The Part Where It Gets Awesome

Over the past few weeks, my Spanish has improved an unbelievable amount. I understand nearly everything that people say to me, and I can speak with confidence in an uninterrupted flow. Before, if someone spoke to me without warning, I always needed to ask them to repeat themselves. I simply couldn't switch my brain to Spanish mode without concentration. Now, I absorb bits of conversation I hear in the subway, on the street, and everywhere else I go without thinking about it. I should qualify that there are still certain days and certain conversations where something just doesn't click. My friend who has been here for almost a year says he still feels that way sometimes. But now that I can effectively communicate without too much effort, I'm focusing on improving my accent. My mouth has lagged behind my brain, refusing to move in the way I want it to. My jaw and tongue muscles are often sore at the end of the day, and I get irrationally jealous of two-year-olds who can roll their 'r's.

With my newfound ability to communicate, the city seems like such a friendlier place. I have finally figured out the very complicated bus system and have also generally gotten my bearings. This means that previously disastrous events, like a missed bus stop or a wrong turn, are just parts of my daily routine. Between strikes, traffic jams, subway break downs, and clogged sidewalks there always seems to be something impeding me from getting where I need to go. But now I know alternate routes to all the places I go on a regular basis. I've also learned to accept the rhythms of the city and go with them. It helps to know that if I show up late anywhere, for any reason, all I have to do is roll my eyes and say "D line again."

This new level of comfort has coincided with the realization that my time here is passing far too quickly. Ever since I realized that the two month marker was on it's way, I have been making a concerted effort to see and do as much as I can every single day. Before, when my Spanish was worse, classes were a huge challenge that took up a lot of my time. Now that I can do homework without too much effort, I've realized that my classes here are really easy, at least compared to the ones at Wesleyan. This is in large part because they're designed for students who also work full time jobs. But because this does not apply to me, I have a lot of free time, which I've been using to explore. I'm also beginning to travel around the country, which is something I'll definitely write about soon.

When I first arrived, I thought my goal was to live life like a porteño and to make my time here feel like 'real life,' but from a different perspective. But I realize now that the best way to get to know a place, even when one has almost half a year there, is to take advantage of it in a way that locals typically don't. I've been doing this in small ways, like taking different walking routes, and in larger ways, like spending an afternoon exploring a neighborhood I don't know well. Through these efforts, I've actually observed a lot more about daily life and patterns here than I did before, sitting in my room doing homework. I will always be a foreigner here. That would be the case if I stayed here for ten years. But embracing my outsider perspective has been the best inroad into the city that I've found yet.