Speaking Spanish

In Las Palamas it was amazing that when I spoke to someone in Spanish, they answered me in Spanish! There is no question that I spoke more Spanish in these 2 weeks in Las Palams than I did in probably a month in Costa Rica. Tamarindo was so touristy that I would speak to someone in Spanish, and they would answer me in English. Sometimes I felt really proud of my Spanish-like that I could spend an entire day at the museums with Marta speaking only in Spanish.

However, there were definitely times that I had no idea what was going on, like when we went out for dinner with 37 (yes 37) people for Nichel’s birthday and everyone was speaking quickly on top of each other. If I was in a big group of people I didn’t know, I was hesitant to pipe in- maybe they won’t understand my accent, maybe I’m not even understanding the conversation correctly. I think this is a very humbling experience to have right before I start teaching English in January
Jesi, Hector, and I spoke a very weird mix of Spanish and English the whole time. Here’s a conversation we had one of my first days:

“Could you get in the apartment after work today while I was in the shower?”-me

“Si, claro”-Hecor

“Good, because I put a flip flip in the door so it wouldn’t lock.”

“Que?”

“I put a flip flop in the door when I took a shower”

“por que?”

“I wanted you to be able to get into the house when I was in the shower, so I put a flip flop in the door so it wouldn’t lock.”

“No entiendo-explicame en Ingles”

“Hecotr, I am speaking English, you’re speaking Spanish!”

“Oh, explain it to me again.”
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