Jolly Green Giant

           

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights;

it is a change that goes on, deep and

permanent, in the ideas of living.”

– Miriam Beard

   

Gramatica. Me odio gramatica. It turns out that my Spanish grammar is just as poor as my English grammar. I’m actually not sure what language I am translating/writing/reading/speaking in, sometimes even thinking in. It’s actually a little strange when the words I am reading don’t get translated in my head; they just get absorbed “as is”. I feel like a bowl of vegetable soup with a little bit of this, a little bit of that. My mind is swimming with vowels, conjugations, punctuation, and everything in between. I feel like I need to watch “School House Rock” to straighten my English back out. It is definitely a learning experience when you can’t think of the word you need in English! I guess that means that we have experienced a little bit of cultural assimilation. We have actually started to submerge parts of ourselves in a different culture and language—and absorb it.

There is one thing though, that I definitely cannot submerge, and that is my height. I look like the jolly green giant here, except here would be the “jolly tall gringa." It makes me stand out like a sore thumb. I really think that I have about a foot and a half on a lot of the indigenous women in Cuenca: I’m 5’9”. It makes me think about the things that I have absorbed culturally. I am accustomed to “almuerzo” or lunch being the largest meal of the day. I have not, nor will I become accustomed to rice and peas! Almost all of the time part of lunch, and sometimes dinner too, consists of rice sautéed with peas. I dislike peas like I dislike grammar, and both are always mixed up with everything here! I have finally become accustomed to the friendly method of kissing cheek to cheek as a  greeting in Ecuador (now that we are leaving of course). All of these things have become part of me and part of my daily routine, but there are cultural things that still stick out of my conglomerated self like my height does here! My attire is definitively still North American. The field pants, tennis shoes, and backpack don’t help the blending-in issue. I have been craving real percolated coffee for the last six weeks or so. Starbucks sounds amazing [some people may not categorize Starbucks as real coffee, but I love it]. It has been an amazing experience to really submerge myself in Ecuadorian culture. The experience has definitely taught me to be a little bit less rigid in my body language. I am used to my personal space. Most North Americans have a personal space requirement, or “power distance." Latin American culture is much less rigid. They hug, hold hands, put an arm around a shoulder, kiss on the cheek, and various other forms of amiability. I have become less of a tall statue, and more of an inter-culturally communicative citizen of the world. When I return to the U.S., my height will blend back in somewhat, but it might be a bit awkward if I throw toilet paper away instead of flushing it! It also might be a bit awkward if I try to take someone's order at work by asking them in Spanish! Grammar, clothing, coffee, height, and body language are all different from culture to culture. What a strange feeling it is when they mix and blend inside me!