hike and see the ancient Machu Picchu ruins. Though I absolutely love traveling with Meredith, I am excited to take this trip alone. I’ve always been one to revel in my alone time and I don’t get much of that here. After Peru…
Mid-December: Meredith and I will be backpacking Patagonia, the south of Chile and Argentina, for two weeks.
January: Mendoza = WINE COUNTRY! And hopefully we’ll get a chance to see a little bit of the the north of Chile.
Late-February/early-March: BRAZIL! We’re going to be there for Carnival and hope to travel around for another week or so after the Mardi Gras of South America.
When are you planning on coming home?
You mean if the stars don’t align and all of my girlfriends’ efforts fail to find me someone to fall in love with? Well, if we must be realistic about this… somewhere around the middle-to-end of April. I didn’t want to go home until later than that, but my brother will be graduating from UF the first week in May and then he is off on his own adventure to Europe and then China (naturally, he had to one-up me; I learn Spanish, so he picks up Chinese… show off). I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing him for who knows how long, so I pushed my return date up to April.
And who knows? Maybe I’ll jump back on a south-bound plane right after he leaves.
No comments:
Post a Comment