Clases de Espanol

Midterm presentations for Dia de los Difuntos (below), Miss Cuenca contest (above), etc.

Playing games in our Spanish class


Final presentations (in the addition that was build during our time there!)


Learning Spanish by using Chippendale playing cards: "El hombre tiene un grande...erm...brazo."

If you couldn't tell for my writing already, Spanish has been a serious challenge for me. I've always been so proficient at English my whole life, I thought that maybe I'd have the same knack for picking up Spanish. I mean, I didn't have too hard of a time with Latin (even if it is a dead language) and since Latin was the base for the Romance languages, I thought I'd be on the way to an A at Amauta!

Wrong.

It's the end of the semester and it's abundantly clear that I will not be receiving an A in Spanish. It's pretty clear I will be lucky to receive even a B. For me, Little Miss Goodie-Straight-A-Two-Shoes, that's a pretty depressing thought. But am I going into convulsions and conniptions over it? Am I having panic attacks and crying fits? Nope. I even went to the coast instead of studying harder for the final exam.

What in the world has come over me?

This trip has done many things for me, but one of them is definitely to mellow me out as far as grades go. An A is just an A. A B is just a B. Heck, as long as I don't fail outright, it really won't matter next year, let alone ten years from now. I really won't remember writing perfect grammatical sentences in response to Lagrimas de Angeles, potentially the most depressing book in the Spanish language (about street children who are drugged and essentially pimped out to sell gum and candy). I WILL remember sitting at the kitchen table with Mama Isa pointing to random things in the room and repeating the name in Spanish. I WILL remember getting lost once in a cab because I couldn't give directions well and never, ever making the same mistake twice. I WILL remember using Chippendale playing cards to compare men in Spanish. I WILL remember that you never, ever say "Estoy excitamente!" and think that you're saying you're looking forward to an event, or say "Tengo huevos" and think you're just saying you have eggs.

That's authentic education, isn't it?

Amauta is a cozy building that provides couches, computers, snacks, sanity, and even an over-nighter if necessary. Narcissa and Myra and the other teachers are so friendly, so helpful when we're lost and confused, so helpful with cultural connections and English when we're lost. Many a fun hour has been spent here (though the least fun were definitely my hours struggling with Spanish) and I will miss it to be sure.

I can now proudly say that I speak with great fluency...


Spanglish.