The other day, there was an excursion for all of the international students on the campus. There are about 60 international students, and I am the only one from the United States. We went to a beach called Pehuen-Có about an hour east of Bahía Blanca. I was still in the process of making friends after only being here for about a week and some days (una semana y pico). When it was time to eat, we played a game where we stood in a circle and introduced ourselves in Spanish, saying our name, our country and one thing we liked about Argentina. Naturally, I was nervous, because I did not want to mess up my introduction in Spanish in front of those who were already fluent.
By the time the game was over and everyone did their introductions, I realized that I was not alone. I noticed that other students were also nervous about their level of Spanish and felt like there was a wall between them and learning the language. When I met some of the Brazilian and German students, I realized that we shared the same struggles and desires to overcome those challenges in order to become better Spanish-speakers. This made me feel more comfortable and a bit more hopeful about my time here in Bahía Blanca and at the university.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the native Spanish speakers from countries like Colombia and Mexico were also having difficulty understanding Argentine Spanish, which has its own distinct accent and vocabulary. In a way, regardless of what culture we came from or our level of Spanish, we all experienced linguistic challenges in some way.
I realized through this excursion that one must not make assumptions or feel hopeless, especially when living in another country.
