¡Ay Dios mío! This weekend was a whirlwind, so here’s window into my second fin de semana in Ecuador.
On Friday, I saw The Rise of Skywalker in theaters, in Spanish. To the distaste of some… I loved it! But I won’t get into that here, as this is a Funnies column, not a movie review.
Saturday consisted of hoofing it up the Pichincha Volcano, and Sunday boasted of basketball in the park.
Coming home from school today, I was feeling pretty beat for the second day in a row. Despite my 9 horas of sleep the night before, the full weekend and my insecurities with Spanish were catching up to me.
Upon my arrival home, I was prepared for a quick exchange with my host parents and retreat into my room. But instead, my nephew was at my house. In Ecuador! What are the chances?
Well it turns out the chances are pretty high when it’s your host nephew, and he’s visiting his grandparents.
Despite a semi-awkward introduction fueled by my lack of Spanish and first meeting jitters, we kept talking.
Soon a little voice pestered me to get away from the conversation. I had a long day and wanted to relax.
But I pushed that voice away and instead pushed myself to keep talking to him.
We talked family, Fortnite, and music. I even got a few recommendations.
(I forgot how much Linkin Park rocks! Both middle school Nathan and my host nephew would be proud.)
While we were talking, I did the natural gringo thing, and told him that my Spanish wasn’t great, so I wouldn’t get judged too severely.
To my surprise and boost to my ego, he told that my Spanish was good!
Before I knew it, my host sister came and picked him up, and an hour had gone by.
We had talked solamente en español for an hour.
To think that if I had followed that little voice inside my head, I would’ve missed out on a new friend, music recommendations, and a boost to my Spanish confidence.
Oh and me wanting to get away from the conversation because I was tired? After this interaction with him, I feel more energized than I have in days.
