Random update (for those of you not on facebook)...I finally got my official residency ID card yesterday. I've officially been a resident since December 1, but now I have the ID card to prove it so I don't have to carry my passport around for official purposes (going to the bank, etc.).
One of my goals coming down here was to become, if not fluent in Spanish, at least a lot more proficient. The difficulty with that goal and living on the Ranch is that most people on the Ranch speak English, and the nearest translator is never more than a phone call away (and is sometimes right next to you). I could probably make it through my entire time down here without having to speak more than a dozen words of Spanish (to order food in a restaurant and to buy groceries at the store).
The first month or two that's basically what I did. I heard Spanish everywhere, but I definitely relied on students to translate for me, or other adults to translate for me. When people from the States spoke Spanish, I could usually understand it, but when the Hondurans spoke it, much of it went over my head.
By the end of September or beginning of October I was starting to understand the Hondurans when they would speak. I was at the point where I could recognize that I didn't know words they were using, but could identify (and maybe even look up) the word being used. And for me, that is one of the most difficult parts of speaking with them is identifying individual words, because initially they all seemed to run together.
In November I started taking Spanish classes with one of the teachers here, and that was very encouraging. It forced me to speak more Spanish. I was at the point where I could understand much of what was being said to me, but I never forced myself to speak it unless the person I was speaking with didn't know English. So actually taking a class did force me to speak a little bit more, and think more in Spanish.
Going home to the States showed me that I was functioning a bit more in the language, because it took a while for my automatic responses (thank you, excuse me, good morning, goodbye) to transfer back to English. Coming back to Honduras, on my first flight I was seated next to an elderly hispanic couple. He spoke some English, but she didn't speak any as far as I could tell. She was on the plane first, looking for her seat, and looking very confused. I saw her boarding pass as she was turning around and realized that she was sitting in my row. She was talking to herself in Spanish, so I asked her in Spanish if she was supposed to be sitting by me. She looked a little surprised initially (probably to hear me speaking in Spanish, because I had been conversing before with someone else in English), but realized that she was, but then she didn't know which seat, so she asked me which seat F was, and I understood the question and was able to answer it. A little thing, but it felt good. And when her husband showed up, she had him thank me for her in English...evidently she understood my Spanish, could see that I understood hers, but living in the States, was very accustomed to talking with strangers through her husband.
Now I'm in the second half of my year here. Yesterday my principal passed along the message that my spanish teacher had told her I was doing well in the language, which always makes me feel good. I had a conversation with my housekeeper today in which I understood most of what she said, and I'm pretty sure she understood what I was saying. I'm not taking translation at church anymore, and I'm usually understanding what's being taught. So while I would not yet say I'm proficient (and definitely not fluent), I may say that I'm functional in the language. I can have conversations about more than "Hi, how are you? What's your name? Pleased to meet you." The key for me is I need to keep pushing myself to practice and be willing to use the language. I also need to expand my vocabulary a bit...then again, I can be creative in getting my idea across, even when I don't know all the words...sometimes all it takes is a little bit of thought.
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