Mario Luis

Language learning can be one of the most difficult processes in moving to a foreign country. Many people struggle with, I being one of them. However, I had an epiphany about it the other day as I was walking back from my Portuguese class. I was walking through the charming streets of Cascais, my new home, and I saw a man working on the sidewalks. The thing you need to know is that the sidewalks here are very unique. Through out Portugal, even on backstreets, driveways, and patios, all the flat surfaces are constructed by pounding cubes of rock into loose gravely sand to create a smooth face for foot or sometimes car to tred. This whole idea amazed me at first and still does as it seems to take so much work, when simply pouring cement seems like it would be much more efficient. I’m sure there is a reason why it is done this way: maybe cement is more expensive than the rocks themselves; maybe it is cost effective to go through the effort to make it look beautiful because of the money received from tourism. Who knows, but still the process is amazing to me, so when I saw a man hunched over on the side walk, painstakingly pounding each cube into place, I just had to say something. So lucky for him, I practiced some of my new words. I said to him in passing: “Good work” and then smiled. To my shock, he clearly understood my poor Portuguese, looked up and gave me an appreciative smile. It dawned on me that his job is much like what I am trying to do in language learning and in life in general. As he slowly creates this wonderful mosaic, he sets each cube in its place. Rock by rock, the pavement is laid and soon enough no one will notice it any more because it will be flat enough to walk on without trouble. The truth is, right now I feel like I am hunched over, slowly pounding each block into place. I am learning a word here and a word there, wondering if I will ever make a mosaic understandable to those around me. But I have to have faith that as I continue to press on like my paver friend, Mario Luis, I will soon have a smooth path of language to walk on. And though the work is slow I can be confident that in the end, I will be able to tred on the path with hopefully few pot holes and build relationships with those around me. Until then, I remain hammer in hand, hunched over, and enjoying the sun!