I have failed to do my task of a blog a day.
I'm sorry for that.
But, hey, at least it keeps you wondering what I'm up to....right? Well, to be honest, I spent most of this weekend feeling terribly homesick. As you are probably well aware, being homesick isn't really in my repertoire.
But, I received some rough news on Friday night. So of course the only thing I could (and can) think about is how badly I wish I was with my family. Either way, when I use my rational mind, I realize that wanting to be home, or even being home, doesn't change anything. And I'm happy here.
And the world is small. I can be anywhere I need to be in a single day.
And this weekend was busy. Busy is good for distractions! Saturday found me returning to Monte Alban and playing in the Zocalo with friends. And then Sunday found us in Teotitlan del Valle -- what an amazing place!!! We walked to a waterfall (a man made one, but still very beautiful) and looked at the different birds. We hiked through brush and flowers down to the stream.
Apparently, when it rains and the water is high, people from the town come to bathe in the water.
I would, too. What a place.
Teotitlan is situated just outside of the city - next to that mountain I love so much. By the way, did you know that you can climb that mountain? There's a cross at the top. The town is more or less known for its textile production. The center is full of shops which display blankets and rugs, tapetes and other amazing things woven on hand-operated looms.
We didn't buy anything, because that's not what we were there for. We were there to hang out with Chonita (she works at the school). She's the one who led us on the expedition up the hill, and who took us to eat nieve (like ice cream, kind of) afterwards.
I'd go back there.
Even if I stand out like a very, very, sore thumb.
And last night, we went to the Zocalo to close out the book-fair festivities by watching a play! It was in Spanish, which made it just a little bit difficult for me (because, as badly as I want to understand everything, I just don't). Luckily, gesticulations and intonation made it easy for me to follow along - and today I was able to debrief it in class...because my teacher was part of the production.
Seriously. Education 24/7.
Speaking of classes, today I started doing clases privadas. There are a few reasons for this: 1. something wasn't clicking in my other class...I was feeling unmotivated and frustrated, 2. because there were so many chatty people in the class, it was easy for me to hide behind them and go the entire 4 hours without saying a word, 3. I'm in a different place than the people in my class from last week, and I have different language needs that I need met.
My teacher brain told me to advocate myself, to push myself out of the comfort zone.
I have Kumashiro's theory of discomfort playing on repeat in my mind.
It's in the uncomfortable spaces where we grow the most.
I need growth. I'm tired of this plateau.
So today was 3 hours of Omar y yo.
I feel confident in saying I made a good decision.
I just want to be able to flip that switch in my brain and be a Spanish thinker.
After class, I stuck around for a while to do some of my tarea. Then, I went to the market where I bought 8 oranges, 10 apples, 7 tomatoes, 10 guava, 10 potatos, 1 kg of tortillas, 3 avocados, and a bunch of bananas for approximately $5 USD.
Seriously.
I also bought 2 notebooks for about $3 USD.
Why do I need notebooks? To reorganize my crazy notes, of course.
Which is what I'm going to do when I'm done writing this. But I still have more to say!
I have been thinking, recently, about the beauty of the Spanish language. The lack of certain direct translations. There are some feelings and ideas that can't be expressed in English, at least not in the same way.
I like Spanish because it's more than a language you speak. It's a language you feel. I wish I could take some of the words and phrases and open your chests and insert them into your hearts so that you could know, too.
I wish I could do that with this whole experience.
I'm sorry for that.
But, hey, at least it keeps you wondering what I'm up to....right? Well, to be honest, I spent most of this weekend feeling terribly homesick. As you are probably well aware, being homesick isn't really in my repertoire.
But, I received some rough news on Friday night. So of course the only thing I could (and can) think about is how badly I wish I was with my family. Either way, when I use my rational mind, I realize that wanting to be home, or even being home, doesn't change anything. And I'm happy here.
And the world is small. I can be anywhere I need to be in a single day.
And this weekend was busy. Busy is good for distractions! Saturday found me returning to Monte Alban and playing in the Zocalo with friends. And then Sunday found us in Teotitlan del Valle -- what an amazing place!!! We walked to a waterfall (a man made one, but still very beautiful) and looked at the different birds. We hiked through brush and flowers down to the stream.
Apparently, when it rains and the water is high, people from the town come to bathe in the water.
I would, too. What a place.
Teotitlan is situated just outside of the city - next to that mountain I love so much. By the way, did you know that you can climb that mountain? There's a cross at the top. The town is more or less known for its textile production. The center is full of shops which display blankets and rugs, tapetes and other amazing things woven on hand-operated looms.
We didn't buy anything, because that's not what we were there for. We were there to hang out with Chonita (she works at the school). She's the one who led us on the expedition up the hill, and who took us to eat nieve (like ice cream, kind of) afterwards.
I'd go back there.
Even if I stand out like a very, very, sore thumb.
And last night, we went to the Zocalo to close out the book-fair festivities by watching a play! It was in Spanish, which made it just a little bit difficult for me (because, as badly as I want to understand everything, I just don't). Luckily, gesticulations and intonation made it easy for me to follow along - and today I was able to debrief it in class...because my teacher was part of the production.
Seriously. Education 24/7.
Speaking of classes, today I started doing clases privadas. There are a few reasons for this: 1. something wasn't clicking in my other class...I was feeling unmotivated and frustrated, 2. because there were so many chatty people in the class, it was easy for me to hide behind them and go the entire 4 hours without saying a word, 3. I'm in a different place than the people in my class from last week, and I have different language needs that I need met.
My teacher brain told me to advocate myself, to push myself out of the comfort zone.
I have Kumashiro's theory of discomfort playing on repeat in my mind.
It's in the uncomfortable spaces where we grow the most.
I need growth. I'm tired of this plateau.
So today was 3 hours of Omar y yo.
I feel confident in saying I made a good decision.
I just want to be able to flip that switch in my brain and be a Spanish thinker.
After class, I stuck around for a while to do some of my tarea. Then, I went to the market where I bought 8 oranges, 10 apples, 7 tomatoes, 10 guava, 10 potatos, 1 kg of tortillas, 3 avocados, and a bunch of bananas for approximately $5 USD.
Seriously.
I also bought 2 notebooks for about $3 USD.
Why do I need notebooks? To reorganize my crazy notes, of course.
Which is what I'm going to do when I'm done writing this. But I still have more to say!
I have been thinking, recently, about the beauty of the Spanish language. The lack of certain direct translations. There are some feelings and ideas that can't be expressed in English, at least not in the same way.
I like Spanish because it's more than a language you speak. It's a language you feel. I wish I could take some of the words and phrases and open your chests and insert them into your hearts so that you could know, too.
I wish I could do that with this whole experience.
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