Language

I arrived in Spain, in September of 2006. I had just finished working my first summer in Maine, and had stopped in Germany for a week. Now, I was ready to put away the suit-case and get to work. Well, not really, but when no one speaks your mother tongue, learning is forced on you, prepared or not.

A few years before I had spent five months on the Iberian Peninsula, and so I arrived with a bit of confidence in the fact that I would have a good base of Castellano to work with. I soon found out that after about two and a half years without practice, it wasn't going to be so simple. Then adding to that, everyone I lived with spoke Valenciano, requiring a lot of dialogue to be translated for my comprehension. It is a strange position to be in: Surrounded by so many people, but quite alone. Unable to really express one's self, or interpret what one is told beyond a very basic level. Conversations end up containing a lot of words, but very little substance, bringing to mind the idea of speaking a lot, but saying very little.

That was when I really began to understand the beauty of something like climbing: It didn't matter how well we knew each other, or how well we spoke each other's language, when we climbed, we voiced everything. At the crag one witnesses their partners in the most honest emotional states. From fear to repose, anger to elation, climbing became the basis for my communication with almost everyone I met.

So they were some arduous times. Each day came to an end with muscles aching and tongue twisted. The body and the mind completely exhausted. Those days I slept extremely well.

Now im here for the third time by myself. Without any other english speakers anyway. A lot has changed. The Spanish flows unabridged, and I understand the majority of the dialect spoken here too. Climbing hasn't though. It may have increased in intensity, and the group of companions grown, but it remains the same outlet and inlet for the most basic expression.

Es muy dificil llegar a un pais donde no se habla el idioma. Se puede estar en la compania de mucha gente, pero estar completamente solo. Si no se puede comunicar, se pierde todo al rededor. Pero en la escalada, encontramos una forma comun de expresarse. En las paredes se ve las emociones en sus estados mas puros. Del miedo a la tranquilidad, la rabia a la alegria. A menudo se habla mucho sin decir nada. Pero en la escalada es el contrario. Sin hablar, decimos todo.

La primera vez que estube en Espana, la escalada era mi mejor manera de hablar. Aunque casi todo lo que dije era del miedo! Hoy en dia, controlo a la lengua mucho mas, pero la escalada sigue siendo la manera mas facil de hablar.

The Weather

The weather in Maine is a bit more spectacular than the average.

El tiempo. Siempre al extremo. En lugar de lluvia; rayos. Nubes; niebla que te convierte el mundo a unos metros al redador. Y cada puesta del sol, un momento que te hace parar. Disfrutar. Y dar gracias de estar alli.

This summer I will miss this place, and everything it offers.

Este verano voy a hechar de menos este lugar, y todo lo que ofrece.

Revision - Part 1

Time for a bit of a recap. (Though it has been more than for years, so most of this will just be pictures.)

Things began in early 2006. School was over, so I started my first real job to make a bit of money for travel. I don't remember many specifics, but I did learn the importance of integrity. Just doing what you are asked of in the work place can earn one a lot of respect, and money. Along with these come more opportunities. I got to apply this knowledge early on when I began working for the first time over-seas.

My cousin had heard I was going to be heading to the States, and got me a job at the restaurant on the island he had been summering on his whole life, Islesford. This was essentially the hub of my travel until now. Between summers (northern) I would find my self all over the place. But when the temperatures began to rise, and migratory patterns reversed, so did mine. Always back to Maine.

School's In

So "school" is in. I guess it has been for the past 22 years, 5 months, and 27 days. Seems like a long time. But when you think that about it 5 or so years was dedicated to learning to eat, speak, and life's other essentials. Then you add weekends, holidays, and sick-days. Finally you come to the last four (and a bit) years and you see that I haven't spent much of it in the classroom.

Most of us, (over the age of eighteen,) know about growing up, we know about primary, and probably about high school. Then there are those who know about tertiary education, those who know about work, and those who know about both. There are a few who don't know about either, as well. I find myself in there somewhere, knowing some things, and not knowing even more.

I hope that, in reading what I right and seeing some of the things I see, you will learn some things you didn't know, and see places you haven't seen. Be entertained, maybe even a little enlightened. Ideally I will too.

So here we go. Climbing, travel, strange languages, beautiful places, and a lot of lessons. Welcome to my "higher learning".

Para todos mis companeros Espanoles, lo siento por no traducir todo lo de antes. Es que ya me cuesta bastante escribir algo que lee bien en ingles, y si lo intento en castellano, lo cagare mas! Algunos dias escribire en castellano tambien, pero hasta entonces, aprended ingles!

Asi que, bienvenidos a mi blog, y por lo menos, se puede entender fotos en cualquier idioma!