On the plane from Lima, Peru to Santiago, Chile I sat next to a young woman whose accent in English immediately caught my attention. I had offered in Spanish to switch seats with her as she had the middle seat between my husband by the window and my seat on the aisle, She smiled and agreed so I explained this to my husband in English. When we all got seated she spoke to me in fluent English with an Australian-Peruvian accent. I’d never heard that mix of accents before! And the vocabulary was SO Aussie, with that “ye-ah”, that long drawn out 2 syllable yay that Australians say.
My seat mate had lived in Australia for 2 years having met a guy there that didn’t want to move home to Peru with her. Just married, she only goes home for 2 weeks to see her family each year. She was sad and torn as she began the long travel back.
Next day at a winery outside of Santiago, we were on a minibus with a British accented woman who was visiting from the Chilean Coast. She explained that she came to Chile 27 years ago for a vacation and never went back. We met her husband Wolfgang who spoke no English. It was a quick weekend get -away for them. I asked her how she ended up staying in Chile? She said she really had no compelling reason to go back to England. And she loved Chile, so she stayed. I heard her speaking perfect Spanish with her husband, with just the slightest British accent.
I was impressed with the courage of these 2 women of very different ages to pick up and go in opposite directions. One from English to Spanish and the other from Spanish to English with all the cultural baggage that goes with it. For the younger woman, she will always be the Peruvian to her husband’s family and friends. Maybe they think she married up or maybe they think she married down. Same thing for the British woman. I wondered how their families back home felt.
I did not have long enough to ask all the questions that have come up for me since. But most of all, I admired their courage to take the risk. They both seemed happy with the choice they made.
This week I challenge you to ask someone who has relocated abroad to tell you their story. You will probably find out how courageous that person is.