Hi I’m Marco, and I Work with People who are “Freaky”

Monday February 25, 2008

I woke up this morning exhausted from all of the travels and dreaded having to go back to an actual classroom, yuck. From Paris to classroom there is a large contrast and its not one that I particularly enjoy. Today class was all right and in our last class we had a “gitana” (gypsy) come and talk to us about the stereotypes and segregation involved with being a gypsy in Europe, especially in Spain. It was all pretty interesting to learn about. We came home after school for lunch and headed to our “intercambio” (exchange) where we were to meet Spanish speakers who are learning English. I met four new people and it was great taking to them in English and then in Spanish. I think that I learned more from talking with them for an hour than I have this whole trip (oops!). Afterwards a group of 10 or so of us headed to a bar and got coffee and sodas. I had a pretty interesting conversation with Marco, my new Spanish friend. I asked him what his job was. He was telling me (in English) that he worked for the city and worked with people who were “freaky.” I looked at him and just started to laugh and I was really confused. Freaky? Really? I asked him how they were “freaky” (yeah, kind of a racy question) and he said its because they were different than other more normal people. I think that he meant to use the word strange but instead he used freaky. I then explained to him that freaky is a word that is frequently associated with sex and people that you are scared of and he became bright red. He had no idea! It was hilarious. Ah, the trials and tribulations of learning a new language. I loved having these “intercambios” because it almost felt like a safe haven where I could use my language. These people are learning a new language as well and they know how it feels, so it’s really good to talk to them. It’s also really interesting to find out more about Spaniards and their culture in general, plus now I have more Spanish contacts within the city. I gave my e-mail address to Marco and the three other girls that I talked to. Hopefully we are going to meet up a few other times. Marco told me that in 4 months he is going to have great English and I’m going to have great Spanish, how exciting! It was nice taking to someone and feeling like I accomplished something. AND I made the group of Spaniards laugh at the café, which pretty much made my life. It wasn’t because they didn’t understand or because they thought I was awkward, they actually laughed at a joke that I made. After the amazing “intercambio” experience I went to República to check my e-mail and then headed home for dinner and homework.