Spanish is a Cottonball In My Ear

Sometimes it feels like spanish is a cottonball stuffed in my ear. I can catch the drift usually, but its so frustrating not being able to understand regular conversation. When people are talking directly to me they slow down, use simple language and I can understand, but in a group setting they talk to so fast. I know I~m catching on more and more everyday, but I want to understand NOW!

Today was my first day of classes. I~m taking three poetry, two art, one history and one class of Spanish. Chile~s world fame for poetry inspires me. So many people that I~ve met so far are poetry afficionados. Every class I take transfers back home as a Spanish credit, so at last I can study subjects that intrest me.

Last night I walked around the city with two friends; through the artesan fair, the mall, the board walk and along the beach. The ocean absolutely fascinates me after growing up all my life in land-locked Idaho. Its hard to comprehend that something can be so infinite and that after each wave breaks and recedes, there will always be another one to follow it, then another, then another. I think I~m going to go sit on the beach for awhile before I go home for the day.

Back in the United States I look pretty average, but today I noticed several people staring at me on the metro. I was the only blond on the whole train! Although no one has harassed me about my different appearance, there is no way I could blend into a crowd, even if I died my hair black and wore brown contacts. Now I really know just what it feels like to be a minority.

Every night at about 7 or 8 pm my whole host family gathers around the table for tea.

We always talk about how everyones day went and so on, but last night Carolina and Gancarlo (my host parents) told me all about the problems in the Chilean school system, primarily the growing disrespectful attitude of youth towards their elders including defiance, lying, deliberate acts of destruction, and graffiti. To illustrate this point Carolina told me that on national TV a junior high student poured a pitcher of juice on the Minister of Education~s head. The most fascinating part of this discussion to me is that this seems to be a worldwide problem of the twenty first century. I had the chance to observe it first hand when I worked as a substitute teacher at the Junior High and Middle School this year.(Yeah, I know I was pretty horrible at that age too.) There are many possible reasons we brainstormed like too much television, parenting, or the internet, but for the same problem to be occuring all over the world? There has to be some sort of common cause. If anyone has noticed this same problem or has heard of a study, please post a link for me to check out.

Each day I can feel the Spanish cotton ball easing out of my ear and the sounds of the world become more and more clear. Adapting to a new culture and language is one of the hardest things I~ve ever done, but what a reward and a blessing. I~ve already learned more Spanish in two weeks than I did in an entire year of Spanish class. Time for me to hit the beach!

Chao