Traveling - When things go wrong

Traveling can be stressful and we sometimes forget that we aren't in our home territory (be it another state or another country). If there is a language barrier, it can be even tougher. I recently read this blog post, The Uselessness of Getting Upset While Traveling, that points our many good reasons why we shouldn't get upset.

Reading the post I thought about our experience here in Ecuador where our Spanish is quite limited. We talked about living in the states and dealing with foreigners who nod their heads agreeably and then go on to do something different, frustrating us at times. Here in Ecuador, I find myself doing the same thing. Nodding my head, smiling and saying, "Si, si" repeatedly. The locals probably laugh and shrug when I then do something contrary to what was said.

Another thing that surprised us...we talk about the locals and their "bullet" Spanish, rapid fire speech that leaves us far behind. We were chatting with our maid a while back, she is working on her English and is doing quite well, and she said, "Demasiado rápido". WE were talking to fast in English for her. Something to remember...