Immersed

I walked like a Spaniard yesterday, click-clacking all over town in the red mini-heels I purchased for my salsa class. They didn’t make me dance better, but they did perhaps give me a little bit more confidence to talk to my partner, who turns out to be very Spanish. Unfortunately all my Spanish walking didn’t make my accent any more Spanish, but at least I could understand most of what my partner was saying about how to hold my arm and where to put my feet. I just smiled a lot because I realized a “¿Como te llamas?” into the conversation that they don’t teach us much small talk in school. Especially not while dancing and comprehending the commands the teacher is yelling out. “Detrás.” “Adelante.” I only have a vague understanding of how these commands would translate in an English salsa class, but I know what to do with my feet when I hear them in Spanish. I guess that’s the best way to learn; without translation.

Again the small talk problem came up when I went on a bathroom run with my señora. The good thing about not having a bathroom is that the using-the-bathroom experience becomes very social. So I come out of the bathroom, and my señora points out to me the son of our downstairs neighbors, and says “Mira, que guapo.” (Look how cute/handsome he is.) And what do I do? Say hola. The universal phrase that means, “I don’t know what to say or how to say it, but hi.” The good news is that I have many more days without a bathroom to practice. Oh wait, is that good news?

Today I decided to speak only in Spanish all day. Even with my American friends. It lasted pretty much from when I woke up til about 1:30, when I was waiting to catch the bus home for lunch and a Texan struck up a conversation with me. Mañana maybe I’ll last all day.