Like Riding A Bicycle

After only three days of language school with mi maestra Rosa, it is comforting to know that while things start out often a bit frustrating, re-learning Spanish es mucho mejor than I thought. Of course, I am getting a big challenge right off the bat because somehow Rosa and I are always talking about things that are complicated enough in English, like when she asked me to discuss la diferencia entre las dos casas del Congreso, y los ideologías de los Republicanos y los Demócratas. We also talk about such things as seguro médico (health insurance) and el calentamiento del mundo/cambio del clima (that global warming/climate change).

Needless to say, these are topics not easily discussed in one's native tounge, but I am working on it. I am finally getting to the point where every now and then I can also say things like: "If I had known that word, I would have been able to describe this better!" (which is actually quite difficult to say!)

On the homefront, I love my host family! I have become quite good friends with little Sofía, and we have lots of playdates together. It is hard enough to understand babies already, let alone in Spanish, but we do just fine. This is a photo of Sofía with her mother and great-grandmother!

On of our latest excursiones was to a cemetary in the center of Xela. I had only ever seen a cemetary like this before in New Orleans, where most of the tombs are all raised tombs. The last photo below is of one of the many volcanoes that you simply come across in the horizon when you are walking about Guatemala.