Day 1: Spanish, Spanglish, Spench

Today's Objective: Beginning learning and familiarizing myself with basic spanish phrases and words. Become better with conversational spanish. Research Guatemalan history if there is time.

Dear Reader,
          Anyone who told you that Spanish was easy LIED. Yup, they lied right to your face and you should hold them accountable for that. So by all means sue them. Take them to court and make them pay for all the pain and suffering you might have endured by trying to take on this popular, yet somewhat impossible language. Okay that was a joke, mostly. My point is that Spanish is not easy, especially for someone who's spent that last 6 years taking French. Unfortunately I fall victim to the curious similar language phenomenon in which two languages are so alike that you end up confusing and combining them together. And that was me today, creating my own special language called Spench (see what I did there), but my confusion does have merit. For instance airplane in French is l'avion, while in Spanish it is el avión. The difference between these two words is one extremely important, but very little accent, yet that very accent is the difference between being understood in Guatemala and being misunderstood.

          I think my general frustration with Spanish today came from my fear of a language barrier. I hate to think that in Guatemala that I'll be hindered by a lack of Spanish knowledge, but unfortunately I will. Knowing this, I fear I won't be able to properly connect with the culture on the same level as someone who's fluent in the language. The native language in any country is an extremely important part of the culture, because language is a reflection of a country's culture. For instance, arguably one large part of American life is shopping and consumerism, but in some cultures where shopping might not be as important or relevant, the word shopping (in it's noun form) does not exist. This is the case for Russian. In the Russian language the noun shopping does not exist, because Russian culture is less focussed on consumerism. This also goes for Spanish which has many words that don't translate such as pardo, which describes a color in between grey and brown, and empalagar, which describes a food that is unfavorable because it is too sweet. These two words alone illuminate a culture that is colorful as well as a one where maybe savory food is favored over sweet food. These observations may seem like naive or premature in nature, but my point is to show that language and culture are intertwined and develop together. Thus my limited Spanish knowledge, regrettably, means missing out on a dimension of Guatemalan culture.
           However, my goal is not to allow myself to be limited by my circumstances. Although I can't become fluent in Spanish in a week, I will take my time to master basic Spanish phrases like, 'hello' or 'what's your name?' or 'how are you?' as well as some Guatemalan slang. I will walk around Guatemala with my nose constantly in a Spanish to English dictionary if I have to because I want this experience to be as authentic as possible. I don't want people to be responsible for translating for me or for the people in Guatemala to have to dumb down their speech to accommodate my lack of Spanish knowledge. I want the true experience of immersing myself in another culture. I won't let any amount of frustration or difficulty defeat me, because I know at the end of this journey is a reward: a more in depth understanding of my own global identity and a deeper appreciation and understanding for a culture that is not my own. My parents have always said that anything worth achieving will have it's difficulties and this is just another instance of that. Wish me luck; I'll desperately need it.
Sincerely,
Journey White