1st Meetup meeting of Spanish Speakers

This evening I went to my first Meetup meeting at the Iguana Lounge on 54th street. When I arrived I looked for a large group of people. I had no idea what anyone looked like. On the dance floor many people were standing around, chatting in small groups. I walked to the center and stood alone just listening to the conversations of others, which although seemingly an eternity was only maybe 2 minutes. Finally a man turned around from the small group he was in, made eye contact, and said "hola." The game had begun.

This man, my first speaking partner, was a physical therapist whose Spanish ability was intermedio as he said. I was like an old engine that took a while to warm up. I could see that he was growing bored quickly and he found someone to introduce me to. So there we are - the three of us and right away I could hear that the new guy had even worse Spanish than me and that the first guy was ready to pawn me off on the new guy. Some desparate instinct deep within me took over. It was as if I recalled what I already knew in a Buddhist sense. My Spanish speaking dramatically improved and I commanded the attention of the intermedio for long enough until the group coordinator came by and said that we should switch partners. Whew! I did not come here to engage in a conversation of "uh... como se dice... uh..."

Overall, it was a fascinating experience on many levels. On one level I approached random strangers and began to conversate about topics ranging from who I was and what I did to the use of Skype for internet telephone calls. On another level this was done in a foreign language, namely Spanish, in which I am far from fluent. Just imagine starting this sentence: The people in the United States have more money than Europeans because they... then stopping because you have no idea what the verb "to earn" is or what the word for "taxes" is. Or telling someone that you had read the other Dan Brown books besides the Davinci Code but forgetting their titles because you are so concentrated on speaking in Spanish. Then whenever you switched partners having to go through the basics again but being incapable because you aren't used to the new accent.

Exhilarating. A true test of your communication ability. I am sold on this group.