Español, kichwa, lengua de señas

We are halfway through our study portion and our language skills are improving, slowly but surely. Each morning is spent in Spanish language classes with our three wonderful teachers, Silvia, Loli, and Fernanda. They help reinforce vocabulary and common phrases for everyday communication (conversing with our families, navigating the buses, etc.), as well as advancing our Spanish grammar.

A favorite class activity so far has been venturing out to the local frutería to purchase fruit. Silvia, Loli, and Fernanda taught us which fruits to ask for and how to barter, and we returned to Casa de Espiritualidad to make our own ensalada de fruta. Thanks to its diverse geography, Ecuador grows a variety of fresh fruit that we enjoyed, including watermelon, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, papaya, mango, bananas, strawberries, and apples. The new fruits we tried were taxo, naranjilla, granadilla, and chirimoya.

In addition to Spanish, three of our ASL students are also learning Ecuadorian sign language (lengua de señas) with Miguel, while Julian is teaching the rest basic Kichwa, one of the official indigenous languages of Ecuador.

We continue to work hard at learning how to communicate and make meaningful relationships despite language barriers. A couple of students have described this challenge and the power of language in their journals:

“I have been thinking a lot about my Spanish personality. My international friends back home told me about how different you can be depending on the language you are speaking, and I think I am finally starting to understand what they were talking about. However, I am still learning about Spanish [me] and it’s kind of confusing. It feels like making a new friend who doesn’t have much to talk about with you.”

“After thinking… about the power of expression, I hope to make an effort to be more intentionally expressive in Spanish, lengua de señas, and also in English…. I am increasingly grateful for my body and its ability to show so much without speaking, and for my mind, because it can translate and read emotions, sentences, and words. Thanks be to God for all the ways we are able to adapt just to be able to make connections with new family from around the world!”