Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Blind Man's Vision

Everyone has stereotypes. The lazy American. The stern German. The pretentious Brit. The rude Frenchman. The loud, lazy, hairy Spaniard who can’t give directions to save his life. Of course these are huge generalizations, maybe occasionally helpful for traveling to one of these countries and understanding the social atmosphere, but more often than not, they are very inaccurate and unreliable at predicting the character of a particular individual. Except maybe the bad directions part.

Its true. Spaniards really can not give good directions. You ask somewhere where la plaza is, they say go left. You end up more lost, ask another person, and they say go right. Finally you end up even farther from home. If its a really bad day you might stumble right on into Portugal without even knowing it. 

But this particular day wasn’t about giving reliable directions, but more about standing up and offering assistance. A blind man, traveling to the clinic for the blind right across from my building (thank goodness its for the blind and not for the deaf because I change in front of my window every morning), was struggling to get around one of those temporary fences they use to block construction areas. It was in the middle of the sidewalk, just placed there this morning, and thus was even tripping up people with their full visual faculties. Admittedly I tripped over it moments after this happened...

So he’s stammering along, feeling with his cane. He’s clearly confused, as I’m sure he walks this path often and has never encountered this strange object in his way. I opened my mouth to say ‘derrecha senor’, but someone had beaten me to it. The worker at a nearby store had left his post behind the cash register, leaving a long line of confused and frustrated shoppers, to help this man out. He told him ‘left! no, no, right! I meant right! right! keep going, okay now you can walk forward’. Not the worst directions I’ve ever seen a Spaniard give.

But it wasn’t the quality of the directions that mattered. It was that someone would so willingly leave their post to help someone else in need. So maybe these stereotypes have some kernels of truth to them. They must if they exist. While its important to remember they are unreliable and scarcely correct in explaining the character of an individual - perhaps what Spaniards lack in directional skills they make up for in social consciousness, and respect for elders and persons with disabilities. And then maybe the ‘lazy’ American, the ‘stern’ German, the ‘pretentious’ Brit, and even the ‘rude’ Frenchmen have equally redeeming qualities. Maybe you just need to open your eyes (or ears!), [and your mind] a little more to find those qualities. 

The Best Way to Learn (or Improve) Your Spanish

The best way to learn spanish? American high school classes? Don’t get me started... Rosetta Stone? Flashcards? Complete immersion in Spain without ever having studied it? Maybe that last one is a close second. But no, I’m convinced that the best way to learn Spanish is to eavesdrop on the middle school students on my bus ride home. 

Unorthodox, I’ll admit. But many people agree listening to children speak a language is far more helpful than their adult counterparts who already know the slang and have deep rooted accents. Not to mention Spaniard’s tendency to speak as fast as they can. I think its the national sport. Fast Speaking. Or as Max would say, ‘Machine-Gun-Kelly’ speaking. Fortunately, comprehension is my strongpoint. I can understand most of what people say to me, assuming they recognize I’m not participating in their national sport, but I can’t produce half of it. I understand words in context, or upon hearing them, that I would never be able to say on demand. This is why listening to, and internalizing, slower, clearer speech is really helpful because you can repeat it in your head and try to repeat it out loud (later when no ones around).

Today I was on my bus home, headphones in. I’m in the zone, trying to get some reading done. But the unmistakeable laughter of 12 year-old girls penetrated my headphones and I had no choice but to listen to their gossip and giggling. Finally I gave up trying to fight it and became enthralled in their story. I’m not proud of it, but it happened. AND it improved my confidence in understanding Spanish. 

At this point I’m feeling a little like Charlie, from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about look up and episode of the show called ‘Underage Drinking’. For those of you who DO know what I’m talking about, ‘This is classic Tammy...’

So this one girl was talking to her friend about some boy, que guapo! She went on and on about his clothes, his hair blah blah blah. Then who gets on at the next stop? I would guess it was that boy. She proceeded to slink down as far as she could in her chair to avoid being seen. I think the boy saw her, but we’re talking about sixth graders here, he wasn’t about to walk over and drop some smooth pick-up line on her. (Although maybe that would have been beneficent for both my learning and entertainment purposes)

A few stops later the two girls creep off the train, still trying to stay hidden. The boy and his friend, who were standing, now took over the girls’ empty seats in front of me. This could not have been scripted better. Now the boy is sitting there talking to his friend about the girls hair, and how she was mean to him that day. 

Middle school love.

Maybe one day they’ll hold hands or something. Share an awkward kiss... Who knows... But that’s not the point. The point is, if you want to improve your Spanish, just take out the headphones and listen to some middle schoolers vent about their coming of age experiences. You’ll learn a lot, maybe a little more than you care to. But you’ll also probably be quite entertained. Just try to contain your laughter. 

Monday, January 23, 2012

My New Year´s Reolution

Write blogs more often. Boom, I already started.

How New is the New Year?

This is my first blog of the New Year, and it could be my last. It’s embarrassing but true- I´m from Boston yet I´ve never been snowboarding, and this weekend were going on the Suffolk sponsored Ski trip in the Pyrenees mountains that divide Spain and France. I was thinking a hill might be more appropriate for my first time, but I guess a mountain will be more, hm, exciting? Plus that’s kind of my style, living in Spain without ever having taken a Spanish class, snowboarding down a mountain without having gone down a hill. I can hear my mom´s concerned sigh as I sit here writing this. Relax mom, I´ll be fine. (It’s amazing- she manages to embarrass me from 3000 miles away- but that´s a good mother I guess)

Since it’s a New Year I figure might as well start it off with a new experience like snowboarding. But a lot more comes with the New Year, new classes, new people, new hobbies, and new realizations. For example, I´m realizing that somewhere in the last couple months I´ve forgotten how to spell ‘embarrass’. Or maybe I just never knew? Isn´t there another ‘e’ in there somewhere? I really thought so… But moving on…

As things change, for example the new influx of students here at campus, it’s important to recognize the things that stay the same. The couches are still just as comfy in the common room. The teachers are just as lively. The Spanish ‘grannies’ still like to use all 50 seconds allotted to them to cross the smallest of streets, all the while making sure you can´t even dream of getting around them. The Peruvian flute bands which pop out of nowhere on the train, fully equipped; infinitely pulling instruments out of a teeny bag. They´re like the clown car of bags, they can carry a whole band around in one of those things.

                But even the things that stay the same are perceived differently in a new light, a new year. The city itself. It has the same aura, the same smell, yet it feels different. I don´t feel like I´m dreaming anymore. I’m not on vacation. I’m not starting a new chapter of my life, I’m simply living it. The key difference- this time when the plane’s tires hit the asphalt of the runway with that terrible jolt upward I didn´t think, ‘okay, let´s do this’. I thought ‘I´m finally home’.

                That´s it. A new year. New people. New things. New perceptions. Same city. Just now, its home.