Esperanza, lluvia, estrella, sonrisa, caramelo. Sarah, you’re right: some things are just better in Spanish. Spanish has a wonderful way of making the most explicit of words incredibly sentimental and romantic, one of the shortcomings of the English language. I’ve been able to pick up on an amazing amount of language, mannerisms, and taboos while living here, including that coger does NOT mean to take, but I have loved learning about all of the linguistic emotions. By now, I am speaking solamente en castellano, and oftentimes I will just sit back and listen to my friends talk, relishing the passion and sentiment that is so easily expressed through everyday words and phrases. That is how I would describe Argentina: romantic, emotional, and passionate. The most stereotypical of all Argentine cultural elements, the Tango, captures Argentina’s fondness of romance and passion. Overhyped, a little outdated, and uncomfortably romantic (it’s a little strange to be that close to someone I’m not romantically involved with), it is one of the many touchy-feely cultural divergences that we don’t find in the US. Personal space doesn’t really exist among Argentines; meeting someone for the first time and embracing them a kiss on the cheek is perfectly normal. In fact, it is considered rude not to do so.
Speaking of la lengua,
I have been having exceptional difficulty nailing the Spanish “rr.” I’ve
never been able to roll my tongue, but on Sunday, Meli, Lidi, and Lale made it
their mission to teach me how. God bless their patience, this was much
more grueling than my “speech therapy” with Anj. Using ejercicios para pronunciar la RR as the teaching platform, we spent the entire afternoon repeating/screaming words such as forro and borracho over and over again. (I hope the neighbors don't have any young kids…) It became more trial-and-error than anything else, but with lots of práctica I will hopefully have it down by January. Forrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrro.
I came across this article the other day, 20 awesomely untranslatable words from around the world, and it got me thinking about how—for lack of a better word—awesome the art of the language is, considering there are over 6 billion people speaking nearly 7,000 different languages. Did you know that there are more Spanish-speakers in the world than English speakers? Yet for some reason, I find that most Argentine’s knowledge of English is far more proficient than most American’s knowledge of any second language, let alone Spanish. A little embarrassing, no? Unfortunately, I know very few people who are proficient in a second language, and even fewer who are considered to be fluent. This may have to do with the fact that so many aspects of American culture are
incorporated into Argentine society.
At times, I forget exactly how far away I am from home, as I pass a
Starbucks or McDonald’s on my walk home, or turn on the television and flip to Friends or Grey’s Anatomy in English, with subtitles. But still, I do not find this to serve as much of an excuse, as we are just as capable of fluently speaking a second language as any European or Latin American (unless there is something in the water preventing us from doing so, which I doubt is the case).
Tomorrow morning I leave for my ten-day adventure in Bolivia. I will try to periodically while I’m there, but cannot make any promises...
¡Hasta el 26 de septiembre!
Chau,
audgentina.
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