So for once I didn't go out on a Saturday night here. We had LIGA yesterday and I was so tired afterward that even a nanna nap couldn't help motivate me to go out - I just wanted to keep sleeping. I got up early this morning and went to the park across the road from my apartment and did some yoga on a rug outside in the sun. It was really nice. When I finished some guy who may or may not have slept in the park and who I was pretty sure was high on something came over to talk to me. Sometimes the lack of language is a blessing.
Of course I say this as a one off. I'm starting to get frustrated with my progress. I've been in school for 3 weeks, and I have 1 week left. I have seen an improvement, but all too often it feels like with one step forward there is two steps back. I have good days and bad days. A good day was Friday night when Camille invited me to a birthday party of a friend of hers. Almost everyone there was French bar a few Americans and some Chileans. There is something I find really cool about being in a room where almost everyone has Spanish as a second or third language yet that's what was spoken for the night. I find it easier to understand these people, maybe because their vocabulary is a little more basic? They speak slower? Gringo accents easier to understand? I don't know. Perhaps the main thing is they have more patience for someone like me trying to speak the language because they understand the situation I am in because they have also been there themselves? I find Chileans so difficult to understand. It's a running joke here that Chileans don't speak Spanish, they speak Chilean. I couldn't agree more. Another good day was on Thursday. I sat and talked for almost 2 hours to girl in Aldea I haven't spent a lot of time with. She is really sweet and we talked about boys, school, family and even religion. I really enjoy the opportunities to talk with the girls one on one.
My other problem is I literally cannot hide my gringa face! I'm so obviously gringa that sometimes not even a word has come out of my mouth and they're already speaking English to me. When I do speak first, as soon as people see me struggling a little when I'm talking, if they know English they just start speaking English to me. I think they do it out of kindness but it's frustrating for me. Yes it hard for me that I don't understand you but I will never be able to understand you if I don't get to practice! I am in your country, I am here to learn your language, I want to speak your language. When you come to New Zealand I will speak all the English with you that you want! lol. So good days and bad days. Yesterday at LIGA was a bad day for my Spanish. This shouldn't be the case because as rule we are only allowed to speak Spanish on this day like in our institutions but this time since we (the Arts & Sports committee) were organising it I found myself reverting to what was easiest for me to co-ordinate things/people. BAD!
LIGA itself was an awesome day! I met a guy in my Spanish classes called Allard who is from Holland and practices kickboxing. I asked him if he would come along to LIGA to teach the kids something and he put me in touch with his teacher Rodrigo who was so kind to not only agree to come to LIGA with Allard for the afternoon, but he donated to VE Global kickboxing gear and kimonos. Awesome!!! He then turned up yesterday with not only Allard, but with a couple of other Chilean guys he teaches so we had a whole team working with the children. Everyone was getting into it, including the rest of us volunteers and myself! He has agreed to come back for our last LIGA before the end of year so I hope this will be a continuing relationship with VE.
I went to a ballet class on Friday night before I went to the party. It was so nice to dance again. It was different to what I would call a usual classical ballet class in that we did some work on the floor and other exercises which I enjoyed. Before I started, a girl in the class was trying to explain to me how their classes and technique were different, I tried to understand but think I will have to go to more classes to see what she means.
It was fun doing a ballet class in Spanish. My teacher tried to explain corrections to me using a poster of the human body & a girl in the class translating from Spanish to English (another case of what I was talking about earlier.) What is funny is that of course her corrections are the same corrections I have been receiving for years from my ballet teacher back home, indeed I know I need to work on my turnout, but I'm 24 and I'm pretty sure my hip joints are not going to give me flat turnout at this age. In saying that I do know it is
always better to be corrected than to have a teacher who doesn't care or bother and I appreciate that.
Between school every morning and work these last 3 weeks, things have felt a little crazy for me. In one week I am halfway through my time here in Santiago. It's hard to believe how fast it's going! So much still left to do....
