A Ding to My Confidence

I experienced a small, but not a crushing, blow to my confidence yesterday. The afternoon started off well. I went to the movies to see The 33, which is based on the true story of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for a couple months. I liked the movie, though it was a little long. One strange part though is that the actors are Spanish-speakers but the movie is in English. And it is a Chilean story, and I was watching it in Chile with Spanish subtitles. I know the company shot the film in English so that it would appeal to a wider audience and earn more money, but it makes me feel a little bad for the Chileans--that it's not in their own language. Getting the miners out was a monumental thing for the country.

Anyway, this is not the upsetting thing that happened. That came after the movies, when I went to a cellphone shop. I thought the man selling me the SIM card said was dos mil (two thousand) pesos but he really said doce mil (twelve thousand) pesos. (One US dollar is about 700 pesos.) When I got back to my apartment, my roommate told me that I paid way too much and that I could get SIM card for much cheaper. Then I activated my phone, and the recording said that I had to use the data and minutes within 30 days, but the man who sold me the card never told me that, and I did't ask.

I suddenly very frustrated with myself for not understanding better and asking more questions. I was also angry because I thought the man in the store took advantage of the fact that I am a foreigner, or gringa as they call it here. And I felt bad because this type of thing would never happen to me in the US. I always get the best deal and ask the right questions and no one can pull the wool over my eyes.

I think too that I was overtired. When I'm overtired a little thing can seem like a big deal. (And when I'm hungry a little thing is a catastrophe.) But these little set backs come with the territory of living in a different country and learning a new language.

Actually, I was reminded of a scene from the movie I had just watched. The miners start going stir crazy and one man puts a knife to another's throat over an ipod. The man who breaks up the fight, holds up the ipod and says, "You were going to kill another man over this piece of crap?" He smashes it to the ground.

It made me think to myself. "I'm going to feel bad and almost cry because of $20?" No! And, "I'm going to feel bad about not speaking another language perfectly?" No! It's freaking hard to learn another language. My students tell me that everyday. I should be happy I was even able to buy a SIM card.

I don't feel so bad anymore.