University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Globe Trotter: Leslie Knight
11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Toward the beginning of last year, my academic advisor planted a thought in my head. This thought was the realistic opportunity for me to study abroad. I never thought I would be able to study abroad due to the demands of playing a Division I sport, but the more I thought about it and talked to Pam (Borton), I realized that I could!
So on May 15th, I left for Venezuela, not to return until six weeks later.
My minor is Spanish so I headed off to Venezuela having goals of improving my language skills and learning more about Latin America. I took two classes while I was there, Advanced Grammar and the History of Venezuela. Both classes were taught in Spanish and neither of my teachers spoke much English. I had one class Monday-Thursday for four hours a day. The language barrier was there, but everyday I was able to understand more and more.
I lived with a woman named Coromoto and her grandson Andrs. Her sister, Dulce lived directly behind us. Her daughter, Maria Andrea and her husband Dad lived next door and lived with us. We also had a house keeper named Llani.
Andrs is a 15-year old who ran around the house singing Latin songs and talking to me about his passion for soccer and how he wanted to be a veterinarian. Dulce made up Spanish songs about me and tried to steal my American clothes, and Llani and I talked about her love for romantic music.
Lunch was one of my favorite parts of the day. Llani was an amazing cook and everyday at about 12:30pm everyone came home for lunch. Lunch is their biggest meal of the day and many days we would have soup, salad, rice, meat, pasta, platanos (somewhat like a banana) and fresh juice. Everything we ate was prepared in the house fresh from scratch.
Culturally there were many things to get used to. The men were constantly whistling and yelling at me when I walked down the street. Some knew a few words in English and would yell “hey baby, how are you today?” The fact that I am tall and blond did not help the situation and attracted even more cat calls!
I also learned that the people there are very blunt. One day Dulce told me that I had fat legs, but that she thought they were pretty.
I also learned that the music never stopped and that Venezuelans could dance all day long if they did not have other things to do. At night we would go to the dance clubs and they would dance Salsa non-stop until the club closed at 5am. I too learned how to dance salsa, merengue and tambores.
I quickly realized I had so very much to learn:
Be aggressive, especially in the grocery store. If I did not get in line directly behind the person in front of me someone else would.
If I did not ask the taxi drivers how much the ride would cost before I got in they would rip me off when I got to my destination.
If I drank the water out of the tap I could expect to be incredibly sick for the next two weeks, at minimum.
Be patient. South American time is entirely different than U.S time. If a group of us decided to meet at school at 9 a.m. to leave for downtown and we didn’t leave until 10:30 a.m., it was no big deal.
Bring money with me when I had to go to the bathroom because everybody had to pay for toilet paper. I also learned to throw the T.P in the garbage and not down the toilet because their pipe systems aren’t as strong as ours.
If I didn’t want to suffocate from car exhaust I had to go for runs in the neighborhoods and not next to the busy streets. The cars in Venezuela are much older than the ones in the U.S and so the exhaust just billows out the back.
McDonalds is everywhere.
How to appropriately greet my friends and professors by kissing them on the cheek.
How to yell out “La Parada!” when I wanted to get off the bus.
What it is like to be the minority and have people constantly staring at me and talking about me wherever I went. Even when I would look back at them they would continue staring.
I found out, but never understood why, the women wore skin tight pants every day, even when it is 90 degrees out.
To take my umbrella with me when ever I left the house because it would rain every day.
How to fish for piranhas.
How to comfortably sleep in a hammock.
How to hold an anaconda.
How to white water raft.
To appreciate the immense beauty of South America.
I learned a lot of things about the Venezuelan culture, about myself and about life. I will cherish this experience forever.
Story by Leslie Knight
