The Power of Sucking It Up
That first dinner at 871 Larrea, Buenos Aires, my head felt like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. My brain struggled to piece together sentences in English, much less comprehend the Spanish that was being thrown around like food in a food fight, mixed and mashed together. Questions directed at me were answered with a nod and a lot of “yes’s”. I quickly learned the phrase “I don’t understand”. Four months later I would sit at that same table, playing Rummi Cube with my host mother and sister, bantering back and forth. My head no longer felt like a balloon ready to burst, and Spanish came to me quicker and easier than English did. Those four months taught me the power of sucking it up, and showed me that the world is at your fingertips when you do so. I spent the first week walking forty minutes to school each morning, too afraid of the nonsensical bus system to try it out. A month later I found myself giving up my seat like a good Argentinian gentleman to a young pregnant woman, while the bus driver yelled at the “Gringo” that this was the stop. 19