Communication

One of the things I've committed to as part of my study abroad program is a language pledge. Except for some communication with family and friends (i.e. this blog), I've affirmed to completely immerse myself in Spanish. The gist of it is that I'm doing almost everything in Spanish: reading, writing, speaking... even when I'm chatting with the other gringos, and even if someone wants to practice their English with me. Not using English as a crutch is definitely helping my Spanish a ton already. I'm learning new words every day, becoming more confident in conversation and I'm even starting to think in Spanish more and more, just two weeks in. Still, I struggle with every Spanish sentence. There's so much I can't say that I want to say, so many things I want to talk about with my Chilean host family and friends... but I just can't because I'm not fluent enough. It can be incredibly frustrating. But it's also super exhausting. My brain works so hard all the day that by evening everything just wants to shut down and I find it super easy to fall asleep. Every day I feel some progress though, and I guess this is what study abroad is all about. Struggling and making lots of mistakes, but pushing on and enjoying all the fun and great memories which come out of the unique experience.

Caramba it's raining hard right now. I'm going to bed.