San Miguel: One week down...

Despite getting off to a rocky start, I survived my first week of Spanish school... Here's my first week broken down day by day, because I'm sure you're just dying to know:

~ Sunday ~

Ty had to leave San Miguel early to get back to Vallarta before dark...which meant I had a few hours to kill in the hotel room (a.k.a. try to stop crying) before I needed to be at the school around noon.  I caught a taxi uptown to school and knocked on the big, wooden doors around 11:30am.  One of the teachers, who I learned lives onsite, answered in her pajamas and showed me to my room, while asking me a few questions about myself.  

I was worried at first, because the room had three twin beds and I had requested a private room months prior, but she assured me I was going to be the only one staying in it.  She also explained there was another student staying upstairs and that there might be another coming later in the week but the hurricane in Houston had messed up their travel plans, so she wasn't sure.  (By the way this is all happening in Spanish, of course.)

She showed me a few things in my room, and then she left me there alone.  I found it odd there was no sort of "orientation" no tour of the grounds, no instructions on where I was supposed to go in the morning for class, etc.  So, I unpacked a few things, took a nap and then left on foot in search of a "celebratory" dinner.  I thought I deserved a reward for stepping so far out of my anti-adulting comfort zone, so I treated myself to a fancy steak dinner which turned out to be totally weird and awkward.  I hate dining alone.  

When I got back to the school, I looked around the property on my own a bit... When you first walk in the doors, there's an administration office/lobby area, then it goes out to a courtyard with a fountain and some tables and chairs... if you go to the left that'll take you to the classrooms and if you go to the right, down a set of stairs and through the garden...that's where the student housing is.  Student housing is essentially just a big, 3-story house.  The whole ground floor is one big common area, with a large, modern (for Mexico) kitchen, a dining table, couches, foosbol table, seating areas, etc.  The second floor has two bedrooms, mine and another one across the hall.  The third floor has one more bedroom and also access to a third and FOURTH story rooftop deck. 

My school from the road... 

The classrooms are on the right... The double doors lead to the lobby and the street.  

The main courtyard where we take our "tea breaks" around 11:00am every morning... 

Student housing at the rear of the property....it was only built 8 years ago, but the school itself is over 50 years old.   

Shared kitchen... 

The "TV area"....hahahaaa!  

Shared dining and living room... 

My quaint bedroom and private bathroom.... 

View from the 4th story rooftop deck....that's much too high for yours truly, so I don't think I'll be hanging out up there too often. 

Looking down on the third story rooftop....the beginner classroom is across the way.

~ Monday ~

I barely slept at all on Sunday night because my bed has the hardest mattresses I've ever slept on in my life.  I've had a better night's sleep while sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag.  It was like trying to get comfortable on a surgical table.  Awesome.  Only 27 nights to go!

I still didn't know where I was supposed to go, but I remembered that classes started at 9:00, so at about 8:45 I walked up to the courtyard and was shocked to see about 15-20 white people in the lobby.  Say what?!  When the teacher told me there weren't going to be any more students staying at the house, I assumed that meant the classes were going to be really small too.  But the place was buzzing!  I met a nice man, probably in his late 60s, who visits San Miguel a few months a year, and another man from Montana who wanted to learn Spanish for work...and a few others who were staying with friends in town.  Not surprisingly, I was the youngest Gringo at Spanglish school and got asked lots of questions by curious retirees, as per usual.  

I had read online that I would be "interviewed" on my first day so they could determine which class to put me in, but that was just basically the teacher showing me to my room on Sunday and asking me a few questions and then asking me a few more questions on Monday morning like 5 minutes before classes were supposed to start.  But...the problem is, people ask the same questions all the time, so she was only asking questions I've answered a million times already and I can just rattle off my responses in Spanish without many hiccups or pauses.  Where do you live?  What do you do?  Where are you from?  Blah, blah, blah.  In my opinion, that's not a true test of my skill level...it's deceiving, if anything, because I often times sound more advanced than I really am.

Yes, I get by just fine with my current knowledge of Spanish, but I came to school with the hopes of cleaning up my Spanish...and also to be able to comprehend better when other people are talking to me.  I wanted to tell someone that I speak, write and read it pretty well, but I need to improve my comprehension.  I wanted to tell someone that I have no formal Spanish education (sorry, Sean, you don't count!), I wanted to tell someone that when I moved here 15 months ago I didn't even know how to say "My name is..." or the days of the week.  I wanted to tell someone my Spanish is "boots on the ground" Spanish, not technical or textbook.  But I never got the opportunity.  I was told I was intermediate based on my verbal responses to their generic questions and put in a class with one other person (who happened to also be my only housemate...more on her later.) 

After 20 minutes, I knew I was in the wrong class.  The only other student in class had been here a MONTH already and was starting her second month.  And the first day was just reviewing what SHE had just learned the month before... After she and the instructor carried on a 5-minute conversation in Spanish while making me feel totally invisible in the process, I knew I didn't want to be in there for a month.  When I didn't know the answers to the questions or understand what the instructor was saying, the other student would look at me like, "Why are you here?"  It was pretty humiliating and discouraging.  And it was only the first hour of the first day.

In Spanish, I told the instructor that I didn't think I was put in the right class, and she laughed.  Probably at all the mistakes I made while saying so.  I was pulled out of class and was apologized to about the "confusion" and I was instantly dubbed a "beginner."  Again, no one asked me questions, no one asked about my skill level, no one asked me anything.  I was just labeled a beginner and thrown into a different classroom.  Within about 17 seconds I knew that I was in the wrong class again.  They were learning how to say their names and how to ask someone else their name.  And I was like, "Oh, hell nah."  During the break, I went and talked to the director again and was told there was nothing in between intermediate and beginner.  So, I either learn nothing in beginner, or understand nothing in intermediate.  Awesome.  

Needless to say, I was a whacked out ball of stress on my first day and was ready to book my flight home.  I went back to beginner after the break and we (they) learned how to count past 15, and how to say where they're from.  I wanted to die.

Side note:  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being a total beginner, I was in their exact place a year and a half ago...I knew nothing.  But I didn't study and practice and embarrass myself every single day since then to start from the bottom again.  I knew I didn't belong in beginner, and I didn't think it was fair (for me or the other intermediate student) to be put in intermediate.  I think I would have done fine in intermediate under normal circumstances, it's where I expected to be placed, but I didn't want to be only one of two students in the class and feel like I was a month behind the whole time.

So, Monday sucked and I spent the whole evening in my room fretting over the fact there was no place for me and thinking I had made a mistake in coming here.  There might have even been some tears, but you can't prove it.  I kicked myself for already booking a plane ticket for the end of the month, because I thought I might not even last a week.  I continued to stress about where I was going to be put the following day, and didn't sleep at all thanks to my bed of bricks.  

~ Tuesday ~

Tuesday morning, the director decided that I would work one-on-one with a teacher (I think he's more like a teacher-in-training...he's really young.)  We started about two-thirds of the way through the beginner workbook and he quizzed me on a lot of beginner material... days of the week, months of the year, pronunciation, the definition of lots of verbs, blah, blah, blah.  I spent the first two hours of class working with him, and it was pretty boring, but better than nothing...and then they sent me to the beginner class in the afternoons for the "conversation" and "vocabulary" segments of the day where we (they) learned the words for different types of shoes and clothing.   

After school, I ventured into town to get some groceries.  I went to the amazeballs fruit and veggie market and bought 4 large carrots, 4 large apples, 4 zucchinis, and 1 large onion for 88 pesos (less than 5 bucks.)  And then I went to a small corner store and bought a big bag of coffee, a jar of mayo, water and butter for 133 pesos (about $7.50) and then headed back to school to do my homework.  

So, Tuesday was better than Monday, but I was still pretty bummed about there not being a class for my skill level... I guess I kinda thought it would be more of a Spanish 1-4 or 5 situation (and that I would be a 2 or 3) and not just strictly beginner, intermediate and advanced...but I tried to tell myself that being (bored) with a private tutor is better than relearning ser, estar y gustar with a bunch of super confused newbies.  

~ Wednesday ~

Wednesday wasn't much different than Tuesday.... It rained all day, but not like the typical Mexican rain I'm used to.  It doesn't downpour here like in Vallarta, it's more like Seattle rain... just a gray, drizzly, constant, soggy, wet rain.  I walked into town again to go to the bank and I was thankful I had thought to pack an umbrella, but I realized I should have packed more warm clothes and better shoes.  The one pair of closed-toe shoes I had packed, were soaked through by the time I got back to the house and I was freezing.  

While I was out, I was approached by a kid in his early 20s carrying a basket of bread.  In perfect English he said, "Hello.  Good afternoon."  And it kinda threw me for a loop... He asked if I speak Spanish and I answered, "Estoy aprendiendo," then he asked me if I wanted to practice with him.  I knew he just wanted to sell me bread, but I was happy to play along.  So he asked me where I'm from and why I was in San Miguel and I explained I'm going to school and I'm here for a month, etc.  He asked if I wanted to buy a loaf of homemade banana bread for 70 pesos (umm, yes, please!!) and before he left he said very matter-of-factly in English, "Your Spanish accent is very good," and then he was gone.  I, of course, had a big, nerdy grin all the way home and then I called Ty and bragged about my "very good accent," because duh.  

Also on Wednesday night, I took my first hot shower!  The water in my bathroom had been cold since I arrived on Sunday, (and I don't mean lukewarm like "cold" water is in Vallarta...I'm talking melted snow caps COLD) and I just assumed they didn't have hot water.... But after sending an email to the director, I found out they had just forgotten to turn my water heater on.  Hallelujah!   

As much as I wished I had packed better for this trip, I really love getting to wear hoodies and snuggle up in blankets every day... Ty is probably sitting shirtless under the ceiling fan and melting his face off as I type this.  Sucker.  

~ Thursday ~

Again, Thursday wasn't much different, except my tutor and I actually started getting into more challenging exercises in the workbook and we were having more impromptu conversations, which is good practice for me... In the afternoon class, we (they) learned the words for different fruits and vegetables. 

This also happened Thursday afternoon... Oops.  

Thursday night I decided to find a restaurant for dinner.  I found this casual, hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Olé Olé a 5-minute walk from school and it was AHHHMAZING.  One thing I've loved about San Miguel so far is the fooooooooood.  Everything tastes so fresh and flavorful and like it came from the Earth and not a corporation.  It's what I imagine food tasted like 100 years ago before hormones and preservatives and blah, blah.  I've never been a big meat-eater, and it's hard to find decent steak in the Bay, but the beef here is ridiculous... Like, even eating it as reheated leftovers the next day, it was still the best steak I've ever had in my life.  Mmmmm. 

~ Friday ~

Friday was an all around good day.  My tutor and I finished the rest of the beginner book, which means we move on to the intermediate book on Monday, and after talking to the director again, I'm also going to ditch the beginner class in the afternoons, and join the big kids in the intermediate "conversation" and "vocabulary" segments of the day.  So, go me.  (I found out there was a second intermediate class with more people in it, so why I was put in a class with a person who's been here a month already, is beyond me.)  Aside from a couple random words here and there, I didn't learn a whole lot of new stuff in my first week...so I'm hoping things ramp up from here, otherwise this could end up feeling like a waste of time and money.  

Friday after classes were over at 1:00pm, there was an optional cooking class students could attend, and there ended up being about a dozen of us... Some students were more helpful than others in the actual cooking process, but there was also a lot of socializing and getting to know each other.  Amazingly, out of 15+ students attending the school right now, I'm the only one who actually lives in Mexico full-time and everyone is shocked when I say, "Soy de Seattle, pero vivo en Puerto Vallarta."  I find that so odd... I thought for sure I would be in the majority.  Most of the students either plan to retire in Mexico eventually, or they just want to learn Spanish because of where they live or work.  I got asked a lot of questions about being an expat and how we came to live here.  While others were helping with the cooking, I helped a couple of the Spanish newbies in my beginner class understand their weekend homework.  (Honestly, I'd feel totally confident and competent teaching a beginner class to other expats, I should NOT be attending one!  Ugh.) 

The director led the cooking class and she made Aztec Soup (basically like tortilla soup) and it was super tasty.... We all sat at a big dining table like it was Thanksgiving and as soon as she told us we can only speak in Spanish at the table, conversation was pretty basic after that.  Ha.  

Also on Friday night, the only other student living in the "dorms" with me moved out!  So, I currently have a sprawling, 3-story house all to myself.  And as I mentioned on Facebook a few days ago, she wasn't exactly "friendly."  I practically had to force an introduction on her, and she just seems to be annoyed by all human interaction in general.  (I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that she's single.)  I've always considered myself anti-social/shy around new people, but she makes me look like Miss Congeniality, so I wasn't too heartbroken when I saw her lugging her suitcases downstairs.  I thought for sure I'd be Spanish school besties with whomever I was living with and had hoped to have someone to pal around with on the weekends, but I'm just fine living on my own too.  

Friday night, I walked into town to run some errands, and I noticed some sort of huge, official, government rally-type thing going on in the plaza.  I've never seen so many heavily-armed policía and seguridad privada in one place before.  Yikes.  Hundreds and hundreds of locals showed up for it.   

I wanted to sit and listen to the politicians' speeches, because they were speaking loudly and clearly and I thought it would be good listening/comprehension practice for me, so I popped into a bar next to the plaza that had a good view of the stage.  They didn't want to give me a table unless I ordered a meal, so I ordered something cheap and ate less than half of it because I wasn't all that hungry.  After listening for about 40 minutes or so (and understanding quite a lot!), I got the rest of my food para llevar (to go) and asked for a tenedor de plástico (plastic fork) to go with it.  On my way back to school I crouched down next to a homeless woman who couldn't have been less than 80 years old and asked, "Tienes hambre?" (Are you hungry?)  Her eyes got wide and she nodded up and down and said, "Sí, sí, sí!!"  I gave her my leftovers and a few 10 peso coins, and told her to have a good day and she smiled and thanked me repeatedly as I walked away.  There are far too many homeless, starving, begging senior citizens on the streets of San Miguel, something we don't see in La Cruz, so I'll be making a point to keep spare change in my pockets while I'm here. 

**************

So, it's officially the weekend!  I survived my first week of being away from my nerdy little family and living on my own... I really, really miss (annoying) them and I miss Ty spoiling me with home-cooked meals every night, but I do NOT miss the humidity, the thunderstorms or the mosquitoes.  I'm sure Ty super duper misses me and is bored out of his mind and falls asleep every night while clutching my pillow.  He's definitely NOT enjoying my absence by playing lots of golf and binge-watching "Narcos" on Netflix.  No, siree! 

Anyway... This was a long, boring post...congrats if you made it to the end.  I'm off to the market.  Hasta pronto!