No, I don't speak English either

Of all the things that can get lost in translation, some of the most confusing interactions I’ve had here in El Salvador have been in English. Well, sort of.

Every once in a while, a Salvadoran will see me, the 6'3", blonde haired, blue eyed stereotype of an American and decide to practice their English. Now I’m not one to judge, because my Spanish is just a step up from unintelligible, but Salvadorans have pretty wicked accents when they speak English. Combine the pronunciation problems with my limited Spanish vocabulary, and most of the time I assume they are speaking Spanish and saying something I don’t know. Something like "Where are you from" comes out of someone’s mouth and I hear Hueraufan and I’m trying to figure out the third person plural form of "to orphan" in my head and cursing myself for leaving my 333 Spanish verbs book at home. This goes on for a couple minutes until they decide I’m either European or just stupid and walk away.

My Spanish knowledge seemed to grow exponentially the first week and not at all since. There’s so much going on that I’ve had a hard time summoning the energy to study at the end of the day.

Anyways, my brain is tired and I don’t feel like writing much today. My site is in Usulutan, one of the hottest parts of the country, but some of my favorite volunteers are relatively close by and a Salvadoran friend of mine promises me I’m not far from the most beautiful beach in the country. Headed into the capital this weekend to watch the Peace Corps team play soccer in the National Stadium. I was hoping to play some goalie but the team is already pretty full at that position. Plenty of time for that in the next two years though.

Hasta la proxima.