Something to Look Forward To

Today was my first day of school - first time I've had one of those in seven years. It went well, which is a good sign considering I'll have another first day of school (albiet one with a bit more pressure, perhaps) in a few months.

Like I said though, the day went well and helped me set my expectations for the next four weeks as I cram as much Spanish into my brain as I can before hitting the road for other South American destinations.

I'm looking forward to not saying every third word in Italian. I guess it is a good sign that my brain recognizes that I am trying to access what I know of a language other than English, and I am comfortable rattling off complete sentances without the halting, searching, stubling moments that usually accompany a beginner's speech. Unfortunately, so far I fail to realize that half of what I say isn't English or Spanish until the teacher asks me to explain what I mean and what words I am using. I didn't even realize I knew this much Italian, but it is all pouring out. Oh well, it is only my second day here - lots of time to get the wires uncrossed.

I'm looking forward to getting to know Spanish better than I know the streets. No one believes that I just arrived yesterday because I know where all the neighborhoods are, which Subte to take, and which streets will be shortcuts to destinations. I walked around yesterday for a long time and spent a lot of time with the map on the plan ride in, so I have a handle on where things are. Now if I could only get a handle on what I was trying to say.

I{m looking forward to looking forward less. Turns out, I only know how to conjugate verbs in the present or future tense. When I finally manage to say something in Spanish, I make it sound like a grand plan for the future rather than something I did this morning or last week. This is my teacher's new favorite running joke.

So far I'm known as the Italian-loving, forward-looking guy with a knack for directions. Stop me when I hit something that is out of the ordinary - I could have told you that before I left.

A few more thoughts about logistics, then I'm going to wrap up for the day. Sorry for the long post and lack of phots - I'll fix both of those in the coming days. Before I do though, a few more details about where I live and where I learn.

The house is a two-story flat that I share with the landlady (who is not hot, for those of you who were wondering), her son, her dog, and four other boarders. One of the boarders is a medical student from Wales, one is a Japense ex-pat from Sao Paolo, one is from France, and one is from Germany. We all eat breakfast and dinner together, but during the day go to different programs during the day - interestingly, they are all women and all older than me. At school, I am in a group of six - also very international and also all women (though here all younger than me). It is interesting to see the different attitude the students have - the girl from Casablanca grew up speaking Arabic and already knows French and English, so she is tearing through the Spanish as though it were nothing. The French girl also has learned a few languages in the past and isn't she about speaking, though her Spanish has even more French in it than mine has Italian. The other three girls are native English speakers (from teh US, England, and Scotland) and HATE to speak - they know at least as much as the rest of us, but are shy, embarassed to make a mistake, and are quick to fall back in to English. I think it will be interesting to see how people progress and how much they are able to get out of the class based on these initial impressions. As always, all my predictions and prejudices are certainly wrong, or your money back.