A Matter of Perspective

Some months ago, when I started working with a Spanish teacher here in Málaga, we were practicing the difference between “ser” and “estar.” Both are verbs that mean “to be” but (in overly simplistic terms) ser is used for permanent states of being (“I am from the United States” = “Soy de los estados unidos”) while estar is for temporary states of being (“I am angry” = Estoy enfodada”).

Naturally, talking about “to be” requires a lot of discussion about people’s characteristics – “soy profesora” uses ser to say that I’m a teacher whereas “estoy muy ocupada con el trabajo” means that I’m very busy with my work (at the moment).

And then my teacher surprised me by saying, “Tu eres alta.” (“You are tall.”)

This is not something anyone has ever said to me before. I’m the shortest person in my family, not to mention that shortest person of all my friends, and possibly even the shortest person in the entire city of Los Angeles.

I felt my mouth drop open. My teacher said, “Alta means tall. You are tall.”

“Here I’m tall,” I said. (“Aquí soy alta.”) “But in the US ….”

“Eres baja,” she finished with a smile. “I see.”

“So I feel like I should be using estar rather than ser.”

“But that would be confusing to Spanish speaker, so don’t do that.”

That evening, on my way home on the Metro, it was standing room only. I noticed that I am tall and I could actually see over many people’s heads, which has never happened to me before.

This conversation showed such a clear point about perspective. We were both right, even though we perceived my height in opposite ways.

This difference in perception is something I play with in my novels. Different characters will experience different story events differently and this often creates conflict. No one is wrong, no one is in error, but still … conflict. These dichotomies have always interested me.

What stuck with me, though, is another interesting aspect of perspective: I still think of myself as short and my teacher still thinks of me as tall. It’s very difficult to change a perception about yourself once you’ve thought it often enough.

Which means I’ve just discovered another tool for the writing toolbox.