For Me, Learning Spanish is not Easy

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all, a comment on my last post about my blood pressure. I went to Dr. Marteniz on Wednesday afternoon. He checked my blood pressure in each arm and told me that it was in the normal range. I was very happy to get that good news.

Now for today's post.

Everyday, my email contains comments from friends about how tired they are of Spanish speaking people living in the U.S. without learning and using English. It is clear that these comments are forwarded from another source…which means the sender did not create the comment, but by forwarding it on, put their stamp of approval on it.

Actually, the intolerance of language is just one topic forwarded on to me about non-English speaking residents of the U.S. You receive them too, so you know what I mean.

Right now, for me, living in Ecuador, I could be at the receiving end of this intolerant attitude.

Today I went to our local co-op to shop. While shopping the fresh produce, I remembered I wanted mushrooms. I didn't see them, so I asked a clerk if she had any.....oh goodness I couldn't remember the Spanish word for mushrooms....I asked if she had ‘fungi?’ She looked at me completely confused. I told her it was o.k. and I kept looking. When I came to end of the aisle she came over to me and said “Ingles” (English) and pointed to a lady customer who was talking on a cell phone. So I went over to the lady and she handed me her cell phone and motioned for me to ask my question into her cell phone. I took the cell phone and asked this invisible person on the other end if the co-op had mushrooms. Then I handed the cell phone back to the lady who had given it to me and she talked with the English speaking person on the other end. As soon as I heard her say “champiñón” I felt so dumb. Of course, that is the local Spanish word for mushrooms. I knew that! I see it on restaurant menus all the time.

Where am I going with all this?

After I came home from shopping, I was checking my email and there was another forwarded comment about the sender’s intolerance of Spanish speaking U.S. residents not speaking English.

Intolerance …emotionally cold, bigoted, narrow-minded

Tolerance … emotionally warm, sensitive, open-minded

I am so blessed to be surrounded by tolerant Ecuadorans who go out of their way to help me adjust to my new language.

Just a little something to “chew on” as you interact with others in your daily existence.