Euphoria, euphoria, wherefore art thou, euphoria?
Okay, this may be a bit melodramatic, but it is an understatement to say that I did not get to speak as much Spanish as I had hoped or wanted to. Why is that, I went to Spain, didn’t I?
Well, first thing, the campsite was French, we were automatically addressed in French and everyone assumed that we were French as well. As much as I had hoped to speak Spanish, it flattered my vanity that they asked ‘Vous êtes de quel département?’ and then looked shocked when I said I am actually Flemish. We also made a short stop in Arles on the way to Barcelona, where again I got to use French!
And second, I have been ‘englished’ many times. I bet you recognize the situation: you have studied a foreign language, go to the country and hope to speak the language and then immediately everyone starts speaking English to you … Even if you reply in Spanish (in my case), they keep on answering back in English. Very frustrating, but I did not give up and kept on speaking Spanish.
There wasn’t much else to do than listening in on other people’s conversations in Spanish and trying to follow.
My little immersion trip to Spain turned out to be an immersion in French. Which is not that bad after all!
