Dear friends:
At daybreak yesterday morning, my iPod and I took off for a 45 minute walk. It was delightful. Although I saw people on the streets, they were going off to work of to school, and the atmosphere was much quieter than it is during the day or in the evening. The Paroqquia, the main church in the Jardin (town square), was touched by the morning light, which made it appear pinkish. I wished I had had my camera, because the effect was absolutely gorgeous!!!
We live on the north fringe of the area called El Centro. El Centro is an old historic district with many shops, restaurants and churches. Only a small part, the Jardin, is closed to traffic. But we've been told that there's a movement underfoot to close off the entire El Centro to traffic. That would be terrific.
The nearest grocery store is perhaps a 15 minute walk from here. We've been there twice now, and we're getting a little more used to it. But it can be a challenge to 1) find the particular item we're interested in and 2) figure out which of the items in that category to buy (ex: margarine) because we're not able to read the packaging very well. I had developed a lengthy shopping list yesterday, wanting to buy all the ingredients for several meals I found in one of the cookbooks here. It turned out that accomplishing this task without falling over with nervous exhaustion was nearly impossible. After a number of sharp words between us, Rick and I decided to just purchase the basics and go home. The fact is that we've only been here 4 days. I'm sure things will get easier.
I had my first Spanish lesson in San Miguel yesterday. When I arrived, I was stunned to be handed a 6 page exam, in Spanish, to be answered in Spanish. In retrospect, it was an effective way for them to assess where each student was at. I'm proud to say that I was able to get through the first 3-1/2 pages fairly well. It got progressively more difficult (verb tenses are NOT my strong point), and I finally cried "Uncle". I was complemented by the Maesto (instructor) on how much I completed, and was put in a class with Roger, who coincidentally grew up in Pontiac, MI. Roger and his wife live somewhere in Mexico now. He is a businessman who deals with Americans, and hasn't had to learn much Spanish. Like myself, he's interested in a more intensive language experience. He's probably in his late 60's or so.
Anyway, we're the only two in our class. There are many small classes.Our Maestro's name is Mario, and he's quite good. He presented two models of learning yesterday - one was a verb tenses learning tool, and the other was a rapid speaking tool. I'd been exposed to the later, but it was good to get back to it. I think this is going to be a really good experience for me. Thursday afternoon there's a Mexican cooking class at the school that I get to go to for free. Rick needs to pay, but we get two hours of instruction, then we get to eat what we cook. A pretty good deal, I think.
Well, our internet was down this morning, so I got a late start on this. Need to leave for class in 40 minutes, so I'd better get showering and dressed. Will report more at another time.
Love, Judhit
No comments:
Post a Comment