My week as an illiterate retard

Ya, my title may not be PC, but it's my blog.

I've been here one business week. (That's 5 days for those of us who have been students for so long we've forgotten that other people only put in 5 days of work a week.) I'd like to take this time to cover some "lessons learned." Heck, for the fun of it, and because I've missed it so much, (notice the sarcasm), I'm going to do it in a 3-2-1 format.

Three things that I've observed
1. Not knowing how to read a language fluently can make things difficult. I've spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to use a payphone, only to realize that in BIG LETTERS is the requirement to dial 09 before I start the rest of the number. The only reason I figured this out is because I started translating every single phrase that was on the phone box with my little Spanish dictionary. A dictionary, I might add, that is for SPANISH speakers. As a result, I have a pronunciation guide of how to pronounce the English words, but not the Spanish. I've started carrying my dictionary in my left pants pocket and every time I come across a word that I don't know, I pull it out and try to translate it. After doing this for a week I'm starting to get better, but like I said at the start, if I am able to figure out what is going on, it takes me about 3-20X the amount of time it would if I was reading my native language.

2. Big cities are big cities. Spending 3 years in Chicago has prepared me for my time in Santiago more than any Spanish classes or orientation programs ever could. Big cities have their own idiosyncrasies that are shared and are unique. When I say this I'm talking about how stores are hidden between alleys. How decent supermarkets are hard to find, and once you find them you know there won't be any more around for probably about a mile. How boundaries like rivers, large streets or railroad tracks can mean the difference between a neighborhood you are same in and one that you probably shouldn't explore much farther. How to deal with and be comfortable dealing with beggars, street performers, con artist and a variety of other people that are pretty much unique and common in larger cities.
Within Santiago I can keep my mouth shut and mind my manners and I am fine to go almost anywhere. Even though I'm blond and blue eyed, there are enough different types of people there that I don't stand out. I don't feel that much of a strangeness when I am walking the streets, aside from not being able to understand the language and a few other small changes that I'm able to deal with as they come. I believe that the real culture shock, and the real fun, will begin when I get to Antofagasta and am no longer able to blend into the crowds.

3. I know a lot more Spanish than I though I did. That doesn't mean that I "know" Spanish, but I'm recognizing more words than I thought I would, and although I don't have concrete proof, I think my vocabulary is growing. In most situations I'm able to ask and get what I want when I order or buy something. However I'm also becoming more frustrated with the fact that I don't know as much Spanish as I want. I'm fine asking someone something, but when they start speaking back to me I am at a total loss. Combine this with the fact that the Chilean dialect is notorious for being being hard to understand, even by other Spanish speakers, and It's quite a challenge. Although there are these little victories, like today I was asking the desk clerk for a ticket for breakfast and he asked me what my room number was, and I actually understood what he was asking. Admittedly, it was partially a guess, but at the same time I didn't stare blankly at him. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to improving and working towards becoming competent, if not fluent someday.

Two Questions that I have.
1. I want to know how learning Spanish in Chile will influence how well I speak Spanish in the Northern Hemisphere. I spoke to one Native Chilean who worked in the United States . he said that if I can understand Chilean Spanish then I shouldn't have any problem with any other dialects. At the same time I want other Spanish speakers to understand what I am saying.
I had a bit of an epiphany about my 3rd day here. I realized that with all of the different dialects and accents of Spanish that there are, as long as I speak as clearly and as confidently as I can, it doesn't matter if my pronunciation is perfect, because I don't know exactly which dialect I am trying to match my pronunciation to, and neither does the person who I am speaking to. This knowledge of "sinning boldly" has given me the confidence to use my Spanish in situations where I might have been self-conscious before. I also have to say that no one has noticed and that I commonly get a fast string of Spanish in response that I have no idea in what they are saying.

2. Now that I've gotten partially comfortable being an illiterate retard in Santiago, I'm curious how well I'm going to deal with being an illiterate retard minority in Antofagasta. In the past, with my traveling, except for Singapore (which was a big city too), I have always had a large number of people with me that I traveled with and we didn't interact with the locals that much. This time I am only going to have my four other co-teachers and myself in a totally different culture. It is sure to be interesting.

One AHA or understanding I've had.
Well, where do I start. Lets just say that I mostly am realizing that I am as resourceful as I hoped I was in this situation. I'm pretty happy with myself so far. I'm sure that will change sometime soon.