Assumptions

Assumptions are a dangerous thing to play around with. Whether it ends up being true or not, making assumptions is like playing with fire. I had no idea how prominent they were until I came to Chile. People look at me funny because of my blonde hair and fair skin, and assume that I am just another dumb American. The frustrating thing about this assumption is that everyone that approaches me, or that I talk to that is from Chile, just assumes I don't know Spanish. The sad thing about it is, it has happened to me on multiple occasions. I don't mind people mustering up the courage to say hello to me in English. What I get frustrated with is when I go to a restaurant or the supermarket, the staff talks to me in English.

The first instance I really noticed it was when I was with a group of friends out for a night on the town and a young lady, that worked for a restaurant near by, approached us. At first, she talked to Eric and he said he didn't speak a lot of Spanish. When I heard this, I butted in to help. As soon as I spoke to her in Spanish, she switched to English, trying to explain everything to me like I didn't understand her the first time. I guess it was bad on my part to think that a vertical head nod was the universal sign for 'yes.' After she tried to speak to me in English, I looked at Ruby, who came up and decided to talk to this woman. Ruby quickly responded in Spanish, and the girl looked at her with big eyes saying, "Hablas español?" and Ruby responded with, "Si. todo de este grupo hablan español." The woman looked back at me, surprised how offended I looked that she didn't let me try to speak Spanish.

The second instance that I really noticed was when Ruby and I were in the supermarket buying some things for her new apartment. I went up to a young lady behind a counter with a huge smile and said "Hola. Tienes espejos grandes?" This girl looked at me and then looked at her coworker, and said "You can speak English to her." Which I then explained to them that no, I do in fact speak Spanish.

It isn't that they are trying to make me mad, they are just trying to make things "easier" for me. It is just getting to the point, though, where I want to pretend that I don't speak English, but something less common in Chile, like Swedish or Norwegian. I am here to better my understanding on the Spanish language. I am not here to be mothered by every living human being.

The moral to this story: Don't assume someone doesn't speak your language. Just give them a chance to try.