I just finished my second week of Spanish classes. Odd how going to school can make me feel stupid….

Immersion school consists of 3 classes per day starting at 9am and ending at 2pm (subject to change).

The people in the class can change every Monday.

My class currently consists of a 19 year old named Lukas from Germany who spends most of the class playing on his cell phone. A 28 year old Afghani, Farhad, raised 70% of his life in London and has traveled to 130 countries. A 44 year old Korean lady who goes by the name June. Her 2 sons have been in school here for the past 2+ years – an escape from the rigors of Korean schooling. A 22 year old Chinese gal who goes by the name Emma (her real name sounds like Ciao). She arrived last week and will study until July (makes my gringa accent sound pretty good). Her parents sent her to the US when she was 16 to study English. Lastly, Fred a 40 something guy from Scotland who took 3 months to ride his motorcycle here. The first week’s class had a 31 year old Brazilian named Anderson who has since gone home. Potluck – wonder who will be here on Monday?

Lukas, Fred, Emma and I are all for the long haul. I think Fred will pass us up…

Last friday night Bill and I joined 16 of the students for “Rua de Tapas” – bar hopping and all it’s glory. We watched schoolmates try and master the parrón. It was like watching the water gun carnival game – the person with the most dexterity walks away with the prize – an unstained shirt. The “adultos mayor” commented about doing the same with bota bags.

Last weekend my mother and stepfather came to visit for 2 nights. My sister and her husband just left after being here 2 nights.

Now we will settle into some sort of routine…

The days are warm and the nights are cold. Trees are just starting to change. The parks are stunning – the flowers and green grass on their last hurrah. The night time landscape is changing too. Gone are the copious amounts of people packing the streets eating dinner until wee hours in the morning. Just a few thick skinned diners frequent the terrazzas. After a warm afternoon bike ride last night proved to be too cold for our outside dining experience – the layers of clothing did not help against the cool breeze – we longed for a fireplace to warm our chilled bodies opting for a Drambue night cap and arroz con leche.