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  • Writer's pictureBrynn Smith

Communicating en la Costa

You learn a lot about communication when you suddenly find yourself in a place where no one speaks your language, and in a situation where you don’t have the necessary vocabulary to express yourself. It’s like being trapped inside of your own brain at first, trying to scream through soundproof glass. Then, as you are building up your vocabulary, you learn how to sign through the glass. The people on the outside can see you, and you can finally get by. Then one day, (let's say, 3-5 months later) you realize that the microphone was there the whole time. You just had to find the button.


When I first arrived in Colombia, I naively believed that my high school and college Spanish classes would somehow magically mix together with the “total language immersion”, and my brain would just flip over to fluent Spanish in a month or so. It didn’t. I thought that language acquisition was instinctive, that if I just were to surround myself in words, my brain would absorb them like a sponge, like it must’ve done when I learned English, right? Nope. Apparently, that synaptic ship has already sailed. I’m now learning to think of my language acquisition more as a muscle, you have to practice everyday to build its strength. No pain, no gain.


However, not being able to communicate as well as I’d hoped in my first few months, actually taught me a lot more about communication. It made me remember that I need my words less often than I thought. I’ve learned how much we take our words for granted, and I’ve learned how much can be said without using words at all. In fact, here in la costa, actions are sometimes more important than words anyways. It reminded me that where words fall empty, actions can speak volumes.


People here share things. If you have a bag a chips, you offer some to everyone. This says, "I want you to enjoy these too." When you see someone you know in passing, you stop and you greet them. You show them that they are worth your time. You sit outside on the porch with your family or neighbors, even if its in silence sometimes. This tells you that you can co-exist, despite the differences and lack of words to fill the space.


My host mom here tells me that I’m a part of her family and that she wants to make sure I’m not hungry by leaving an extra plate of rice out for me every once in a while (even though I cook all my own meals here). My host sister tells me that I’m accepted and included by binging hours of Netflix series next to me with the English subtitles on, so she knows for sure that I can understand too. My host brother shares his mangos and ciruelas (plum-like fruit) with me, and this tells me that we’re friends.


My Spanish has gotten better now. I still make mistakes, but I know that those are all a part of the process. Our actions are the true universal language, and sometimes, those really do speak louder anyways.

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