Wonky Words

Oftentimes peruvians see my 1/4 mexican complexion and dark features and assume that I am also peruvian. But then, I start speaking and it becomes obvious that spanish is not my first language and I am most definitely not from around here. I've been in Peru for 8 and a half months and in site for about 6 months and I'd like to believe my language level has come lengths as well; however, I am lacking chunks of vocabulary and still struggle to articulate my thoughts as clearly as I'd like. I constantly change my words from feminine to masculine, stumble over pronunciation and confuse similar sounding words. Let me give you an example...

Last week I left for a training in Chiclayo, a city about an hour and a half north of Guadalupe. This training focused on working with counterparts and we were all asked to bring a member of the community that we work with to help them understand what Peace Corps is and our roles as volunteers. I brought one of the regidores from my municipality who has helped me make connections and coordinate project planning. As we were waiting for our bus to pick us up, we started talking about safety concerns. So I began to tell him a story about a friend of mine who had recently been robbed. 

Me: Alguien ha robado a mi amiga con una cuchara!
Regidor [looking confused and trying not to laugh]: Con una cuchara o un cuchillo?

And that's when I realized I had just told him my friend had been robbed with at spoon-point. At that point, all I could do was laugh about it and be thankful that he was not the kind of person to make fun of me or keep the joke going. These mix ups and fumbles make the language barrier that much harder to overcome but I've got about 18 more months left to figure it out. My mom is fully convinced that I'm coming home fluent so I definitely got my work cut out for me!

I've got a lot more stories to come about my most recent travels but they were so packed with adventure I'm going to have to give a couple pieces of the story at a time. Next week I'll be leaving for Lima for another training and will officially be a member of the Peer Support Network as I mentioned in my previous post. I plan on going down a little early to spend some time as a tourist for the day. I'll make sure to pack my camera, fully charged and will add that adventure to the pile. Lots to look forward to, ya'll! Hope you're excited :D

*For the record, my friend, though shaken up, was not hurt thank goodness. 

Comments

  1. DanielleOctober 20, 2013 at 11:37 AM

    I mix up those two words also! Miss you! Xoxo
    -Danielle

    ReplyDelete

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