Ready or Not...

The suitcase is unpacked, the laundry is done, the school supplies are bought, and the first lesson is planned. Vacation is over, and classes are about to begin!

…or so I thought.

But…this is Colombia…Barranquilla…Universidad del Atlántico. And things don’t move at the same pace that I’m used to. And it’s the night before classes are supposedly supposed to start, yet class registration hasn’t opened for students. So maybe we’ll start the following day, or maybe it will be next week, as some students were telling me today.

Believe it or not, I'm itching to go back to work! Oh well. I’ll go with the flow, because there’s really no other choice, and enjoy the unexpected day(s) off.

As I sign off, here are a few pictures from my trip to Argentina.

Tuteo, Voseo, Ustedeo

In English, we have one form of “you.” Whether we’re talking to the president or to a dog, we use “you.” Whether we’re addressing one person or a crowd, it’s “you” (unless, of course, you live in the south, where it’s “y’all” or “you’uns”). Formal or informal, singular or plural, we have one pronoun and one verb conjugation. Spanish, on the other hand, has more variety. Tú, vos, usted, ustedes, and vosotros are all forms of “you”! [ustedes and vosotros are plural forms]

Note the varieties of verb conjugations in the following example (asking “Where are you from?”)

¿De dónde eres tú?
¿De dónde sos vos?
¿De dónde es usted?
¿De dónde son ustedes?
¿De dónde sois vosotros?

In Barranquilla, among other places, the tuteo is predominant, or the use of tú rather than the more formal usted. It’s still common to use the formal pronoun with older people, authority figures, or recent acquaintances, but people adopt the tú form much more quickly than in other places.

In Bogotá, I was surprised to hear how much the ustedeo is used compared to the tuteo. For example, I often heard close friends address each other as usted; even older children would address younger children with the formal pronoun.

Here in Argentina (as well as many other regions of Latin America—see map below), the voseo dominates. After a few weeks I’m getting used to being addressed as vos instead of tú and to hearing verbs accented differently (due to the conjugation). And the voseo isn’t the only difference between Argentine and Colombian Spanish (or other dialects I’m used to). There are different vocabulary words (remis instead of taxi; pileta instead of piscina for pool; remera instead of camiseta for T-shirt); different pronunciations (“y” or “ll”, which are usually pronounced like the English “y” in yes, sounds like “sh” here…so Barranquilla is pronounced “BarranquiSHA); the prosody (or intonation) is more sing-songy, and there are a couple of words that are supercommon in Colombian Spanish that are taboo here, and vice versa.

Thank you (tú, vos, usted, ustedes, vosotros…) for reading :)




Dark and medium blue= Countries where the voseo is predominant.
Green= Countries where the voseo is used in some regions.
Light blue= Countries where the voseo is proporcianally scarce.
Red= (Spain, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Puerto Rico) The voseo is never used

There's no place like home.

“Culture, in its broadest sense, is what makes you a stranger when you’re away from home.” -Phillip Bock and Edward Hall

After almost six months away from home, I have to admit I often still feel like a stranger here. And it’s not for lack of effort on my part to try to integrate. Nor is it because Colombians haven’t reached out to me and welcomed me into their homes. Instead, it’s just an honest realization: cross-cultural living is hard. Moving is hard. Starting from scratch is hard. Making friends, building a community, is hard. And when you’re doing it entirely in a language and culture that’s not your own…it’s exponentially harder. I’m thankful that I’ve had previous experiences abroad, and I’m grateful for my years of Spanish study. But in spite of all that, I’m having to admit to myself that there will be times of homesickness, and that’s OK. Pride tempts me to deny it, to say “I’m independent and self-sufficient;” a nagging voice causes me to question what I’ve always believed in—that multiculturalism is enriching, that deep, fulfilling cross-cultural relationships are possible. It’s tempting to idealize what I’m missing, believing that everything’s perfect in the States, or to become disillusioned about living abroad.

But that’s going to the extreme, allowing a natural phase of culture shock (although that's not really the best phrase in this case) get the best of me. The truth is, though, that home—roots—a sense of belonging—is significant. It’s a central part of who we are. Having a home culture is a privilege, and accepting it--the good, the bad, and the ugly--is crucial in achieving "healthy integration of the new with the old [culture]" (Myron Loss in Culture Shock).

A Brief Report from the Southern Hemisphere

Happy 2011!

What a whirlwind of a New Year it’s been. To recap the last few days:

-On the morning of December 31st, I said goodbye to Emily and the others from “Kiwi House” and headed down to Bogotá to meet up with Eileen. After having breakfast with her dad, sisters, brothers-in-law, and grandpa, we went to the airport. At 1:00 pm we left Bogotá, and at 9 p.m. we arrived in Santiago, Chile. Since we had a 12-hour layover and since it was New Years Eve, we left the airport in search of a celebration. It was so strange to be back in Santiago after 3 ½ years especially considering the time of night and that we only had a few hours there. From the airport we took a bus to the Metro station, where we rode the metro to the Torre Entel, the location of the biggest NYE celebration in Santiago. We got there about 10, found something to eat, and sat down and talked until midnight. The plaza was crazy when midnight rolled around—thousands of people with bullhorns, confetti, champagne, etc. As soon as the firewrosk stopped we decided to go back to the airport, since it didn’t seem like the safest idea to be haning around by ourselves on the streets of Santiago in the madrugada (wee hours of the morning). We walked for quite a while looking for transportation. With the help of a policeman, we caught a cab, got back to the airport before 2 am, and caught a few winks stretched out on airport chairs waiting for our 8 am flight.



The crowd gathered at Torre Entel in Santiago, Chile on New Year's Eve.

-By 11 am on New Years, we were in Buenos Aires, Argentina! Eileen’s friend Andrés (a Bogotano who lives in Buenos Aires) picked us up, we rode the bus for 2 hours, and arrived at the apartment of Andrea, a Colombian student involved with Cru in Buenos Aires. That afternoon the three of us girls headed out into the city for lunch. We walked a ton, but it was great to see the city. From the little I’ve seen, I LOVE Buenos Aires. Its architecture is very European, and it feels like Bucharest in many ways. Really, it’s like Europe in Latin America—can you beat that? The city has so much character, and right now (the middle of summer) the temperature is perfect.



Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires

-On Sunday Eileen, Andrea and I met up with some Brazilian friends of Eileen’s who happened to be in Buenos Aires. We saw the Plaza de Mayo (which is super-important in Argentina’s history; if you’re interested, read here) and strolled through the Feria de San Telmo, an endless row of vendors selling everything from handmade crafts to antiques.



One of the random things you find at a street fair--a Chik-fil-a apron, Spanish style!

-At 8 pm on Sunday, along with about 30 students and staff, we set out from the Crusade headquarters. Twelve hours later, we arrived in Córdoba, the site of the national conference, or “campamento de verano.” Well, about 15 minutes away from the destination our bus got a flat tire, so we had to be ferried to the conference site little by little in cars. The conference kicked off on Monday, and it’s been awesome already. Having grown up in Campus Crusade, there’s something so “homey” about conferences, no matter where in the world they take place. Aside from the welcoming event, we’ve had one plenary session and one workshop (I signed up for on aimed at professionals, about integrating faith and work), and a couple of small group/debrief meetings. It’s exciting to be here, among over 200 students and staff from Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, the U.S., and Colombia. There’s so much to learn, and I know both Eileen and I are looking forward to bringing ideas and tools back to Barranquilla to put into practice this coming semester.



With Eileen and a new firend, Maria Sol, in Cordoba, Argentina