Celebrating Little Things

So for exactly one year today I have been brushing up my Portuguese daily on Duolingo. I generally average 60XP a day, which is probably a bit more than I really have time to do well; I kind of rush through it- BUT, it is still 365 days (ok, bar one- I skipped it on my birthday- I had enough credits to buy a 'freeze' for a day,) straight, which is, for me, impressive in it's consistency. Especially considering the big events and my overall health this past year! And even if it's just me impressed, that is fine! I am stoked.

 So apparently I am now 7% fluent. Which sounds a little depressing really, because I speak it almost as well as when I lived in Brazil (which was over twenty years ago now, yikes!). But then, it does cover a LOT of subjects I wouldn't have normally conversed about as a teenager, such as scientific topics and politics; generally we were more interested in music, dancing, parties, beaches- Carnival....  Needless to say I had few responsibilities at that time! I will probably say this more than once here: Brazil. Is. Awesome. I have a deep love for all (almost) all things Brazilian, and my ears prick up when I hear Portuguese being spoken... I have been known to stop walking, lean against a wall (or post, what ever is closest and gives me a little cover!), close my eyes and eavesdrop on conversations, trying to pick the regional accent, enjoying the timbre.... I don't mean to be rude- I don't intend to hear private details, but the beauty of hearing it and the thrill of understanding some is just too, too tempting. Especially as it is not often heard where I have lived since I lived there. I know it would probably be more polite etc to pause and say 'Hello' etc, but as strange as it sounds, I don't want to interrupt anyone- is it worse to make it known you've overheard their conversation or just to listen covertly?? I really don't like disrupting people...

So. My question now, is, do I continue? Do I press in and try and make another 365 day run? What if I fail?? And maybe I should try a bit harder and do ANOTHER language- but which one?? And what if I fail at THAT? Goodness! So much opportunity to not 'do-things-right'! Perhaps I could tone down the Portuguese, I mean, do slightly less, and pick up one, maybe Italian? at a similarly slower rate? I am a little shy of doing another Romantic language, as I have tried Spanish before (I thought it would be easier as I can pick up a general gist of what is being said by ear) but then everything I said I found I was adding either Portuguese words, conjugating as if they were Portuguese or pronouncing with a (North-East) Brazilian accent! And my crazy paradigm is that, really, to keep it 'seamless' (?!), I *should* start TODAY, or at latest, tomorrow- which leaves me little time to decide. Believe me, I have been ruminating for a few weeks on this now, deciding by tomorrow is making me feel a little panicky- which is crazy, right? What is going to happen if I don't start tomorrow? The Butterfly Effect- global catastrophe?! Goodness. I have an excuse for my extra paranoia today, not that it matters what that is, but it doesn't make anything any easier to deal with unfortunately.

And so, I will adopt my usual approach to dealing with stressful (I know, stress is relative and my glass is overflowing right now) situations or choices- distraction!