Reading Between the Lines

The most significant communication challenge I face in Ecuador is the language barrier. Although my Spanish has improved remarkably from the start of the semester, miscommunication is still a daily occurence. There are so many sayings and expressions that I don´t understand. And there are so many times where I can´t quite find the right words to truly express myself. My family also speaks Kichwa, the local indigenous language. This adds to the language challenge because I know very little Kichwa. Often when my family is conversing at dinner, for example, they are only speaking in Kichwa and I am silent, unable to contribute to any conversation. Sometimes I feels like the language difference definitely holds me back from fully expressing myself and my personality to the people I meet.

The changes in culture and language I´ve faced have definitely challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone and have improved my Spanish immensly. Overall, I am hapy with how everything has developed and how I have handled the changes. However, at this point, with less than three weeks left in the country, I do feel like I´m starting to experience what Barna calls, Culture shock. I think "culture fatigue" is a good descriptor of my current state. I go days without speaking a word of English and its exhausting. I am truly enjoying my experience here, but I think in a few weeks I will be ready to return to the comfort of a culture and a language that is familiar to me.