The Language

I am certainly glad that Jimmy and I both speak Spanish, and I knew that there would be differences of vocabulary and accent here from what I am used to hearing in Spain or in California, but there are times that I feel like I don't understand a word that someone just said to me.  This is for a few reasons:

- Vocabulary - just like in the U.S., we use different words in different parts of the country (soda/pop, ya'll/you), and in England there is a far greater difference in vocabulary, but we can all still figure things out and understand one another, usually.

- Chilean words and expressions - We have learned a handful of words and expressions that people often use here.  The ones I hear used the most are 'cachai', used at the end of a sentence to mean 'you know?' or 'know what I mean?'; 'Sí, po' - just a way of saying yes, or 'yes, well...' or 'yeah, but...'.  A few of the people I have met use these two expressions all the time.

- Indigenous Words - the names of plenty of the streets and cities in Chile have to do with their history, mainly the Mapuche people, among other indigenous groups.  The words have root in the languages of the indigenous peoples of Chile, so many are unlike the words I am accustomed to using.  (I was happy to discover that several of the streets immediately surrounding our apartment are actually named after cities in Spain....something familiar. :))  Perhaps not such an obvious thing to a non-Spanish speaker, but here are a few examples of the names that seem very foreign to me...
Arauco
Araucano
Apoquindo
Apumanque
Manquehue
Gertrudis Echiñique
Irarrázaval
Coquimbo
Illapel
Iquique
Copiapó (where our neighbor Jessica is from)

- Accents - Some people are from different parts of the country (look at it on a map - its narrow, but long... approx. 2,600 miles long, and averages only 110 miles wide!) and the accents can vary significantly.  Some people are very hard for me to understand, combined with coloquial expressions and difference of vocabulary make for a challenging conversation at times!

I'm actually watching a travel show about Spain on T.V. as I write this, and its a very strange feeling to be in a Spanish-speaking country that feels so foreign to me still, whereas listening to the Spanish (from Spain) accents on television sound so familiar and make me miss Spain quite a lot!  Its too bad Spain wasn't closer to California or we might be living there!! (sorry Mom!)  But tomorrow is only four weeks that we will have been here, and I know it certainly time to come to love Spain as much as we do.  So far Chile is a wonderful country in its own way and for its own reasons, that we are continuing to uncover each day we are here!