learn to speak spanish or...

[+@^^]

my lack of Spanish language skills led to the most beautiful experiences on the camino
.
i tried to avoid any english speaking pilgrims
because that made conversation too easy, and i felt isolated from other non-english speaking pilgrims
this lead to me having to really concentrate during multi lingual conversations
i was ever so grateful for my basic university Latin
this gave me access to many of the romantic languages
and an elementary access to the richness and perspective of other cultures
BUT....
.
probably the most under-estimated skills
are those of Charades and Pictionary
.
i still crack up at some of the 5-language conversations that took place in Spanish, but without a single Spanish native tongue speaker being present
.
so at the dinner table were:
a dutch woman (we spoke Afrikaans and she could also speak a bit of Spanish and French)
a young German guy who spoke 6 languages (and he anchored some conversations and translated)
a Japanese woman who had and electronic translator and a bit of basic Spanish
a French guy with a French / Spanish phrase book
me with and English / Spanish phrase book
.
we drew pictures on paper serviettes
acted out scenes
referred to phrase books
used 3 or 4 versions of the same word
followed by raucous "sI sI"
......... and all this just to understand what was on the menu del dia
.
the thrill of achieving commucation was one of the greatest highlights of my camino
for me, this was a connection of hearts
a beautiful experience

 

[Caminando]

20 odd years ago, in St Juan de Ortega, the priest there (now passed on) insisted that all pilgs get together at the start of the evening and discuss the camino. We were many different nationalities, had no common tongue and somehow it worked! A remarkable experience.

In the morning we were woken by the sound of Gregorian chant floating up to the dorm......

 

[RestlessRose]

This past camino, I had walked 3 full days with a Spanish who spoke not a word of English. And I know probably no more than 20 Spanish words. But those were not silent days. Conversation flowed continuously and somehow we understood each other.

Whist it was an interesting experience, and I do wish I know more and could communicate better.