the more i know, the less i know

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
the more i know, the less i know
Current mood: enthralled
Category: Travel and Places
First some pictures, then some thoughts:
My host mom Vicenta making tortillas:



at the top of nariz del indio hike near san pedro:


Market in Chichicastenango:

Guatemalan BBQ:

Studying spanish on the lake:

At the top of the San Pedro Volcano:

Cliff jumping in San Marcos:

With my spanish teacher, Letty, in traditional dress at school:

Waking up for the sunrise on the last day of a 3 day trek:

Last day of the hike!




So after two and a half weeks of living with a host family and attending language school in ....Guatemala...., it is ever increasingly clear to me both how little I know and how much I want to learn. To see a culture from the inside out, literally from inside the confines of a structure called home to a family of ....Guatemala....’s own, is a very unique experience. It is hard for me to eat a meal now without a homemade tortilla in one hand and a fork in the other while the clap clap clap sound of more tortilla making is in the background. Learning Spanish is a whole other story. I wish I had so much more time than I do- time to let it really sink in, to use all the tenses properly, and to interact with locals in real time and not “speak slowly because she’s a foreigner” time. Time to put words in a sentence in the correct order.


When I started language school my brain was so confused. I kept pronouncing y as the French et (the first language I was exposed to and learned). Then every now and then a German word would creep in too (or even just the German sentence structure with the infinitive at the end of the sentence), clearly because I speak German better than French any day of the week… the process was quicker to learn Spanish because I had learned other languages, but the pronunciation at the beginning was a bit atrocious, and the spelling is still a little more French occasionally than Spanish.


I’ve had some unique opportunities at my school such as a conversation club four nights a week as well as other activities such as cultural movies, trips to neighboring city’s markets, and salsa classes, to name a few. I’ve tried hard to stay out of the travelers’ social group and instead found myself practicing Spanish with locals, once in exchange for a little English practice as well.


My school has classes in the garden by the beautiful ....Lake.. ..Atitlan.... and having a native teacher became more like visiting an old friend for four hours a day- in another language. We laughed so much (once to the point of tears) and got on so well, it was like having another window to the culture, one close to my age and to whom I felt comfortable asking any question- about the Spanish language as well as Guatemalan culture. It was nice to see that the window goes both ways and Letty, my teacher (only 19 years old and an amazing teacher), got to learn a bit about my culture and life as well.


The more I know the less I know, indeed. After being asked about life in the United States, and therefore talking about the so-called “bad” economy in the US right now, (a hot topic back home) to a local in Guatemalan making about 2 dollars an hour, (which is good for here) I can’t help but feel like my worries are so miniscule in comparison to many in the world today. In restaurants or bars, locals don’t tip because they can’t. We, the travelers, are expected to tip.


The cost for tourists for activities or purchases (hiking a volcano or buying a bag, for example) is usually about twice that asked of locals. If spending more on a bag or hiking or jewelry (which is still a steal when compared to prices in the US) means a family gets to eat more for have even just one of the luxuries that are so familiar to me I don’t think of them as luxuries (clean water, clothes, showers, freedom, choice!...) then I don’t mind still paying much less than I would in my country, even if it’s more than the locals pay in this country. It makes me feel bad, makes me want to do more. No need to try my hand at bargaining the cost down. The disparity makes me want to pay for everything for Guatemalans. Makes me want to spend more time with them and UNDERSTAND. From an inside perspective, from another language’s perspective, from MY perspective.



After seeing such disparities, there’s even an almost shameful feeling to be from the ....US.... to me sometimes. The opportunities and the fact that I could come on this trip at all when I’m as broke as the next person shows the discrepancy quite clearly.



The more I know, the less I know.



The more I want to know.