My Mind Finds Answers While I Sleep

(A poem-ish expression of sorts relating to my experiences in the twice weekly "Club de Conversacion". Half the time we talk in English and half the time we talk in Spanish so everyone can practice the language they are learning. We meet with a new group every time, so the questions they ask are pretty much always the similar getting-to-know-you type ones.)


My mind finds answers while I sleep
and I wake up the next morning
knowing how to reply to the questions the brown-eyed boys and the bronze-skinned girls asked me the day before
But Lord only knows if I'll ever see them again, and by that time they won't care
If they even did at the moment they asked me

Do you like my city? Do you like the food? Why did you come? What do you think of the people? Why are you learning Spanish? What was your impression of my country before you came here? What do you think about your president? Do you like it cold or hot?

It's a test of sorts I think
to see if they can accept this outsider
I hope, I think I pass

Your city is very different from my little town, but I love it. I'm vegetarian. ("ahhhh!" they all exclaim in a mixture of understanding, wonder and incredulousness) but I love your patacones, arepas y arroz con coco. I came because my husband was born here and I want to learn his language. The people are AMAZING - happy, relaxed, with huge generous hearts and you know how to have fun. I want to be able to speak to my in-laws and my future children. Before I came here all I knew was this was the country of coffee and drugs, and I thought you ate tacos and salsa like Mexicans, but know I know differently. (I don't tell them I *hate* to talk about politics, but I do make a disgusted and embarrassed face at the sound of my president's name.) The ice and snow is pretty to look at but horrible to drive in, and I hate putting on and taking off all the cold weather clothes, so whenever I feel a little hot here I remember how cold it is back home right now and I'm happy.

My questions feel foolish and simple - Do you have siblings? What are you studying? Do you like English? Have you lived here your whole life? What do you do for fun? Do you have pets?

Many of them are studying things I don't understand, like mechanical engineering, and they are only taking English because it's required. Only a few have ever left their country and they know places like Miami and New York. For fun it's usually dancing, movies, TV or sometimes the internet. Siblings and pets vary, as to be expected, but most don't have more than 3 brothers and sisters. Sometimes I think they look embarrassed to admit they haven't traveled and they don't really like to study English much, but that could just be my interpretation.

It's hard, but little by little the answers and questions come out of my mouth easier.

I can't remember their names (there is always at least one Jose), but now when I walk through the campus, there are a few more faces I recognize. And some of them meet my glance and smile or wave, and those are the ones that let me know, at least for them, I passed the test.

"Eso es!! Eso es!!"

I'm giving you my half of a instant messenger conversation I had with G on Wednesday. His responses were things like "wow, cool, that's great." :)

OH! Today was DANCE!
ME GUSTA!
ME ENCANTA!
Me encanta mi profesora de danza.

oof, she's sooo funny!

young and very energetic, she reminds me a tiny bit of Jenna and Lucia

when we were dancing and doing it right she would say "Eso es!! Eso es!!"

and when we started doing something too "gringo", like moving our shoulders or flinging around our legs, she would give us a LOOK, and be like "ah ah aahhh!"

and she was trying to teach us the rythmns

today we did salsa, merenge and REGGAETON!

and she would mix them around and say "que ritmo (?) es?"

and if we got it wrong she would make a sad face and kind of collapse like 'oh, I failed at teaching!'

soo funny

and other times when we were doing a good job she would say something about "why am I here? you already know how to dance!"

she was asking me how I dance with you reggaeton (sp?) and I told her you didn't like it

and she said her husband (boyfriend? I forget) was the same way

and she also asked me if you would get grouchy if I went out dancing with her and the other students in a club
and I said I didn't think so

Oh Man...

So classes officially started today. There's only 4 of us and I've definitely had the least formal training of all of them. Luckily 2 are from the states, so when one of us doesn't get something, another one is likely to be able to help them out. The other girl is from China! She studied Spanish for 2 years there and has been here for several months, maybe 7 or 9 already, so she speaks and writes very well! The one guy is from Florida and has been studying for 14 years through school but says he still can't speak it, but he did really well, and he has more chances of hearing Spanish spoken in Florida than I do in Iowa. The girl from Louisiana's mother is from Barranquilla, so she's been coming here for the summers pretty much her whole life. She speaks really well but says her grammar is bad.

And then there's me, who magically tested intermediate by being a good guesser, a good test taker, and I really do understand quite a lot if the person speaks slowly but more importantly clearly. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not stupid, just not as experienced, and that I have the capacity to get to where they are if I apply myself. With only 4 in the program this time, there's not a lower level that I can go join, but at the same time, it's better that there's so few. If I was this far behind in a class of 20, I'd probably be super lost for sure.

And, one of the periods on our schedule is dance! Twice a week for an hour! At least I'll probably get a chance to rest my brain a little then, and move my body, which will be fabulous.

Oh, on a totally happy note, I'm super proud of my radio show I sent in for this week! All women from Colombia! 100.1 FM in Fairfield, www.kruufm.com online. Tuesday morning at 9 AM CST. If you hear it let me know what you think!

My Class Is In The Paper!

Today Gilberto's dad showed me an article from the paper that talked about the class I'm going to take starting Monday.

Español para extranjeros

La Universidad del Norte abre la convocatoria para quienes desean ingresar al programa ‘Español para extranjeros’, que iniciará el próximo lunes y se extenderá hasta el 29 de este mes. El Instituto de Idiomas de Uninorte ha liderado este programa durante los últimos nueve años, en el que han participado alrededor de 250 estudiantes extranjeros. El curso incluye cinco horas diarias de clase, recorridos por las principales empresas de Barranquilla y actividades extracurriculares como visitas a sitios de interés en Cartagena y Santa Marta.
(from the bottom of this page)

I can't really translate word for word, but it basically says that the University Del Norte is holding a class called 'Spanish for Outsiders', starting on Monday and going to the 29th of the month. The Language Institute of the university started the program last year and had 250 exchange students. The course includes 5 hours of lessons, teaches about/trips to the major businesses in Barranquilla and has field trips to sites of interest in Cartagena and Santa Marta (nearby cities).

Ok, let's see how I did, here's the Google Translator version, which isn't quite right either, but works:

The University of North opens the call for those wishing to enter the program "Spanish for Foreigners', which will begin next Monday and will be extended until 29 this month. The Institute of Languages Uninorte has led this program during the past nine years, which have involved about 250 students. The course includes five hours a day of class, travelled by major corporations in Barranquilla and extracurricular activities such as visits to sites of interest in Cartagena and Santa Marta.

Not too shabby, but it does make the point where I often miss a word or two that makes a big difference in the meaning. In this case, the biggest mistake I made was mistake nueve (nine) for nuevo (new), so I thought they started the program last year when really they've been doing it for nine. HA! That's good though, that they've been doing the program for a while now.