El Lunes

 Best.  Churro.  EVAR.

Today was a good day in class.  After a bit of encouragement from my darling friend Karen, I decided to just go for it and be my normal chatty self and just blab away to my teacher today.  Of course, I had to do some prep work and I'm glad I did.  I knew they'd ask what I did this weekend, so I wrote it out in English on Sunday night and then translated it so I could be confident that I was doing it correctly.
I might be using the first book, but I feel like I might be doing better than I thought.  Felipa said the same thing as Elvira pretty much - that I learn very quickly and that I don't have a "North American" accent when I speak.  Felipa said she thought I must've grown up listening to Spanish.  Maybe it's just in the blood.  ;o)  In any case, it's great encouragement and I was game to speak a bit more to strangers after class as well.

In addition, I'm starting to feel like a bit more of a local now.  After class today I headed for a carnitas place (had to check it out before Dad gets here!).  I stopped and picked up Atencion on the way (since I know exactly where to find the guy now and how much it is), then found the carnitas place, Apolo XI.  I asked for a quarter kilo, with a little bit of fat, and got some salsa verde as well.  He gave me a sample as I was waiting and it was so good.  Not nearly as shredded as we Romos make it, but good.  Then I headed for Mercado Ignacio Ramirez to my "usual" stand.  I got a couple of limes and some grapes (you can buy half bags of grapes!  Well, whatever quantity you want really. . . ).  Then on my way to pick up tortillas I passed by the churro lady.  Why not?  I thought.  OMG you guys.  You have not had a churro until you have had one of these churros.  I mean, they're okay at home, but this was like, some black voodoo churro magic.  Maybe they fry them in unicorn fat, I have no idea, but they are WAY better than what we have at home, even though they weren't hot.  I headed for the tortilleria and asked for only 5 tortillas and headed home.  On the way, I stopped at a market close to home to get una Coca Cola Light y un Squirt (yes, Squirt!).  I have big tinto de verano plans, even though I'm not in Spain.  The tortilla shop I went to today had much better tortillas than the first one I visited in my opinion - these ones were much softer - probably because they were still warm out of la maquina.

M

My spoils: fresh corn tortillas, churros, limes, carnitas, salsa verde, Coca Cola Light, and Atencion.

I love that I can buy whatever quantity I want - something I learned today.  Because many people are poor, they buy the older fruits & vegetables (you know, the old beat up ones that are probably going to get tossed), or they ask if they can 5 pesos worth of something instead of a full amount or package.
AND - now I feel like a jerk because I did not get ripped off for my aguacate this weekend.  I asked my teacher today how much they were and she said 8-10 pesos.  She also told me that it's worth while to walk around to the different puestas (I think that was the word she used? - stands basically) and ask how much things are since different people may charge slightly less.  It is a total faux pas to bargain for fruits & vegetables - you can ask for less of something if it's in quantity, but that's it!
And, as for bargaining for other stuff (jewelry, pottery, etc.) - she said a little bit of bargaining is okay, but not to do that "What?!  That's way too expensive!  Bah!" kind of thing.  They give you a price, you say, "Oh, that's expensive" or "I don't have that much" and they ask what you think, you give them a price and they either say yes, no or counter again.  Then you take it, or you say thank you and walk away.  And don't go back every day trying to bargain again and again - either on the same item or on different things.  They don't care if you don't buy, but they don't want to be insulted!

I'm off for pizza tonight with Dina.  Hoping to be able to speak a bit more Spanish while I'm out - take advantage of the new confident streak.

Oh, on Sunday I took the house and garden tour hosted by the library.  It's all Yanks, mostly retired ones, but it's a decent thing to do to get to see some of the nicer homes.  Oddly enough, sometimes the family is just kicking it while you're cruising through their home, bedroom, kitchen, office - looking at photos, etc.  Then you're like - Oh hi.  Thanks for letting us all come traipsing through your home. . . .
The photos and video are posted on flickr - complete with American background chatter.