La Isla de Encanta
Hola y bienvenido mi amigos (hello and welcome back my friends),
It's been a minute I know. I recently returned from a much needed escape to Puerto Rico. It was a very relaxing trip and gave me some time to sort some things out and look at some things from a different perspective. I came away from my trip refreshed and with a couple of realizations that I would like to lay on you. Got a minute? Good.
While I would never volunteer to act as an interpreter during a meeting at my job-unless forced to do so- I really do know more Spanish than I let on. My college professors were right, language immersion is the key to bridging the gap to fluency. Had I been as smart as my cousin Kecia, I too would have taken a semester to study in South America while in college. But no, I was too busy being cute in D.C.
But I digress. You see after having studied Spanish for 8 consecutive years and living in an area largely populated by Spanish speakers, the problem I still have is that when I speak Spanish, I am VERY self-conscious. I know that my verb tense is usually incorrect and that I sometimes make gross errors in word substitutions. When I am nervous, my word recall in my native language of English is severely impaired - so you can imagine what goes down when I am faced with a Spanish speaking brother who needs help at activating his ATM card at the cash station!
But I must say though that all of the Spanish speaking people that I encounter, professionally and personally, are usually elated to know that I can converse with them and or provide assistance on any level in their native language. You should see the way that my friends eye's light up at the fish market when they see me coming. "Hola mi amiga! Como esta?". They are all so patient with me as I proceed to, yet again, butcher their beautiful language to bits.
The other problem that I have is that my Spanish pronunciation is pretty good and given our common ancestry, I may remind many of my Spanish speaking friends of people they know. It is usually on and poppin' after "Hola" and invariably, at some point in the conversation, I must admit that my Spanish is not that good and ask them to please slow down while talking with me- which to my ears sounds like, "please go slow, slow. I speak little Spanish" - I feel like such an idiot with my Spa-bonic speaking self!
See, while I understand about 70% -80% of what is being said to me in Spanish, my brain's ability to formulate a response with the words I do know is hampered by a number of factors not uncommon for emergent language learners. While in P.R.I told a very nice English speaking waitress that I wanted "wet" plantains (plantanos mojado) instead of "sweet" (ripe/mature) plantains (plantanos maduros). So, I esentially told a strange women that I wanted a wet banana, after which she jokingly started fanning herself seemingly due to the sexual images my latest little language fopaux had conjured up for her. Everyone at the table thought that was pretty funny-I was mortified.
However, I left La Isla Encanta with a renewed passion to continue my quest for mastery of the Spanish language. After all, it's never to late to learn. I am going to throw my my self- consciousness to the wind and spend more time talking to my neighbors and the kids at school (you know, primarily people who won't judge me and will offer gentle corrections, if any at all) - In Spanish!
>
Another realization I had while in P.R. is just how influential being raised in the NY, NJ area- particularly in the inner city, has been for me. On any given day, I really did not need to travel very far beyond my doorstep to be transported to a seemingly different part of the world. Being in Puerto Rico, in many ways, felt like I was in at home, but near the beach. Everything about the people, their music, the language, the food was very, very familiar to me. I have truly felt this way about many of the places to which I have traveled. A fact that I directly attribute to my myriad experiences growing up in New Jersey, hanging out in New York and then later on in life, living in D.C.
I remember a woman who used to baby sit for me cooking arroz con pollo in a big iron pot on her stove - like it was yesterday who only spoke to me in Spanish. I remember my grammar school friend Rosi and her family and how close they were. I remember wanting to have lots of brothers and sisters like Rosi so that I could have as much fun as they seemed to always be having. I remember "Popi" from the bodega that we used to catch our school bus to school in front of every day and his lively spirit. I realized this past week, how much I have taken these experiences for granted, but just how much they really have helped to shape and mold me into the woman that I am.
One of the things that is most special about having grown up around people of African descent, who's boats landed in different parts of the world, is learning just how much we all have in common culturally- again, in terms of the music, the language, the food....all roads lead back to the motherland people, believe it!
So with that said, as I come up off my full-time job of laying by the pool and my part-time job of laying by the beach in P.R, I could say that it is good to be home. However, the reality is that when I was in Puerto Rico- I felt right at home the entire time.
Oh, by the way, many of you know about my dislike for most things feline. Well, you would be happy to know that I even made a friend by the pool, El Gato, the resident cat who would bring his happy little ass right up under my chair and start begging for food every single day! It got so that I was even bringing milk and eggs outside specifically for him. I still don't intend to play cats too close, but I do kinda miss my dude El Gato.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why they had this poor dog on the roof in the rainforest!
Asi que hasta proximo tiempo, hablare con usted luego, Pez! (So, until next time- I will speak with you later- Peace)
Su Amiga, kc
It's been a minute I know. I recently returned from a much needed escape to Puerto Rico. It was a very relaxing trip and gave me some time to sort some things out and look at some things from a different perspective. I came away from my trip refreshed and with a couple of realizations that I would like to lay on you. Got a minute? Good.
While I would never volunteer to act as an interpreter during a meeting at my job-unless forced to do so- I really do know more Spanish than I let on. My college professors were right, language immersion is the key to bridging the gap to fluency. Had I been as smart as my cousin Kecia, I too would have taken a semester to study in South America while in college. But no, I was too busy being cute in D.C.
But I digress. You see after having studied Spanish for 8 consecutive years and living in an area largely populated by Spanish speakers, the problem I still have is that when I speak Spanish, I am VERY self-conscious. I know that my verb tense is usually incorrect and that I sometimes make gross errors in word substitutions. When I am nervous, my word recall in my native language of English is severely impaired - so you can imagine what goes down when I am faced with a Spanish speaking brother who needs help at activating his ATM card at the cash station!
But I must say though that all of the Spanish speaking people that I encounter, professionally and personally, are usually elated to know that I can converse with them and or provide assistance on any level in their native language. You should see the way that my friends eye's light up at the fish market when they see me coming. "Hola mi amiga! Como esta?". They are all so patient with me as I proceed to, yet again, butcher their beautiful language to bits.
The other problem that I have is that my Spanish pronunciation is pretty good and given our common ancestry, I may remind many of my Spanish speaking friends of people they know. It is usually on and poppin' after "Hola" and invariably, at some point in the conversation, I must admit that my Spanish is not that good and ask them to please slow down while talking with me- which to my ears sounds like, "please go slow, slow. I speak little Spanish" - I feel like such an idiot with my Spa-bonic speaking self!
See, while I understand about 70% -80% of what is being said to me in Spanish, my brain's ability to formulate a response with the words I do know is hampered by a number of factors not uncommon for emergent language learners. While in P.R.I told a very nice English speaking waitress that I wanted "wet" plantains (plantanos mojado) instead of "sweet" (ripe/mature) plantains (plantanos maduros). So, I esentially told a strange women that I wanted a wet banana, after which she jokingly started fanning herself seemingly due to the sexual images my latest little language fopaux had conjured up for her. Everyone at the table thought that was pretty funny-I was mortified.
However, I left La Isla Encanta with a renewed passion to continue my quest for mastery of the Spanish language. After all, it's never to late to learn. I am going to throw my my self- consciousness to the wind and spend more time talking to my neighbors and the kids at school (you know, primarily people who won't judge me and will offer gentle corrections, if any at all) - In Spanish!
>
Another realization I had while in P.R. is just how influential being raised in the NY, NJ area- particularly in the inner city, has been for me. On any given day, I really did not need to travel very far beyond my doorstep to be transported to a seemingly different part of the world. Being in Puerto Rico, in many ways, felt like I was in at home, but near the beach. Everything about the people, their music, the language, the food was very, very familiar to me. I have truly felt this way about many of the places to which I have traveled. A fact that I directly attribute to my myriad experiences growing up in New Jersey, hanging out in New York and then later on in life, living in D.C.
I remember a woman who used to baby sit for me cooking arroz con pollo in a big iron pot on her stove - like it was yesterday who only spoke to me in Spanish. I remember my grammar school friend Rosi and her family and how close they were. I remember wanting to have lots of brothers and sisters like Rosi so that I could have as much fun as they seemed to always be having. I remember "Popi" from the bodega that we used to catch our school bus to school in front of every day and his lively spirit. I realized this past week, how much I have taken these experiences for granted, but just how much they really have helped to shape and mold me into the woman that I am.
One of the things that is most special about having grown up around people of African descent, who's boats landed in different parts of the world, is learning just how much we all have in common culturally- again, in terms of the music, the language, the food....all roads lead back to the motherland people, believe it!
So with that said, as I come up off my full-time job of laying by the pool and my part-time job of laying by the beach in P.R, I could say that it is good to be home. However, the reality is that when I was in Puerto Rico- I felt right at home the entire time.
Oh, by the way, many of you know about my dislike for most things feline. Well, you would be happy to know that I even made a friend by the pool, El Gato, the resident cat who would bring his happy little ass right up under my chair and start begging for food every single day! It got so that I was even bringing milk and eggs outside specifically for him. I still don't intend to play cats too close, but I do kinda miss my dude El Gato.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why they had this poor dog on the roof in the rainforest!Asi que hasta proximo tiempo, hablare con usted luego, Pez! (So, until next time- I will speak with you later- Peace)
Su Amiga, kc
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