a day without english

So yesterday was a day that I learned so much while being completely out of my comfort zone. I wanted to sit down and write about it last night but didn't have the mental capacity to put the words together that I wanted to. Why? I was out of my native tongue for pretty much the entire day.

A friend of mine named Erica is a Peruvian and she invited me out to the local zoo with her son, Joaquin, who is 4. I was a little uneasy about it but eventually said yes to the date and headed off into the unknown. I didn't know what I was getting myself into but that's part of the fun of trying a new experience - jumping out of the comfort area and seeing how things turn out. The key to my trepidation was the fact that she speaks no English and my Spanish isn't exactly the best; ok, its worse than that and I just don't want to take responsibility for it being as bad as it is.

We met at a nearby gathering place where she promptly got a cab to the park that would have cost me triple the bargained price. Being a large white man in a Hispanic populace means that I tend to pay more for things that what locals do and I was grateful for her expertise in that regard. When we got to the zoo it became rapidly apparent that the attraction that day wasn't to be the animals, rather the Peruvian woman who was walking with a pale Sasquatch next to her. I think I was stared at for the majority of the day but after the first hour, I stopped noticing as I was too busy trying to keep my brain from melting. Was it hot? Not even close (its winter here) but rather it is because I was trying to make conversation in a language that I'm not very good at speaking.

Erica was nice and patient with me for the day but the day didn't end after just a few hours. Her son was getting ready to meltdown (he's 4 and needs time to do such things) so we grabbed a cab and I was taken to her place for an introduction to the family. I wasn't anxious about meeting them at all, I really wanted to see what living conditions were like for a middle class Peruvian family. So I headed in to meet the 4 generations of people that lived in their tiny 3 bedroom apartment.

Grandmother, mother, daughter (Erica), and her son (Joaquin) all live in what would be considered "low income housing" in some cities in the US. The conditions aren't the greatest but they make the best of the cramped living spaces that they can afford. I was quickly introduced and welcomed into the house where I was inspected by the family, for reasons that need not to be mentioned. In any case, it was only a few minutes before the decision was made to go to dinner at a local restaurant - I'll let you guess who was doing the buying (my choice actually, I wasn't going to let them pick up the tab!). And during dinner, it was more Spanish and more fumbling for words, the status quo for the day. But it was getting easier as Erica did a decent job of helping me out and I was understanding more and more as the day progressed.

When the day was done, I got into a cab and headed home - having not spoken a word of English in the entire day. I felt relieved to get home as I no longer had to think about what I was going to say but also grateful for the experience of being able to truly be immersed in a foreign culture. That is one of the things that I truly enjoy about being an expat - being able to do things just like that. There is just something unique about being in a completely foreign environment and not only surviving but enjoying the experience.

The spell was broken however, after I got home. I just needed to do something in my native language and so I called my sister so I could catch up with her, and speak a little English. So while it wasn't a complete day without English, it was pretty darn close and while I enjoyed the experience of immersion, I gotta admit that sometimes hearing your own language can be quite soothing...