Break out the champagne flutes, pop open the bubbly -- I’ve reached another landmark in my Peace Corps service. August 25th marked one year living in Huaca Rajada. I have lived in my little room in the middle of the Peruvian desert for longer than I have lived in any other apartment or house in the past five years. Weird, right? And I still have another year to go – when all is said and done here, the only place I’ll have lived longer is the house I grew up in Charlotte, which I haven’t lived in since I was 17. Who knew the Peace Corps would actually help me put down roots?
Now I had a lot of goals for myself when I set out on this grand adventure, and chief among them was to become fluent in Spanish. I assumed that after a year of living among Peruvians, not one of whom speaks any English, I’d be well on my way to crossing at least one goal off my list. But, it turns out that being really and truly fluent in a language is a lot harder than you think. I can get by in Spanish. I go days without speaking a word of English (other than the running commentary in my head) and I even have the occasional dream in Spanish. But just getting by is not the same as being able to eloquently and succinctly express your thoughts, your ideas, your sense of humor, especially for someone who has such a love of words and good conversation. In a foreign language I am stripped down to the barest of myself. It is humbling to say the least.
On the flip side, I find my English getting worse. When I am talking to friends and family back home I find myself grabbing for words, unable to think of the English equivalent of gaseosa (soda), chisme (gossip), malecon (boardwalk) and other seemingly random words. The life I’m living here exists somewhere between languages – we volunteers communicate in a pidgin language of English/Peruvian/Peace Corps. Basically, I’m fluent in no language, which has led me to think a lot about the meaning of words, their origins and how living across languages trips up our brains. So I present to you some of my linguistic observations:
- Embarazada means pregnant. I’ve started working on a sexual health project, so this word comes up a lot but I still can’t say it or read it without thinking of the English word embarrassing. I have a feeling this has a lot more to do with my personal views on reproduction than any sort of linguistic derivative.
- When you ask a Peruvian to repeat themselves, they repeat the requested question or statement followed by “digo.” Digo translates to I say. So they’re repeating something they just said followed by the proclamation, “I say.” As in, “what time does the next car leave, I say.” This always makes me think of Elmer Fudd. I say, I say, I say pass me the rice.
- Peruvians love to make words diminutive by adding –ita to the ends of words. I find this endearing and can not say a number of words without adding that cute, little ending (aguita, bolsita, pancito). It also softens the blow when someone calls you a gordita, as in, hey cute, little fat girl. It seems no word is immune from this trend, including my name. Somehow Jessicacita doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.
- Playa means both beach and parking lot. For some reason I find this endlessly amusing, envisioning a crowded beach packed with broken down cars.
There are countless more examples of words and phrases that confuse and amuse me, but I can't seem to articulate them right now. I originally wrote this post a few weeks ago and reopened it today to edit and publish, but in those intervening weeks, I’ve spent a great deal of time with English speakers. Non-Spanish-speaking English speakers, which has made my head spin even more. Translating from Spanish to English, carrying on rapid conversations in English, forgetting who speaks Spanish and who speaks English, trying to listen in on conversations in multiple languages. I don’t even know how to think anymore, let alone how to post a witty and bilingual linguistic analysis. Really, is language learning supposed to be this jumbled?
All smiles at the trail head.
Day one: bright, warm and having fun.
Team Jess! (Ted, Jess, Emily, Kevin)
Day two: embarking on a very steep, very cold ascent to 4200 meters (to be followed by a very steep, very cold descent).
Emily and Jess exploring Machu Picchu.
Looking a little tired, but happy, at the Sun Gate.
The clouds part, revealing an incredible sight.
Proof that I made it! 
Found: one lost brother wandering one lost city.
Being silly on the train ride back to Cuzco.
Plaza de Armas, Cuzco
Plaza de Armas, Lima
