Thursday, May 20, 2010

Casado con Pollo

Three days of Spanish classes and six days total in Costa Rica and we’ve seen some incredible sights. The experiences are starting to gain depth and breadth, but they are only peripheral elements of what the trip is really about. I am here to walk in the footsteps of an English language learner. What does that mean? This experience cannot be captured or understood in any book, photograph or simple explanation. It can only be lived. It can only be felt, tasted, and seen. It can only manifest itself in the tiny victories and defeats one feels on a daily basis when your entire frame of reference has been shaken to the core. The experience encompasses all the senses.

To truly understand what it is like to walk in the shoes of an English language learner one has to go through the tensions, frustrations, and joys of someone who does not know the language. I have experienced that so far through an informational, and sensory collage of sights and emotions. I have experienced it in the difficulty in communicating, the mind numbing onslought of mental overload that comes from not knowing a language, and the frustration of completing the simplest of tasks.

There have been moments of triumph as well. For example: I went to a restaurant by myself the other night and from begging to end I spoke only in Spanish. The strange thing was that a few days before I had the same meal in the same restaurant with my classmates, but somehow it tasted better after ordering it entirely in Spanish. This basic task, which anyone would normally take for granted, turned into a monumental victory. This all adds to the authenticity of what a child in school who is an English language learner faces everyday.

As I was eating my Casado con Pollo, one of the national dishes of Costa Rica, I realized the dish itself is a reflection of my experience. Casado con Pollo is a combination of rice, beans, chicken, fired plantain and salad. There is nothing spectacular about each individual component part of the dish, in fact it is relatively bland, but taken as a whole it comes together to form a rich culinary experience. Like Casado, each individual experience as a person that does not know the language, is not very important, but taken as whole they have imprinted an unforgettable image in my mind of what it will be like to teach students who are English language learners. And I have only taken a few footsteps so far.

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