DR Update 1: Language Barrier

I would write this entry in Spanish, but it has been evident during my first 5 days in the Dominican Republic that I speak Spanish about as well Heidi Montag integrates by parts. I've actually been surprised at how difficult it has been for me to understand what people are saying, even at a very basic level. It's true that Dominican Spanish is notoriously fast and often drops syllables. However, the level of my language ineptiude has transcended so many barriers that I am now winning a game of Tower of Babel limbo. At this rate, I am approaching the ground in a truly asymptotic fashion.

Hopefully, in the next few weeks, my Spanish will drastically improve. I've already learned quite a few words, and I'm making an extensive vocabulary list. I'll describe my work in an upcoming entry, but suffice it to say now that I'll need much better language skills if I'm going to do anything of substance. (My original project, which required less speaking, is no longer feasible. It was focused on program evaluation using patient data, but given that said program still does not exist, it will be hard to evaluate it!)

So far, my inability to communicate has been very humbling but also very frustrating. Not being able to express myself has been bothersome since I am used to having a good command of the English language--especially techincal English. On Friday, I tried to explain to my supervisor that I had worked last year with individuals who had comorbid diabetes with HIV/AIDS; that we thought that the protease inhibitors in their combination ARV therapies may have caused insulin insensitivity; and that I'd heard from many people that diabetes was harder to manage than an HIV infection since the latter only requires taking pills whereas the latter requires continual monitoring. As you probably can infer from my previous statements, this attempt was a complete disaster!

For now, I'm going to concentrate on seeking opportunites to practice speaking Spanish so that I can improve my ability to communicate. Fingers crossed, and knock on wood.