Now... what can I blog about from the millions of "cambios en mi vida" in the last month and a half? I think I'll come back speaking Spanglish all the time much to the dismay of those who know nothing about Spanish. I'm just learning so many new words. I love to shock people by using a new idiomatic expression they wouldn’t expect a foreigner to know! I'm learning words I've never heard before and I'm learning the new meanings of words that I thought I fully understood the meaning of. It's so interesting how often you start to hear the new word once you've committed it to memory. I wonder how I could have missed hearing it so many times before I learned it. It's just so difficult sometimes to distinguish individual words in a fluent conversation when 1 word may seem like 3 or 3 words like 1. I often find myself completely lost in translation and, as a result, completely zoning out when attempting to enter the middle of a conversation between two or more Spaniards. Many times I may understand each individual word in a phrase but all together it has no meaning? I also find that I'll accidentally talk about myself in the third person or someone else in the first person! Or I'll completely misuse similar sounding words. The other day I was exchanging contact information with a friend of mine and I was trying to explain to her that I didn't know my cell number because it's new and I don't ever call myself. Instead of saying "numero" I was saying "nombre" so I was telling her that "I don't know my name"! She looked a little confused so I continued to repeat that "I don't know my name" until I finally realized what I was saying! These are 2 very easy words that I know, but, occasionally, the most peculiar things just pop out of my mouth! I can only imagine the images that pop into people's heads when I'm trying to express myself sometimes! It's just all part of the slow and humiliating, though humorous, process of acquiring a new language.
One of the most important "changes" that has occurred is a change in schools. I'm no longer working at Arroyo Hondo but have been transferred to Castillo de Luna. It's a bigger high school and there are 30 kids in my class but they are a good group of students -most days! Above is a picture of some of the students I took pictures of on Halloween. They love to learn about American holidays. They were fascinated by my authentically carved American pumpkin! There’s also a fun group of faculty there I’ve enjoyed getting to know through my conversational English classes for teachers.
I've met more people in Rota as well. My roommate introduced me to a really sweet girl she takes French classes with, Johanna, and her husband whom I've enjoyed getting to know. We decided to try out some self-defense classes at the local sports center and it was a lot of fun! I've also gotten to know some people through a church I visited several times. There is a really sweet lady from Colombia, Pilar, who has been very friendly and I've enjoyed spending time with. I've also become good friends with another language assistant, Melissa, who I met at the general orientation back in October. We will actually be traveling around Spain along with another language assistant, Kristin, over Christmas! That's a very short summary of all that's happened since my last blog! I'll try to keep you more consistently updated.
