Half-way done with training

I would say learning Spanish has been like learning to snowboard, and anyone that has tried the latter will be able to relate to the pain involved. Granted with snowboarding it usually takes 3 days, not 5 weeks, but the theory is about the same. That theory is that you eventually fall down enough while learning to snowboard you literally learn to snowboard because you’re tired of hurting your ass. I would say the same for Spanish, it hasn’t completely clicked and there is definitely two more years worth of learning, but I’ve accepted the general idea of just allowing myself to speak the phrases and sentences and tenses I do know, simply because I was tired of the painful process of speaking it wrong. For example, when we had to arrange and teach a class in a school in our neighborhoods for our environmental training, I could totally comprehend and respond to the teachers and the kids of the school we picked…of course it was kindergarten, and the teachers were used to working with little non-Spanish speaking creatures, like myself, but you’ve got to take your wins when you can get em’!
We’ve also started going on field trips. We went on a hike last week to a waterfall at around 2800m, and had the Mayor of the town teach us about the plants we encountered along the trail. There were several species-especially the desert-like plants- that many of us had had experience with in the states, but there were so many more that seemed like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. When then descended back towards earth with an amazing view of a cloud filled valley of towering-terraced mountains, and after running into a tarantula well over the size of a child’s out-spread hand, we all made it safely down the mountain for lunch hosted by the local town. This week we are going to a nearby “loma,” which is most easily compared to a watershed or even an oasis; like a random patch of natural area that’s much more vegetated and populated with animals then the rest of the area around it. And on Friday we are traveling to a wild-life refuge in Lima that I think specializes in protecting birds. Of course I wish I could remember the names of these places, I think the first one is called Ayas or Aryas which is East of Chaclacayo, and the others (I think are spelled,) Lomas de Lachay, and Pantanos de Villa.
As for the practical side of my life, I’ve been sick for at least 75% of the last 3 weeks, ranging from bad stomach problems (which will happen to everyone), cold-like symptoms (which will happen, and is happening, to everyone here), and even just overall fatigue (mentally and physically, which will happen to everyone as well.) So for these I just reminded myself that this is one big process. It’s a process to learn Spanish, to discover Peru, and overall it’s a process to let your body adapt to a new continent! Nothing that I’ve had, or that anyone else has had, has taken us down for the count to where we couldn’t attend or function in classes. So I recommend just keep the fluids coming, allow your body to strengthen itself by not taking medicine if you don’t have to, and realize that you can’t enjoy the sweet times unless you’ve overcome the bitter ones. As for equipment, a thumb drive has been a nice accessory I threw in at the last minute. Simply because I’ve been able to share files with others and download some entertainment from the web; when I actually get around to using the internet cafés. Also a recommendation when you are packing is to remember to leave space in your bags for at least a shoe box size of extra stuff. We’ve received several manuals and books along the way and I’m glad I left extra room in my bags so I can easily carry them to my site.
Lastly, I’d like to wax philosophically for a spell if you’ll allow me. I really look at all of this as; 1). An exercise-an actual and literal exercise-like in the gym, when you plan on running a marathon you can’t do 26.2 on the first day, a runner needs to build his/her runs, there will be days when you feel like you could have run 10 more miles without pain, and there are days when the simplest runs feel like the Devil is plotting against you the entire time, the same rule applies in training and learning Spanish, there are days when you can run, and there are days when you really just want to crawl, the point of it all is to just keep moving forward, if you maintain your forward momentum eventually the 3 or 4 miles that kicked your butt in the first weeks will eventually be your warm-ups in the end weeks, and 2). I feel that adapting to a new culture is a test in one’s ability to “hold on tightly, but let go lightly,” what I mean is the person most able to adapt to a completely new situation is one that is able to let go of their past habits and being humble and patient enough to be pleasantly surprised when you’ve obtained new ones….With that being said, overall I find myself using patience the most when customizing myself to Peruvian culture. Patience in my Spanish classes because I know it’s an exercise, and patience with the random cultural encounters I could have never planned for. Like a full week of going to church every night with my host family and not understanding one word from the pastor, or why the congregation has literally sang the exact same song 3 times a service, at every service!? I’m glad I did this when I was old enough to have gained a hint of patience, and young enough to not be so stubborn I couldn’t “let go lightly.” Do you ever get those feelings that everything you did in the past is somehow culminating for what you’re doing in the present….?