The most fascinating part about being in a place with a language barrier is that aside from cultural and environmental differences, everything looks the same. People are still people; they walk dogs, they ride bikes, they meet for coffee. And yet face to face, that place becomes so much more difficult to live in. I have come to find out that I take oral communication completely for granted at home, and it is much much harder to express yourself in a place where words can hardly be exchanged.
So, when I walked into JesusObrero for my internship, the language barrier hit me like a wall. JesusObrero is an after school program (and a church) for children in difficult living areas. Incredible people open the facility and give hundreds of kids a place to do homework, play soccer, run around, and be kids, all away from their not-so-perfect homes. I will be working there Monday-Thursday, 4-8pm. The kids are wonderful and extremely active. However, this makes communication with them extra difficult. As a coach and a people person, I thoroughly enjoy talking to kids, especially on some sort of playing field (pretty much always a soccer field here). But I can't. The kids are so fast paced, emotional, and interactive with their friends, it is almost impossible for me to get a word in with them. I can speak some Spanish, but not quickly enough to keep up, and I don't comprehend well enough for them to talk to me without slowing down. So, very little talking is exchanged between me and the kids, but I like to think actions speak louder than words, and I play soccer with them, exchanging high-fives, and successfully help them with their English homework. I know they can tell I want to be there, and that is what is important to me. Also, one of the instructors speaks English well, so he is extremely helpful with my endeavours there.
Continuing the positive note, on Thursday, I sat with one student for over an hour helping her with her English homework. Her homework was not easy; it consisted of questions with multiple choice answers for fill-in-the-blank questions. The worst part is, some of the questions had two answers that I hear people in the U.S. use all of the time! Nevertheless, it was a great chance for me to slow down and use my Spanish to explain to her the correct answers. She also knew English better than she thought she did and that helped because I could also explain things to her in English. She asked me, "When I speak, do you understand me?". I laughed because for one, yes, I understood her, but two, I feel the same way when I speak to people in Spanish! To her, she was just saying memorized gibberish, but to my brain, it made sense. She was so happy to hear that she spoke well, and she said she loved talking to me. I have learned that speaking to people in Spanish and working through conversation is much more helpful and useful than practicing grammar on exams (of course, one must know the grammar to speak). She also said something that struck me. She said, "I used to think all Americans were bad, but now I do not." Hearing that was shocking, because to me, I am just Emma. I do my own thing and do not regularly associate myself with what it means to be American. But clearly, the world has an impression of America, and all who live there are imprinted with that impression. I explained to her that I am just like her in many ways. Overall, internship is going well. I am down right TERRIBLE at soccer!!
My week consisted of leisure activities too. My favorite part of the trip so far was hiking in the Sierra Nevada National Park. As a group, including a priest that has a lot to do with Saint Joseph's involvement with Granada, we went hiking. The day was absolutely beautiful and the hike was even more so. We followed the current of a beautiful water fall, started at the fall and making our way upstream. By the waterfall, we crossed a bridge that was about 150ft long and 100ft above the ground. It was absolutely stunning and one of the greatest moments of my life. The mist from the waterfall in the air, the sun shining down through the trees, and the bridge coming straight out of Indiana Jones made it feel so surreal. The Indiana Jones pattern continued when upstream we had to crawl under boulders and sidle across rocks to follow the hiking path, all one foot from the rushing water of the falls. It was incredible! On the way back to the car, we had summitted a small peak and had to get down. There were two paths, a steep one (for adventurers, the priest said), or the easy one. The priest challenged me to the steep one, and went down it himself very quickly, which is why I now have the new expression, "Run like a priest!" when I have to run quickly. It was a brilliant day!
I also got to go out with a friend I have made here, Maria. She is a host sister to another one of my friends on the trip. We are the same age and have the same birthday! We went out at midnight, which for people in Spain is incredibly early. Clubs and discos, as they call them, don't open until 4am. It is crazy! We stayed out and danced until about 3am, but then I was extremely tired. I tried! The night lifestyle is so much different here, but it is very lively and fun. Maria is a good tour guide and brings me to all of the good places in Granada that she knows. I think she is going to become a good friend in the future, and that means a lot to me.
Some things I learned this week: My health is not invincible. Spanish people don't use butter on bread unless it is toast in the morning. Partying until 7am is completely normal. Priests are super fun to hang out with. I love the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The gym I joined is fantastic!
I hope this coming week is as fun as last week! Until next time!
