There are three ways in which this experience has affected me. The first, and most obvious, is my ability to speak the language. Before coming to Chile I had the expectation of leaving fluent. But I realized about half way through the program that that really depends on your definition of "fluent." If you consider the ability to live in a Spanish speaking country without need of a translator or interpreter, yes, I am fluent. But I consider fluent to be the ability to use the language naturally and easily like you do with your native tongue. That being the case, I certainly have not achieved what I had expected upon arrival. However, I find myself not at all disappointed by this. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being someone who knows a few words or phrases in Spanish, and 10 being a native speaker, I feel like I came to Chile at about level 3. Some people might say I was higher than that, but you have to realize that a native speaker's ability to use the language is so far superior to what mine was, that there is no way it could have been higher, even though I had studied Spanish for 5 years. This is a gradient scale. Approximately 3-4 months later, I feel like I am about a level 6. That means that it took me 5 years to achieve level three, and 3-4 months to achieve another 3 levels here in Chile. Suffice it to say I learned a whole lot! Even though I still lack a lot, I am beginning to grasp this language, and everything that ever confused me in the past.
The second thing that has changed me has been the amazing friends that I have made. Two weeks after getting here I started attending a local christian church. It is there that I have met some of the most amazing people and made so many life-long friends. Over the past 3 months I have spent almost no time with my fellow "gringos," and almost all my time with Chileans (who, in all honesty find me fairly fascinating). Honestly, there are so many friends here that I have made that I cannot begin to get into details, but, if I were to mention anyone, I would have to mention the friendships I have built with my friend Pablo, and his girlfriend (polola) Minerva.
Over the past 3 months I have become very close friends with Pablo, and I am so blessed to get along so well with Minerva too. I will miss both of them terribly when I am gone, along with everyone else I have become such good friends with. I wouldn't be surprised if I cry when I leave. And even though goodbye tears are not very fun, if I do cry, I will give thanks for them because I would rather cry because I don't want to leave than because I can't wait to get home.
One thing about Pablo is that he is very good at drawing. I have attached a video to this blog of him doing a amazing drawing of him, me, and Minerva respectively, which I am going to take home and frame. It's not long, you should watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhAZ5uK_8ws
The third way in which this experience has changed me is that I now have an idea of what I want to do after I graduate from university. Being that my Spanish is not as good as I want it to be, I want to return to Chile for at least one year, perhaps two, to teach English. The great thing about being a native English speaker is that it can be incredibly easy to find work as an English teacher in a non-English speaking country. By living and working here I would be able to support myself financially while at the same time living once again in a Spanish environment. Over 1 or 2 years I am sure I would be able to reach the level of fluency I am seeking. What is even more exciting about this is that Pablo should be finishing university about the same time as I would be coming back down here. Since both of us would be more likely to find jobs in Santiago (because from what I have learned, Santiago IS Chile), he suggested to me that we could get an apartment together. Obviously much can change over the next two years before that happens, but dreaming is free, and we both like this dream a lot. :)
When I got to Chile the Chileans themselves told me that they speak bad Spanish. That doesn't mean they speak incorrectly; their grammar is just as good as that of any other country. It's simply that they speak way faster and therefore don't pronounce their words well, which makes them harder to understand. Some people have asked me why I would want to live here if I am going to learn "bad" Spanish. My most simple answer is that I have no reason to learn "good" Spanish. Look at how the Lord has blessed me here. My Spanish speaking friends speak this way, so that's how I want to speak. Lo bueno no me sirve.
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