As early as Adam and Eve’s eviction from the Garden and new life out East*, people have been settling in to daily life in countries and cultures other than their own. Assimilation happens, but for the first few months (years?) there are many funny when completing a basic task is an exercise in both humility and small victories.

Typically I wouldn’t boast of my ability to make a dentist appointment. But making Malcolm an appointment with a dentist in Mexico, well that is a horse of a different color. I’ve only been attempting to speak Spanish for, like three months. I studied French in school. I knew maybe four Spanish words (peligro!) from Sesame Street and could count to ten. And now, this Tuesday, because of my wondrous ability, Malcolm is either going in for a routine cleaning or a major root canal. We shall see!

Also in the last couple of days I’ve taken a dance class. Again, something I’ve done thousands of times, and which I normally would not find all that exceptional. But, taking a jazz class in Mexico. amazing. I have never, ever been foreign like this. And in a place so familiar as a dance studio. Dancers are gossipy, judgmental, and vain. And I arrive, out of shape, 28, an enormous, flushed face gringa, what must they have thought? Except everyone was great, trying our their English while I hobbled along, trying to remember verb conjugations and double pirouettes.

Every day like this. The most mundane things, questions, conversation, are beyond me. It’s always been so easy, language. When I open my mouth to speak in English, people know who I am (or who I want them to think I am). I have nuance, personality, the upper hand. Here, I am leveled. My voice is the voice of a child, with a limited vocabulary, still learning the melody of speech.

I miss that element of confidence, where I can make a game of language, stretch it, combining argot and elegance, use it as I please. And yet to be stripped in this way is refreshing. I am liberated, vulnerable, mutable. What marvelous thing will I accomplish today?

* Dropped In does not in any way endorse the teaching of Creationism or “Intelligent Design” anywhere, ever.