In the World of Aliens

I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I wanted to fly out of our solar system discovering new and strange worlds wearing a fancy spacesuit. Well, this never happened but I managed to take me to another strange world, and my dream of exploring alien civilizations came through by traveling to Spain. LOL

Being in another country sometimes feels like living on another planet inside a newly landed spaceship, and then going out to see and feel how it is outside. During the first few days of my arrival, I went out a little further from home every day and then ran back to the base to feel safe.

I walked more and found out it wasn’t as dangerous as I’ve imagined it to be. I saw some aliens and tried to communicate, but they just looked at me with confused eyes. Even if I know the correct words to say, my accent ruined my expression.

I put in extra caution and always felt safer with my partner, but it’s no good to be over-dependent on him. I knew I have to be alone in order to handle the aliens— a way that will strengthen my self-confidence.

So at the onset, I might need to do the baby talk or sign language for aliens to understand and hopefully appreciate. I feel that I am quite brave to undergo the changes from being a grammar aficionado to a gesturing “baby” talker. I have learned that in order to make myself understood, I have to forget my perfectionism and be more eager to learn the language the same way the aliens have learned it from childhood.

I see myself as an astronaut; going out from my spaceship trying to learn to communicate with the aliens without worrying about grammar and perfectionism. And this is sometimes hard.  I miss the curiosity and friendliness we show to our foreign visitors back home, but I love the challenge of making myself understood. That is what it’s all about in outer space 🙂