Oops! Moments

After 30+ years of living in the U.S. (mostly Massachusetts), I arrived in Costa Rica with my family to learn the language and culture of Latin America. 2+ years in, we feel like we have learned a good bit of each. Of course, 2 things remain undeniably true:

1. We have made and still make mistakes culturally and linguistically in Costa Rica; and
2. Latin American countries are not exactly the same, neither in language nor culture.

With truth #2 in mind, we expected some cultural and linguistic differences when we visited Bolivia last week to check out the place where we feel the Lord is calling us.

Costa Rica Oops Moments

Before we look at a couple of those oops moments in Bolivia let's go back to truth #1 above and relive my 3 worst oops moments (so far) in Costa Rica.

1. Hole punch

Shortly after our arrival in Costa Rica, I went to a local store looking for a 3-hole punch.  The problem: I didn't know the word for it. I found a dictionary in the store, but it didn't have the word. So I found a word for "hole" and a word for "punch."

Armed with "hoyo poncho," hand motions and "uno, dos, tres," I gave it my best shot. I knew it wasn't right, but I didn't know what else to do. The worker looked at me and in perfect English asked, "You need a 3-hole punch?" In hindsight, I should have asked if he spoke English first.

2. Walk of shame

You know...that time I was the only man walking down to the front of a church with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of women.

3. False cognate

I was talking with 2 tica friends (though we were in Panama at the time) once about the health concerns of foods with preservatives. Well that's what I wanted to be talking with them about anyway. I quickly found out the word was not "preservativos" as I had suspected...it was "preservantes." "Preservativos" happens to be another word for prophylactics. Oops.

4. Deaf or Left-handed?

I once told a tica friend that Polly knows sign language because her parents are deaf. Actually, that's what I meant to say. What I did say was that her parents are left-handed. Why the confusion? Surdo = left-handed; Sordo = deaf. My dad, for the record, is a lefty...as may be Jonah.

Bolivia Oops Moments

Okay, back to Bolivia. While we didn't have many oops moments there, two do stand out. One was cultural and the other linguistic.

1. A Bolivian greeting

During our first day in Bolivia, I met a local pastor who oversees an LACC school. At one point he shook my hand and came in for a hug. Well, it seemed to me he was coming in for a hug anyway. I'm a hugger and many ticos are huggers so it seemed right. As I hugged him he put his hand on my shoulder, pushed me away and said, "Okay, okay." It was awkward but no biggie.

It wasn't until the next day that I found myself in a similar situation. I finally figured out what was going on. My missionary friend in Bolivia had forgotten to give me the heads up on the proper Bolivian greeting between two men: They shake hands, with the same hand pat the back of the left shoulder of the other man twice and then shake hands a second time. That pastor must have thought I was crazy.

2. Tico

Having learned Spanish in Costa Rica, it should come as no surprise that I use a number of words that are common here but nowhere else. I used them a few times and got blank stares but I generally did well to avoid them. Only one provided a funny moment.

I used the word "tico" when I referred to people or things from Costa Rica. That's the word I always use in Costa Rica and throughout Central America. Well, apparently this term for Costa Rican has not made its way to Bolivia. To make matters worse, they do use the word, just differently.

So when I told a group of pastors, "My son was born in Costa Rica so he's a tico," they laughed. Only later did I find out that they use it to mean "little people." While my son is in fact little he is not a "little person" and that's not what I meant to tell that particular group of pastors.

Turning Frustration into Motivation

Nearly one month into life in Costa Rica, I feel pretty well acclimated to my surroundings and feel pretty comfortable in my new home. To state it another way: I am getting by just fine.

Getting around

I can make my way around the city without many issues:

• I can walk to a number of stores, malls and the downtown area.
• If I don't feel like walking to certain locations, I feel comfortable riding the bus (though I've only taken a few and do not have the whole system down yet).
• When I don't feel like walking or working through the bus system, I enter taxis with complete confidence that I will get to where I am going.

Communicating

Whether in a taxi or at a store, I have learned some of the more important Spanish words and phrases I need to know to get by. I am not afraid to make mistakes or work my way through things so eventually things work out okay.

Put to the test

I was put to the test yesterday. I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago after falling pretty hard while running. It's been taking longer to heal than I had anticipated, so I finally went to the doctor to make sure there is no structural damage.

After some friends guided me to a doctor's office, I was on my own. Thankfully the doctor spoke enough English to get through the appointment without much hassle. She ended by telling me in Spanish that the next appointment will be completely in Spanish (with a smile).

After that, I got into a taxi and communicated well enough to get me across town to the place where I needed to get my X-ray. I managed to follow the Spanish directions well enough to have the X-rays taken and then had the consultation in English. (My ankle is okay, by the way).

Finally, I got into a taxi and made my way back home.

I did all of this without any real complication. Some may consider that a success. To a degree it is. But it also left me frustrated.

The frustration

As I said in the beginning, I can get by here without any real issues. But I don't want to "get by." Back home in the States I don't merely "get by." I'm educated and communicate without any complication whatsoever. Here, I do my best to simply "get by."

I would be lying if I said this didn't frustrate me. It frustrates me a lot. We all have things that frustrate us in life. The key is not in the frustration, however. The key is what we do with that frustration.

Poco a Poco

I have determined to allow this frustration to be a motivation for me to push myself hard to learn the language. I will not take my learning lightly. I will continue to force myself into situations that require me to progress in my Spanish. I'm taking my doctor's challenge seriously. Next time I go there I will have my consultation using mostly Spanish.

We have a saying at the language school: poco a poco (little by little). I will not wake up tomorrow fluent in Spanish. But little by little I will learn. And I will take my learning seriously. I will be fluent sooner than later. I will do more than simply "get by."