¿Que? ¿Como? ¿Otra vez?

Let me just put this out there: when I studied abroad in Perú, I wimped out big time on the Spanish.  I kept mostly to my fellow American students, and went just about everywhere with my roommate Hannah, who was my saving grace in a lot of ways.  It´s much easier to wait for a bus in a crowd of foreign strangers or attempt a trip to a new city or even go to lunch in a restaurant when you have a partner in crime to be confused and ridiculous with. 

Though I loved spending time with the students in my program, I know that I missed out on a lot of language by doing so.  That idea has been seriously enforced here in Costa Rica.  The family I am living with speaks very little English.  With me, they speak none.  I live every day here in Spanish from the moment I wake up until the last time Daniela tells me goodnight.

The Ugly:
I often feel like an idiot here.  It´s not just that I don´t understand, which happens frequently (Thankfully, the Chinchillas are a patient bunch, minus Daniela, who starts talking to me in exaggerated, slowwwww Spanish if I don´t understand after the first two times!) It´s also that my range of conversation is much smaller in Spanish than in English.  Having gotten myself mired in jumbles of  conversation that have no out but "Ah, olvidalo." (Ah, forget it.) when I attempted more sophisticated topics or opinions, I often find myself stuck with routine, boring responses. How´s the food? It´s great.  Hows the fruit juice? Oh, it´s great.  Do you like mangos? Yes, they´re.... great.

The Bad
As I mentioned, the Chinchilla family is extremely patient with me as I try to learn new words.  There are thousands to learn, and I am anxious to do so.  But.  There´s a certain point where I start feeling like Helen Keller in the days after the Water Incident. "What´s this?" "What do you call this?"  "That thing there, what is it?" And on, and on, and on.  This isn´t exactly thrilling conversation either, though it does help me out tremendously.

The Good
Even after a long stressful day of two word answers and monotonous questions, there are always still conversations that keep my hopes up.  Like being able to ask Memo about the rights that gay couples have in Costa Rica, or simply walking into the shoe store and having an easy conversation with the salesman about the size and height of rubber boots I need.  Though I tend to focus on the more frustrating conversations I have, I´m speaking Spanish every time I open my mouth!  The truth is that that is a success.  I´m sure it will get easier as time goes on.  (Fingers crossed!)