girlscandoanything

Spanish and Solitude

The past week two things have been at the forefront of my mind. Spanish and solitude.

I took three years of Spanish classes in highschool. I should know how to say something or read something in Spanish after three years of instruction, right? Wrong. Oh, I can tell you that I have yellow pants or that the dog is fat or that my name is Christy, but I cannot say anything of consequence. And I cannot read anything of consequence--namely, the information about graduate and post-grad programs in Latin America that I am trying to look into. I knew that I would have to study Spanish again before moving to Latin America, but I hadn't thought much about the need for mastery of the language in order to decide where in Latin America I would move.

Solitude comes to mind this week as I read Henri Nouwen in preparation for my intensive class starting on Monday. He talks about the move from loneliness to solitude, and I keep wondering where I am in that process. I am not lonely. That much I am sure of . I can enjoy being alone and being quiet--in fact, I crave it often, but I still don't feel the peace and security that Nouwen expresses as the product of this solitude. Does that mean that I don't have enough of the solitude that I crave? Or does it mean that I am more lonely than I feel I am?

Perhaps the two subjects are more related than I know. Perhaps moving to Latin America without mastering the language will isolate me just enough to bring about the experience of solitude as it ought to be!

posted by CT @ 8:32 AM