This week has been MUCH better. I don't know how to describe the last few weeks without sounding like a miserable oaf. I feel like my spirit had been really broken the last couple weeks, I got wrapped up in being homesick and obsessing over the way things are in Halifax, instead of adjusting to the way things are here in Cochabamba. I remember reading about culture shock when I first found out that I would be going to Bolivia, but I just shrugged it off and figured that I would be fine. Boy was I wrong! Culture shock is most certainly real, and I definitely suffered from it my first few weeks. It came in cycles of frustration with locals, isolation, helplessness and then just awfully dark sadness. It's different from the regular blues I've had from the comfort of a developed country. It's much more intense and leaves you with a very empty feeling because I really can only actually socialize with minimal people here, which I'm not used too being an extremely social person where I live in Canada. The only contact you have with people you love is via a computer screen, and though I'm grateful for that it does get really frustrating being here sometimes. Not knowing the language is extremely frustrating, and as someone who enjoys my independence I especially dislike having to be dependant on other people to help me with normal day to day things. It's easy for people to say things like "oh it gets better!" and "oh you just have to TRY" ... alright, well I AM trying, why don't you come live in another country for 3 months where you don't speak the language, and you let me know how that goes for ya! It's much easier said than done .Enough with the sad though, luckily I have been able to pull myself out of it, and I think living in a great area close to downtown has really helped as well. Before I was so hesitant about going out alone because it meant taking a bus, remembering where to get off, trying to tell the bus driver where to stop with the little Spanish I do know, and then finding my way back. In the area we are now I can roam around, go have a nice coffee at a cute little café, do some shopping and still find my way back to our apartment without any issues.
Here is a picture of the turtle who lives in our building! I can't think of a good name so I've been calling him Ricky Martin. I don't think he knows we are friends yet cause every time I go visit him he retreats into his shell.....but that's okay, soon enough my friends, soon enough.
Lydia and I have completed our first presentation at CENDA ! It went well, minus me having to read my sections in Spanish....I gave it a shot at least, though I pronounced everything with a French accent, that's the New Brunswick-er in me coming out. I am grateful I am bilingual and can speak french, as it's helping me recognize a variety of different words in the Spanish vocabulary. I had two Spanish lessons this week as well, which went fantastically. My teachers name is "Franz" and he is confident that within a few weeks I should be able to carry out at least a basic conversation!
It's already October 11th ( Happy birthday Gisele!!!!)....that's so crazy! Before I know it it'll be December 17th, and I will be making my way back to Halifax. This isn't the BEST time I've had in my life, but it's a learning experience and I'm grateful for it either way.
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