It was October 1995 in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). I was newly wed to my very handsome Argentine prince and felt like I could conquer the world. Oddly enough though, when my husband asked me if I’d prefer to live in the US or Argentina, I felt strongly inclined to live and experience life there, so that’s where we headed to start our new life together as a couple.
I fondly recall my
first years in Buenos Aires, Argentina when I call on my audiovisual memories
of the telenovelas (soap operas) on national TV, as they truly became my
language teachers, along with the vocabulary I learned from my Argentine family
and English students that would help me decipher the mystique of living in a
third world country characterized by a large influx of European immigrants containing
sprinkles of many metropolitan cities around the world.
Those daily telenovelas
featuring such talented actors as Andrea Del Boca, Thalia and other young
Argentine actors in the wonderful series “Verano de ‘98” shaped my first years
while living there and it was something to look forward to every day. Then we
saw Pablo Echarri in Montecristo, a true “galan” in Argentine society. They
taught me the inner workings of Latin culture, the historical significance of
past events, the everyday drama with which the society lives and breathes, and
I learned to appreciate the culture greatly while becoming part of the
mainstream population myself somehow.
My Spanish music
repertoire consisted of songs written and sung by Ricardo Montaner, Chayanne,
Diego Torres, Eros Ramazotti, Ricky Martin, Thalia, Alejandro Lerner, Cristian
Castro, Shakira, Los Abuelos de la Nada, among others.
Those first few years
held very sweet memories for me and although we experienced trying times, we
stuck together as a couple and extended family and somehow made it through...
In the meantime, I was
building a very successful language business consisting of English classes,
text revision and light translation and editing for some of my corporate
clients.
Then I watched
carefully as visible signs of an eroding economy began to appear (politically,
economically and morally).
Let me take you to December 2001, just a few months after the world-changing 9-11 occurred in the US. Argentina’s government declared default on its foreign loans and there was a coup and mass looting in the streets. I remember the image of Argentina’s president Fernando De la Rua leaving in a helicopter and going into hiding for the next few years, while we were ruled by five presidents within a one-year period of time. It seemed like the country was ungovernable and there was a lot of political unrest and uncertainty and even for many, a lack of hope and deep desperation became commonplace as unemployment grew and those who had the resources and chance to leave for “greener” pastures headed back to their home countries or left in droves for countries like the US, Spain and other European countries in search of better opportunities and employment. After all, many people had lost their lifetime savings when their foreign currency was devalued and turned into Argentine pesos and their savings were unrecoverable and seized by the banks, to be the turned into local money disguised as value, with such strange names as “patacones” and “Lecop”, among others.
Let me take you to December 2001, just a few months after the world-changing 9-11 occurred in the US. Argentina’s government declared default on its foreign loans and there was a coup and mass looting in the streets. I remember the image of Argentina’s president Fernando De la Rua leaving in a helicopter and going into hiding for the next few years, while we were ruled by five presidents within a one-year period of time. It seemed like the country was ungovernable and there was a lot of political unrest and uncertainty and even for many, a lack of hope and deep desperation became commonplace as unemployment grew and those who had the resources and chance to leave for “greener” pastures headed back to their home countries or left in droves for countries like the US, Spain and other European countries in search of better opportunities and employment. After all, many people had lost their lifetime savings when their foreign currency was devalued and turned into Argentine pesos and their savings were unrecoverable and seized by the banks, to be the turned into local money disguised as value, with such strange names as “patacones” and “Lecop”, among others.
Since good employment
was scarce and any job became a luxury item (unemployed lawyers were even
driving taxis during this time), the people who could invest in training did
exactly that. My English classes got so in demand that I hardly stopped even to
eat, and group classes grew in demand as not everyone could afford to take
private classes at that time. My students were my pride and joy, and after the most
critical wave of crisis blew over, I was thanked immensely for helping many
obtain better jobs and opportunities and even received letters of gratitude
from some who had gone on to “greener” pastures in other countries such as the
US, Germany and Finland, which was difficult for me to see in many ways, since
I’d become attached to them, and I confess that I had a secret longing and
desire to return to my country as well...
There was a song that became
very popular during that difficult time in Argentina. It was composed and sung
by Diego Torres called “Color Esperanza”. In the midst of so much despair in
the country, it truly was a godsend during a time when many had lost most of
their hope. It became a type of national anthem that got many through a very
desperate period of time in Argentine history.
Here are the
lyrics:
Sé que hay
en tus ojos con solo mirar
Que estas
cansado de andar y de andar
Y caminar
girando siempre en un lugar
Sé que las
ventanas se pueden abrir
Cambiar el
aire depende de ti
Te ayudará,
vale la pena una vez más
Estribillo (Chorus)
Saber que
se puede, querer que se pueda
Quitarse
los miedos, sacarlos afuera
Pintarse
la cara color esperanza
Tentar al
futuro con el corazón
Es mejor perderse que nunca embarcar
Mejor
tentarse a dejar de intentar
Aunque ya
ves que no es tan fácil empezar
Sé que lo
imposible se puede lograr
Que la
tristeza algún día se irá
Y así será
la vida cambia y cambiará
Sentirás
que el alma vuela
Por cantar
una vez más
Vale más poder
brillar
Que solo
buscar ver el sol
For interested linguists reading this article, we’d like to extend
a special invitation to translate this song and those who are successful in
doing so will receive a special recognition in the February newsletter,
including publishing their contact info in the next issue. We are proud to say
that we have a very good readership among our newsletter subscribers, so this
would be a good chance to do show off your translation skills.
Part 1 can be found on this
same blog, and Part 3 of “My Bilingual Journey” will be coming soon!
Thanks for all your support
throughout 2012 and for all you’ve meant to us.
Happy New Year from Small World
Language Services!
 |
 |
| Photos were taken on a recent trip to Park City, Utah |
Posts
