The last time I was in Chile was almost 3 years ago, this is my first time in the US for so long.. I was traveling there every year. (Like I said before, we have been living in USA for 6 years now)
I love and miss my family so much and I also admire and love my in laws in a really profound way... I have learned so much from them.. about parenting, freedom, ecology ...relationships ....well, kindness in general. and now I'm lucky enough to have them here with us....My MIL got here 2 weeks ago, bringing with her a breeze of pure mountain air. When I look at her I can see Los Andes mountain....I love to feel the wisdom she brings into my life...
And now my husband's grandparents and aunt (yes, he has grandma and grandpa alive..), are also visiting from SC... They also are Chileans, and really traditional ones, so the house has been full with great food and lots of people, (4 generations) talking and laughing in Spanish.... A great total of 10 people in the house!!
I like to see my kids dealing with this change.. Vincent is practicing talking more in Spanish , ( he is fluent but with a "gringo accent".. so cute! ) and the 2 little ones are just listening all day long to "mama's language"... I accept I don't talk 100% in Spanish to them... well... because it is a bit hard for me... everybody speaks English and I am the only one "hablando espanol"... with my husband we speak in spanish, but he speaks English to the kids... so yes.. we have a mess... but I know they understand EVERYTHING... but the 2 little ones don't speak it... and I feel bad for that...but here are some of my reasons for this to happen...
* we started having my husband talk to them in English, because I didn't speak it and we wanted our kids to be fluent in English ...(for obvious reasons... we live in US and they are creating relationships here)... and now he can't stop talking to them in English.!!
* then, most of the books we own are in English.. (I have a small collection of spanish ones)
* 80 % of the TV they watch is also in English...
* when we are with other people and friends I switch to English so my kids or the other people don't feel "weird"..
* sometimes when we are alone at home I just forget , and I find myself talking in English to them!!... and all the people that know me out there, know I have a "nice accent" .. so what the hell I do talking to them in English??!! I seriously have no idea...habits are just hard to break...and now I am realizing that I need to change this.. I need to help the little ones to SPEAK SPANISH... how?? I don;t have a plan yet... but I will just be more conscious about it..
And also I decided that I'll start saving money and I want go back to Chile.. for at least 6 months... maybe just me and the kids, but I need to bring them there, experience our family, our roots...to finally just talk and play in Spanish! I want to stay in my house by the mountain there... enjoy the simple life that made me who I am now... Our little house that we both built with my husband with our own hands... just mud and rocks... no electricity for 7 months...We lived in that house for 4 years, and while building it, we were also building our relationship...our first son was born there... so YES I MISS IT... and yes I need to go back... With all the family here I realized that I am getting to comfortable here... I am losing a bit of my traditions ad most important my language!.. I need to go back...(cross fingers for next year!)
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