Press "2" for English? Por Favor!

Carey and I have been attending Spanish classes here in Pana just about everyday now since we arrived in Guatemala. During that time we've experienced quite a range of emotions about our ability. On some days, we feel supremely confident - speaking nothing but Spanish to each other and those we meet in the market and in our neighborhood, and on other days I feel like crying because I couldn't explain to the guy on the phone in Spanish that 1) I wanted my pizza delivered because it was raining, and 2) no, I don't have a street address for you because I live on a street without a name! (Proof that God exists: the pizza somehow arrived, much to our surprise, later that night).

Being immersed in a new language has me thinking about the ways in which we help our "neighbors" today. We finally got a cell phone yesterday, and I can't tell you how difficult it was to figure out if I had voicemail on it or not (let alone how to access it if I did). I called the cell company's "Servicio" line to see if I could get some help, and to be perfectly honest I was (naively) expecting there to be a "Push 2 for English" prompt during the call. But there wasn't! I listened to the Spanish-speaking computer lady about 5-6 times before hanging up. Hmmm. It was obvious I was on my own.

Without getting into a political discussion...it seems that different countries try to reach-out to their neighbors in different ways. Most U.S. companies include a "Empuje 2 para Espanol" prompt during customer service calls, and I've found that most Guatemaltecans are happy to go out of their way to help me learn their language and manage in their country day-to-day, even though I do only have about 10 or so verbs - mostly conjugated incorrectly - at my disposal. Maybe a big part of being neighborly in our world today has to do with finding patience for and doing our best to understand those who are trying to make it in our "neck of the woods."

I probably could have made this blog about one sentence, because what I really wanted to say is...this is a really good experience for us and we're learning lots about our neighbors and, in the process, ourselves.

Thus is the life of two Spanglish-speaking gringos in Latin America : )

Peace,

Jay

ps. Carey and I have a little TV in our apartment and can pick-up a station that plays old American sitcoms and comedies - all dubbed in Spanish! Needless to say, we watch 'Alf' in Espanol most week nights and our language-skills have improved vastly!