Student Life

07:30 Wake up
08:15 Breakfast (cheese and egg sandwich, orange juice, and coffee provided by the hostel)
08:40 Leave hostel. Walk to Spanish school (Natalis Language Center)
09:00 Class
10:30 Break
10:45 Class
12:15 Break
12:30 Class
14:00 End Class

This has been my routine for the past few days. Pretty rigorous, huh?!
5 hours of Spanish lessons a day (and private lessons at that!) aren’t fun. There was no time to space out (like I’d usually do in class) since I’m the only one answering the questions...
I should’ve done the regular course (3 hours/day) rather than the crash course. By day 3, I was losing it... Especially since the class focused a great deal on grammar. I would’ve preferred learning more of the conversational side of Spanish, much more useful for my coming travels. Yes, grammar is important. But when my vocabulary is as limited as a dog’s, I don’t think perfecting my infinitives and tenses really matter.
Heck, I don’t even know my English grammar anymore!!! You know, I used to be an ace at it during my younger school years. Since then, I’ve totally forgotten what some of those tenses meant – past participles, reflexives, etc. Sad.

For the rest of the day after my classes, I’d eat (mostly empanadas and instant noodles), hang out with Natalie, and just be a lazy bum.
Oh, and "study" of course! Which basically involved doing my written homework and memorizing the tons of vocabulary and verb conjugations. The former wasn’t too bad - Natalie was around to help me out (she took Spanish classes in Guatemala before getting here, so was at a more advanced level), and I’ll confess that the answers were in the back of the book. The memorization part was a nightmare, though! Man, my brain cells just don’t function anymore. Or I’ve lost too much of them. The pains of aging.

During my brief stint as a Spanish student and my travels through Central & South Americas, I’ve really grown to love the language. It’s so beautiful. As soon as I complete my journey and settle somewhere with a job (hopefully soon), I think I’m going to take lessons again. Although I’ve slightly lost confidence in my ability to study...