Forty days into the trip… first blog post. The math works, yeah?
Hello all,
So… the plan for this trip was to have a regularly updated blog but that’s obviously gone to hell. So you’ll all have to settle for sporadically published tidbits whenever I feel inspired. Ok? Cool.
♠ Language Barriers ♠
Spanish is the dominant language in the countries I’m spending the vast majority of time in. Shocker, right? I know I should have made more of an effort to learn it while still in Canada. I had good intentions but terrible follow-through. Getting ready for the trip took priority and learning the language fell by the wayside. In most places I’ve been, the locals are so friendly and willing to help travelers but the inability to communicate on my part semi-hinders that hospitality. Now that I’m in Belize (an english-speaking nation), I’m good for the next two weeks. However, knowing that I’m headed back to Guatemala (and then Nicaragua and Costa Rica) I’m going to use my downtime to extend my vocabulary and grammatical proficiency. This way, I can be more confident in my conversational skills and not feel like a tool whenever I open my mouth.
However, my spanish issues aren’t the only language hiccups I’ve run into. I’ve met backpackers from all over the world in the last forty days. As one would expect in my current situation – I encounter countless accents, bits of slang and varied word meanings on a daily basis. Living in Whistler the past two years, I can speak fluent Aussie but some of the accents I’m unfamiliar with throw me for a loop at times. For example, just last night my lovely Austrian bunk-mate Gert announced proudly (in his Schwarzenegger-like tone) “I think it’s time for a poop.” This was what I thought I heard. Now, you need to understand that I just recently finished a six day hike in the Guatemalan highlands where it was perfectly acceptable (and sometimes encouraged) to let the group know how the plumbing was functioning. So, I found Gert’s statement only slightly abnormal since we don’t really know each other well but I was ready to respond with a spirited “Good luck in there” or something of the like when he came out with his follow up – “To the kitchen I go.” This produced quite a disturbing visual for the two seconds it took for me to re-evaluate his previous statement and draw the correct conclusion about what he actually said in the first place – “I think it’s time to cook.”
♠
just after sunrise on Caye Caulker, Belize.