La primera semana

La primera semana (the first week) at language school has come to an end. The whole experience has been wonderful. After spending a few days in a total blur, wondering how my spanish speaking ability could grow so much worse so very quickly, I feel like I´m finally starting to make some progress! I can occasionally understand the telenovelas my host grandmother likes to watch; I´ve been able to have some real conversations with my teacher and my host family on topics ranging from George Bush to the Guatemala Civil War; and I think I understand el preterito!

Spending a week largely immersed in another language and another culture (excepting, for rhetorical purposes, the frequent interactions with other gringos in my school, several of whom I´ve come to truly like and others of whom I´m excited to get to know) has stretched my thinking in other ways as well. I´ve developed a far greater appreciation for ESL students in the United States, and hope that I will be far more patient with the tourists who frequent Boston. I think -- although dare not presume to much -- I can empaphize a bit with autistics. It would require many hands to count the number of times I´ve had something insightful or deep to say but completely lacked the faculty to express it to the people around me. In just a week, I´ve come to appreciate the extent to which technology, systems, and infrastructure in America facilitate everyday life. I spent two days this week trying to find a functioning ATM at a bank that had electricity so I could take out money to pay for next week´s classes. It seems like my host grandmother spends a large part of her day walking to the market to buy food for the next day´s meals. Life is pleasantly slow here, but in large part because it isn´t able to move much faster!

The rain is about to start once more, so I´m off to dinner and then early to bed. Tomorrow is the first volcano hike. Hasta pronto mis amigos!