Isolated Journey

Moving from one country to another allows myself comprehend how difficult adapting to the United States is. Adapting to a new country, from my personal experience, is like a baby, since you do not know anything about the new world, or place. We, as human beings, have to cooperate with each other, and, that is how we learn. Adapting is not just about accepting people, it is about acknowledging each person that surrounds you and their traditions, language, and the most important, what they teach you.

Adaptation to me into a new country was a challenge. I had a tough time adapting myself to the United States; it was like a technology to an elder person. No matter how hard you play or try to make it work, you will not comprehend its functions. First, I could not intermingle with people, since I did not know the language; second, I did not even have a friend who could help me translate what I needed to say. I realize the language was hard to learn, and thus I still had to learn the culture, or historic background. For example, I did not even understand the language, and still I had to take a Chicago History class.

Learning the pronunciation was a challenge. Adapting my tongue to pronounce the word or letter the right way is like a tongue twister, since I was not used to the change of the letters. I felt like my tongue was fighting with my mouth as I tried to speak. Meanwhile, I learned the language, and I had what they called a Hispanic accent, so I practiced until the Caucasian accent was accurate for my ears. I was so ashamed of the Hispanic accent that I frankly stopped spending time with my Hispanic friends because I wanted to pay more attention how Caucasians pronounced their words. Although I forgot some of my Spanish, it was worth it because now I can manage both of the languages. As an example, now I can communicate with my Hispanic or Latino friends with Spanish, and also use English vocabularies in the sentences, or vice versa.

My pronunciation for people in the United States sounded funny. They thought that my accent sounded like the comedians that made fun of the immigrants, while in Venezuela everybody was amazed how glowingly I could speak Spanish. The tough part was not how they made fun it, the tough part is that I had to hear carefully what people told me, and then translate it to Spanish, so that I could have an answer. Not just that, I had to translate my respond back to English, and attach the grammar, or the word, so I had my concluding answer. The entire procedure was like a chicken trying to explicate itself to a duck.

Adjusting is gold to me. Besides learning the language, the tradition is like fireworks on July fourth stunning as dancing water, and independent as a free bird. Accepting people is all about adjusting to how they are, what they do, and specially feeling the comfort in the interest each person shares. I learned that moving from one country to another is not just about mingling with people; it is about accept the reality and learn how to appreciate the chance that the life gives you.