Day. . . um. . . Monday

Man, I have been so MIA!  Being here all alone with nothing to do sure does eat up some time!
So let's see - where have I been?
I spent most of Saturday at Starbuck's (I know, right?) avoiding the rain and reading through the local paper, Atencion.  It lists all of the activities going on in town and Alan said it'd be a great way for me to find some things to do.  It's definitely jam packed, and my calender is all filled with options - from other expensive cooking classes, to conversation practice at the library, to dance lessons and Zumba in the park, to tours and wine tasting.  I had lunch at a Spanish placed called Cafe Iberico.  The food was really good (goat cheese!) and they have a fantastic roof top garden that opens in the evenings.
That night, I was all excited to see the Spike Jonze flick, I'm Here, in El Jardin, but it started raining which chased me away.  I tried the next night as well, but that damn rain was determined not to let me see this movie.  To escape the rain I ran off to a nearby bar at a restaurant called Mama Mia, had some horrible "sangria" and attempted to speak Spanglish with a guy that struck up a conversation with me.  His name was Saul and he has his own shoe company.  He was very nice, and his English was about as good as my Spanish, so we talked about lofty things like the weather, and what band was playing, and where we were from.  I then headed out to try to meet up with the other Americans at a drag show (!!), but when I got down to the bar, it looked like there was NO ONE in it.  There was a cover, so I opted out and just headed home.

Yesterday I went for a walk to find the best route to my school, and had lunch at a cafe there, Mi Casa es su Casa.  Then I had a $2 Illy espresso (!!) at a cafe on the main square and spent a good chunk of the afternoon and evening hanging out at the film festival.  I caught the tail end of a documentary on the art of coloring b&w photographs with oil paint, then HavanYork, a look at the roots of Hip Hop via American and Cuban cultures, and finally, The Most Dangerous Man in America - a documentary on Daniel Ellsburg; the Pentagon Papers whistle blower.  He and his wife were there afterward for a Q&A session.  The entire afternoon was pretty amazing, even though I was basically sitting on a carpet covered wooden box for several hours, smooshed up near the ceiling of what became a very hot room.

Today was my first day of school and boy was I nervous.  I had been worried that I would be stuck in the "Hola, come estas" class of 7 folks who didn't speak a word of Spanish.  What I got was two other American women, who actually ended up being more advanced than me so I get my own "special" class.  I spent two hours with one teacher, Elvira, and then the next two hours with the other teacher, Felipa.  They are both incredibly nice Mexican women, and it is totally not their fault that I wanted to cry the entire time.  It was so frustrating, and embarrassing and I was annoyed at myself for not remembering more, and UGH.  I totally don't want to go back tomorrow.  But of course I will, and it'll get easier, and blah blah blah.  I mean, this is why I'm here.  So, my Spanish speaking friends - no more speaking English to me.  My teachers seemed a bit horrified that I have friends that speak Spanish but I don't practice with them.  And after this experience is over, I certainly don't want to end up in the same place of not remembering everything I worked so hard to learn!  Because of my desires, you are now all on the hook - lo siento.

I'm sure I had many more witty anecdotes and things to share, but my first P90X workout kicked my arse and I want to go study for school a little bit, so it looks like I know SOMETHING when I get there tomorrow.  Check out the Flickr page for more photos and videos!

Hasta luego.