Still here

I know I haven't posted in a long while and I feel guilty about that, but the deal fell through on selling the ranchito and I gave up waiting around to find a seller and left it in my real-estate agent's hands and hit the road. I am now in Idaho visiting family and having a wonderful time.

I have been studying Spanish and still it goes slowly when you don't have a teacher present to keep you on track and challenged and not being able to converse with Spanish speakers daily is a hindrance. From past experience I know that once I get into usage Spanish, even my limited version, I will improve once I am using it daily. To that end I plan to start using Spanish more in my daily life; listening to Spanish radio, TV and novelas.

I am thinking of returning to Mexico this idea has been swirling around my brain for weeks now and it is getting more and more intense as time goes on. What is it about Mexico that I like so much ? Why does Mexico pull at me like a magnet ? Something to think about. I keep looking at the real-estate ads for Merida and remember all the cute little old houses there in Centro and how things looked and all the places to visit and what the sounds are like there. If you can't stand noise don't go to Mexico there is plenty of noise all kinds of noise; fireworks, dogs, traffic, car/truck horns, music, construction noises, loud talking/yelling, animal noises the whole enchilada. I miss it.

My health has been good lately, knock on wood, no pain no discomfort not fatigue life has been good; I hope it stays that way....

Re-learning Spanish

I purchased a Spanish course called Fluenz over the internet. It arrived in a classy red box and I immediatly set to the task of re-learning Spanish. I have taken Spanish courses before in San Miguel at the Warren Hardy School, I got to level three with some great effort. I used my Spanish while in Merida Yucatan and it was no where near perfect but good enough to go shopping get a cell phone, rent a house, buy furniture, and talk on a basic level with a mechanic fixing my car. I stumbled around quite a bit, but in the end usually got through okay. I want to do better than that, I want to be high functional as they say. So that is why I am taking this course.

The first level Fluenz Spanish is a quick review of the basics and it is going well from my point of view, the real test of the course is when I get into the parts of the language I am weak in and or don't know. Then we will see how well the course works for me. So far I am satisfied with the course, there are a few little bits that are annoying, but so are some teachers and tutors. When I get back to SMA I will hire a tutor to drill me on my pronunciation, and reduce my accent. Hopefully I won't be a bumbling gringa who needs help from english speaking Mexicans to often.

What have I done?

Today I went to my other class in Spanish language and I arrived early.

I must have gotten the times wrong in my memory and so there I was

in time for a different class. This class was using the Soap Opera style

of instruction and was totally in Spanish with the class playing actors

parts in Spanish. I was asked if I would like to sit in on the class, so I

did and had a good time.

Then it was time for the class in the one I signed up for which is a class

in conversation Spanish also given in Spanish with the students asking

each other questions in Spanish and answering in Spanish.

Phew! From 12:30 to 5:30 solid Spanish instruction.

I don't know if I can keep this up or not, but I would like to try to do

take all three and see what happens. We shall see.

Return to San Miguel

I have started the process of returning to San Miguel. I have registered for the course and have begun to look for accommodations, this time I am spending almost a month there so I can have additional time to take more tutoring to expand my knowledge of Spanish and maybe a side trip or two. I am excited about returning to San Miguel and especially Mexico!



I have no grasp of why Mexico excites me so much. Is it the sense of adventure, the process of learning new things, the foreignness of Mexico with the sights and sounds the rawness of living so close to the surface? I just know I get a thrill out of knowing I am returning to Mexico. Happy me, I have travel plans and more to learn, what joy :)