| Queridas Amigos: Solo una semana, y yo aprendí muchos nuevos palabras
de esplañol. Yo asisto quatro horas para dia in la escuela Se Habla La Paz. Mis nuevos
amigos de la clase son muy amable, y despues la clase vamos juntos a comer or ver los
peliculas. Este fin de semana, yo y dos otros estudiantes vamos a ver a Todos Santos, un
pueblito cerca de aqui, par camion. Y la lunes proxima, yo comienco mi segunda semana de
escuela.
Translation (at least I HOPE this is what I said):
[note to Lisa M.: if I messed up grammar, please let me know]
Dear Friends:
Only one week, and I have learned many new words of Spanish. I attend four hours each
day in the school Se Habla La Paz. My new friends in class are very nice, and after class
we go together to eat or see movies. This weekend, I and two other students are going to
go to Todos Santos, a little town near here, by bus. And, next Monday, I start my second
week of school.
So, the last week, since I arrived in La Paz on Sunday night was a little hectic. I
assumed I would relax THIS week and start school next. Instead, Tuesday morning, I met
with the education director of the Spanish Language Immersion School, and he told me they
had a class that was at a perfect level for me . . .why I just start that day. My poor
fellow classmates. I was wearing my stinky biking clothes (again, I was NOT expecting to
be in class), and Tuesday night was my last at the hotel. I packed up Wednesday morning,
went to school, then afterwards met my Familia Mexicana.
I have been living with them since. Mi madre Mexicana is a GREAT cook, and feeds me
tons. First night was a huge steak, tortillas, beans, salad, ice cream, and it just keeps
going like that. A big breakfast and huge dinner everyday, with a nice snack each day at
school. This morning, at breakfast, my mother (who speaks only Spanish!) and I were
talking about our families . . . what is was like for her living her whole life in La Paz,
her son who I haven´t met, who is a mechanic for Aero California and lives in Sonora
state, my brothers and where they live, etc. . . It´s kinda cool that I hadn´t studied
any Spanish (except for my computer program in June), and I can already communicate (at a
basic level), fairly comfortably.
Although the first two days of school were a little overwhelming, what with moving
around, stressing about learning Spanish, and studying three to four hours a night on my
own, things have slowed waaay down since. Last night all of the students in the two
classes (6 of us), went for a late evening snack and watch the sunset over La Paz Bay. I
had one of those "If you had told me two months ago this is what I would be doing . .
." moments, and felt incredibly lucky. Tonight three of us are going to the movies,
and next weekend, I will probably take the bus with a woman in my class and spend the
weekend in Cabo San Lucas at her family´s condo . . . I know, life is tough, but
someone´s gotta step up to the plate and do the difficult jobs, and I´m just the guy to
do it.
My fellow students are an interesting bunch . . . I realized, who else would sign up
for language school, and we really have a fun time together. I will definitely be her next
week, and will just take it week by week as it feels right. I´m definitely getting
excited again about hitting the road at some point, but feel in no hurry and am just going
to see what comes.
So, hopefully when next I start moving, I will be able to really communicate with the
people I meet . . .
I think that´s it for now. La Paz continues to feel beautiful to me, the weather is
gorgeous, and I love biking the two miles to school every day from my mexican family´s
home, learning the city in depth more like a resident as opposed to a tourist.
Take care all . . . feel free to drop a note, and those of you who I owe personal
responses, as always . . . they are forthcoming shortly,
Jeffrey |
