I was supposed to buy “hielo” (ice) for the fruit juice we were making for the patients at the foundation where I am volunteering, but I thought I heard “lulo” (oranges) instead.

Running back from the market with a sack of oranges nestled between my arms, I was hoping that I understood the woman correctly. As soon as I walked into the kitchen, the cooks stared at me for a few seconds before exploding in laughter.

The woman who told me to grab “hielo” from the market tried to explain to me that I had bought the wrong thing. She ran to the refrigerator to grab a bag of ice, and then pointed at it and repeatedly said, “Hielo, hielo!” Then she pointed at the stack of oranges in my hands and repeatedly said, “Lulo, lulo!” Realizing what had just happened, I looked down at the bundle of useless oranges in my hands and started to laugh. I sprinted back to the market, exchanging the bundle of oranges for two bags of ice. After walking into the kitchen with bags of ice in each of my hands, the women in the kitchen cheered, “Felicidades!” (Congratulations!) because I had bought the right thing. We opened the bags and tossed the ice into the big container in which we were making the fruit juice.

Being abroad in a country that speaks another language is challenging, especially if you don’t know the language extremely well. I came to Ecuador with mediocre knowledge of Spanish. It has been frustrating and challenging at times to communicate with my host family, the patients in the foundation and students at the university. Living, volunteering and studying in a country where I am immersed in another language, while challenging and frustrating, has also been extremely helpful. I have found my Spanish is improving at an incredible pace. It is a lot easier for me to communicate with others now than when I first arrived in Ecuador. The reason my Spanish is improving so quickly is because I need to use Spanish every part of my day. In the morning, I need to use Spanish to converse with the patients at the foundation and get accurate instructions from the staff. I need to use Spanish to order beers for my Ecuadorian friends at the clubs during the night. I need to use Spanish to talk to the other students at the university. I need to use Spanish to order food, talk about my day at the dinner table with my host family and to converse with the patients at the foundation.

My proudest immersion moments are the times I am with others and can make them laugh using only Spanish. Once you can make people laugh in another language, it’s a sign you are doing well. I encourage everyone to study abroad if you want to learn another language because it helps incredibly.

Now I am off to go white-water rafting with some other backpackers. It’s my first time, so I hope I can understand all of the instructions from a Spanish-speaking guide.