Communication

Writing for the sake of writing can be very therapeutic sometimes. I like the idea of keeping a journal but then I never do it. I'm not really sure why I don't, perhaps it's just that I am so easily entertained by the internet. In any event, I thought about how much I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper (metaphorically speaking) and I decided that I was going to continue writing my blog even if no one reads it. Just so I can write. I'm sure it will be a little disjointed at times but I'm okay with that. That being said, here is what's on my mind today:

I'm going to Iguazu Falls on Thursday and I'm really excited. I think I'm excited for more than one reason. 1) I'm excited to see the amazing sites. It is supposed to be bigger than Niagara Falls plus it's near the rain forest so there will be a lot of exotic flora and fauna. 2) I'm going by myself so it will be an adventure all my own. I will probably meet people there that are from the states so it will be cool to meet other people that are traveling and hear what they think of Argentina. 3) It will be a 5 day trip in addition to the planned month of travel starting on November 10th so it will get me even closer to going home without thinking about it too much. 

I'm really looking forward to going home because I'm excited to speak my language again and be able to get around well without worrying about doing things the wrong way. By that I just mean that if I were to try to buy something here other than food I would not know what the proper protocol is. They seem to complicate things here sometimes. I also have no clue where anything is here and, because of the language barrier, I would have a hard time asking how to get to the right place. It's hard to describe what homesickness really means to me because I wouldn't say that I'm homesick in the traditional sense. I don't miss my friends and family the way others might. (Don't get me wrong, I miss them but I wouldn't die if I didn't get to see them for a few more months.) 

I miss being able to communicate. That's what I miss the most. I know it sounds silly but it's what I really miss the most. I'm realizing now that it takes a long time to learn a language well. I would call myself intermediate in my Spanish skills but I think I still have A LOT of work to get to where I would like to be with the language. I also realized the other day that when people say they became fluent in 3 or 4 months, they lied. They may have been fluent in conversational Spanish but that is very different than being fluent. I can speak conversationally in Spanish and be understood very well but I know I still have a lot of studying to do. I think another disadvantage that I didn't know I had going into this experience is that I didn't really take many classes before coming. Most people that go to another country to study the language have taken more than one basic class before going. I'm sure that most of them feel like they can get along well enough in the new language before they even go. I didn't do this critical step. 

I think that for the amount I have learned while I've been here I should be proud of myself but I just don't feel that way. I am discouraged by the amount that I don't understand still. I am proud of the amount I have learned about learning though. There are so many things that I have learned about that could have been explained better in class or that I have learned that I know friends have had questions about. I think I would like to tutor Spanish in my spare time or perhaps tutor English as a second language.