The Family From the South

Today, I had the opportunity to finally meet the Zvaigs, members of our extended family who live in Buenos Aires.  I had been communicating with them via email since I began planning my trip to Argentina, and Silvia, one of the cousins, did come meet me at the airport last week to help me find my way.  But today we finally had the chance to sit down and talk.  After years of receiving our annual Rosh Hashanah card from South America, I got to meet Adolfo, the patriarch of this part of the family.  He brought pictures of the family and had lots of questions about "los Zweigs del Norte" (the Zweigs of the North).  This week marks Adolfo's sixtieth year as a doctor, and he is also the grandfather of Silvia and Reuben's three children.  

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With Silvia and Adolfo

We had a great lunch together, and then we went on a driving tour of Buenos Aires and the surrounding province.  I got to see the places that are important to my family-- the kids' school, their home, the place with the good Italian ice cream-- and got more context about life in Argentina.  Many people here belong to "clubs," which function like a JCC or YMCA in the United States, with places to play different sports, shower, and socialize.  It also appears that the children and adults have lots of activities in and out of school and work.  

The spelling changes between the names-- Zweig in the United States and Zvaig here--preserves the same pronunciation in both languages.  In Spanish, the "zw" combination is even more confusing than in English.  Adolfo said when the family came from the "old country" (generally agreed upon as Lithuania, but border changes make it difficult to tell), everyone had to figure out how to spell their names in the new languages.  Other members of the family ended up with "Swaig" and other combinations.  Though I'm still a little shaky on exactly how we are related, I think that Adolfo's father was a cousin of my grandfather Elmer's father in the old country.  It is my understanding that Adolf's family couldn't get a visa into the U.S., so they went to Argentina instead.    

For me, it was just nice to know that there is family here in case I need anything.  Building networks of support is an important step in getting acclimated in a new place, and knowing that my family is nearby for whatever I need is incredibly comforting.  One of the reasons I chose to study in Argentina was to get to know the "Zvaigs of the South."   By learning more about our family here, I am able to use the study abroad experience to learn more about my own family history.  

Mucho Gusto, Juanita

My mom took very limited Spanish in high school and again when she was working in Kansas, and now that all three of her children are studying the language, she's trying to catch up.  For many years, we heard her recite a memorized dialogue in which she introduces herself to her imaginary friend, Juanita.  "Mucho gusto, Juanita," or "Nice to meet you, Juanita," was a familiar refrain anytime we mentioned anything about our Spanish learning.

Mom begins learning with Rosetta Stone.

She purchased Rosetta Stone as well as "Learn Spanish in Three Months" tapes and book.  As with most technology projects, she needed some help setting it up.  After two emails to Rosetta customer service, we still haven't gotten the headset part set up, but above she is starting to learn simple sentences like "The boy eats" or "The girls swim."  Ethan and I have been correcting her pronunciation until she gets the words right.

Rosetta Stone has a speaking component built into the program.  Instead of having a computer decide if your speech is correct, it schedules you a time with a native speaker to practice.  As she progresses in the program, I'm curious to find out what these conversations are like.  Where are they getting the Spanish speakers?  What kinds of accents do they have?  Something many new Spanish users struggle with is accents--think about all the different accents from countries where English is spoken.  For example, while people in the United States understand the English spoken in South Africa, word usage and some grammatical constructions are different.  These differences are magnified to new learners.  

I'm hoping my mom has enough time to really commit to learning Spanish.  She needs to think about it every day and have a dedicated time to succeed.  I think she would enjoy being able to be a part of the language Ethan, Laura, and I study.