Day 165: Habla Espanol?

I served my LDS Church mission in Rosario, Argentina. I remember vividly those first few days in the country--the excitement, the exhaustion, the confusion. The exhaustion and confusion was mostly from the overwhelming amount of Spanish that was thrown at me. I was sent down to a little city called Venado Tuerto and given an Argentine companion. He was a great companion but he really spoke no English. Now I had been speaking “Spanish” for 2 months at the missionary training center. However, those who have served a Spanish speaking mission realize that there is a big difference between he “Spanglish” spoken among missionaries in the MTC and the “Castellano” spoken by native Argentines.

I was lost for quite awhile. It was frustrating initially, but slowly I started to get it. After several months I could get by. After a year I was pretty much fluent. After 2 years, there were many who thought I sounded nearly like a native Argentine.

Since returning home from my mission over ten years ago, my Spanish skills have slowly diminished. I find it harder and harder to say exactly what I am trying to say. The tongue gets tied more easily and my ears can’t always keep up with what they are hearing. However, I have been grateful many times for the language skills I obtained on my mission. There have been many times I have used these skills...from encounters with patients...to talking to my Southern Californian neighbors...to selling a car.

What little remaining Spanish skills I have left came in handy today as I went over to the airport to check out the Spanish hospital in Herat. The Spanish run the largest hospital in the region. Any Coalition casualties, including Americans, are sent here for initial treatment and triage. Consequently, I wanted to check the place out and see exactly what capabilities and facilities they had. It was nice to be able to walk into the hospital, introduce myself, and go on a tour of the facility, and do it all in Spanish. I am grateful that even though my Spanish isn’t perfect, I can still use it to help me get around. Now if only I could speak Dari as well as Spanish.


Here is the Spanish hospital from the outside.


This is a close up of the mud-huts that people live in here.


The walls are about 2 feet thick.

There were several monuments to fallen soldiers on the base. Here is a Spanish one.




And another Spanish one.


Finally, an Italian monument...it is some kind of engine part.