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May 24, 2006

Beat the shock!

It’s over. My time in Cuenca, Ecuador has finished. Now I’m here in Rhode Island, and I feel what people warned me about: culture shock.

I have been here for a week now, and every morning I still wake up confused from my night’s dream in Spanish. I wake up and think I am going to hear my host mom open my door saying “ Jennnnnaaa, desayunoooo (Jenna, breakfast).” Instead I find myself waking up to no one, and a room filled with all my unpacked things. I have no interest in unpacking, I think once I am unpacked and organized I will know that I am definitely not returning. Right now, I have left one bag packed, just in case...

Unfortunately it’s impossible to return until I make some money and finish my schooling, so I will have to get used to this culture shock feeling. I need to stop saying “permiso” when walking through a crowd, or in a restaurant, “ tiene salsa de tomate (do you have any ketchup?),” or carrying a role of toilet paper around in my purse (bathrooms never had toilet paper) or saying “gracias (thank you)” and “buenas dias/buenas tardes or buenas noches (good morning, good afternoon and good evening).”

I need especially to stop speaking Spanish when I am drunk. I went to visit my college and after a couple drinks at the bar, I was on the hunt for anyone that looked even slightly Latino that I could speak with. When I went to the bathroom there was a woman who looked to be of Latino descent cleaning the restroom, and upon seeing her I proceeded to give her the traditional kiss greeting and start talking to her in Spanish. Bad idea. She definitely did not speak Spanish, and was in fact rather offended. This did not stop me though. I continued my hunt and I found a Portugese boy and started going off in excitement thinking he could understand me, then found out Portugese and Spanish really are not that similar. So I then decided it was a great idea to speak Spanish to my Croatian boyfriend, so we continued the rest of the night speaking two very distinct languages and not understanding each other at all, but somehow I felt a lot better, even though I knew he couldn’t understand me.

I know I will continue to have a lot of adjustment problems, especially with the prices of food and the rules and regulations here in the U.S., but I am happy to be home. Things in Ecuador and in the U.S. are certainly different, especially for me and the rest of abroad students. Abroad is not reality, we have to remember this. Studying abroad is the dream life, most of us did not work, we just traveled, learned, and enjoyed life in another culture. I know the hardest part for me is coming back to obligations; I have to train for soccer, I have bills to pay, gas to pay for, and actually study when school begins.

Our lives abroad were without obligations and worries, and now we are here with them, which rightfully make us resent the U.S. Remember, this is our home county until we become citizens of another, so love and respect the things that we take for granted here. Also, it helps me to think that working and getting through school makes me one step closer to returning to South America. All those planning on returning to your host country, just work hard for now, then play time comes later. All those returning for another semester or to live, you are lucky, just don’t forget us!:)

Some quick words of advice for the next group of bloggers. Listen to Sheila, write often but small. I did the complete opposite and hardly ever wrote. Maybe keep a journal outside of the blogs where you can write down activities and emotions when they happen. I kept a journal and wrote everyday in the beginning, but then towards the end I hardly ever wrote. Try to keep it up, you will thank yourselves later. Also, remember that people really want to feel and be able to envision where you are and what your life is like, so try to think of the small details and daily events that make your country so unique.

Good luck to all those planning on studying abroad, it really is the experience of a lifetime and WELCOME HOME to all those who have returned!

Posted by Jenna McCrory  at 10:49 AM | Permalink

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