Thursday, August 21, 2008

Blissful Ignorance

I must make a confession. I haven't had a Macedonian lesson in a month. I keep putting off studying, even though when my parents come, I intend to dazzle them with my command of the Macedonian language. So, why am I not studying so I can at least order my parents a nice meal in a restaurant in Makedonski? Honestly, I think it is because part of me likes walking around in my ignorant state, not understanding what people around me are talking about. I do not hear if there are lewd comments being made, obscenities or just idle chit chat. I can ignore most people around me on the street and not feel guilty. It is easy for me to tune things out and get lost in my own thoughts. In one of my feeble attempts to speak Macedonian to Bea, I miss pronounced a word and it turned out to be an explicative in Serbian. Yes, I am gifted at stumbling upon obscenities in other languages. Ask my German friends. In an earlier blog entry, I said was learning Macedonian because language is access to the culture. It is time for me to make good on that entry. I have no illusions about fluency. I simply want to be able to respond to people when they ask me a simple question. I understand much more than I am able to communicate. Here goes nothing!

2 comments:

zoNa said...

i totally know what you mean! i loved certain aspects of being in a car with three chinese people for hours and hours a day. when they got to speaking chinese, it was like opening the gate for me to withdraw into my own peaceful mind.

good luck with your studies!

Emily said...

Ems, I just caught up on your blog. I TOTALLY remember that feeling in Lima...I loved it!

Hope you're doing so well.