Have you ever played Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights? Or another Settlers of Catan game? It is complicated! Do you remember the first time playing it and being explained the rules? Daunting, isn't it?
A week into my settling down into my new home here in Monterrey, I played Settlers of Catan for the first time. The next day we played a more complicated version, Cities and Knights. As I was being explained the rules, I realized how well learning this game depicted learning the "game" of settling into a different country, into my new home here in Monterrey, Mexico.
Just as I had some familiarity of the Cities and Knights game from playing Settlers the day before, I do have some familiarity with this place here, with the people, with the Spanish language and the hispanic culture. However, there's still a whole lot more rules to learn for this version living here vs. visiting.
As I was listening to all the new rules for Cities and Knights and trying to understand it all, I felt overwhelmed and like I was not going to do so well in this game. I wondered why I had agreed to play it. That's often how I feel here: overwhelmed and wondering if I could do this, thinking it'd be easier to just not "play the game," but still wanting to.
And here's another thing that relates. Everytime I asked a question about the game, I'd get the answer and so much more! To the point where I wasn't sure I wanted to ask any more questions. Every time I ask a question about living here, I get my answer and so much more! Sometimes more than I can take at the time.
Plenty of times (more so in the Settlers game than Cities and Knights), I'd try and do something only to find out that it wasn't something I could do. And I'm sure there were times that I could've done something but didn't realize it in time to do it. Living in another country is about learning as you go, learning from mistakes, and doing better with new opportunities as your understanding grows.
Want to know how I did in the game? I didn't win, but I didn't lose desperately. I was a contender in the game! I had a chance of winning. And best of all, I enjoyed playing the game! What an encouragement to me! When I'm feeling overwhelmed and wondering why I chose to play this "game" I'll remind myself that if I just play the game, at the end I'll be able to say I enjoyed it.
