Lori didn't know where Centro de Idiomas was. I had been shown by Alma on Sunday from her car. We hadn't gotten on a bus to practice, we just drove by and Alma pointed to the bus stop as we were on the way to Liliana's house for the wedding decorations.
I didn't know how to get to Lori's house, and I didn't know how to tell her to get to mine, so I told her we could meet at yoga at 4 to walk back to my house to catch the bus on the other side of my house. I got there at 4, drenched from the afternoon sun. I was wearing my Born flip flops that I'm so thankful I bought at TJ's before I came. However, being worn at least 6 days a week for 7 months has taken its toll on them! I think Vasito might have also accidentally stepped on them with his claw or something because there's a crack on the right one right under the ball of my foot. After standing at school all day, walking on them all afternoon was not on my agenda. As we passed my house, I ran in and got tennis shoes and changed into a drier shirt!
We walked to the bus stop and were there by 4:20, but it took over 10 minutes for our bus to come. Every other bus in the city it seemed (though buses we'd never seen) passed by us. Finally I saw the one Alma said it would be. I was looking for one specific building that had no markings that reminded me a bit of apartments. That was our stop. From there we'd walk two blocks. Should be interesting.
It was.
I didn't see the building. Obviously Lori couldn't help...
Before I knew it, we were downtown. NOT where we needed to be. And in my opinion, not close. I wasn't sure of the school's location if looking at a map, so my orientation was awful. I knew we shouldn't have gotten as far as we did, so I did what any foreigner would do; I followed the bus route back for a bit, stopping along the way asking if anyone had heard of Centro de Idiomas. Not much luck. I thought it might be helpful to know the street names (even though out of 100 times, you'll only see a street sign about twice), so I texted Alma. Her schedule has been so crazy lately that she hasn't been really good about returning texts, so I texted Iván as well. He had taken classes there, so I figured he might be able to help.
It's a good thing I did because it turned out Alma didn't have any phone credit, so she didn't answer me until Tuesday when I saw her again! Within a few seconds, Iván called and asked me where I was. I told him what had happened and that we were walking away from downtown. He asked me what street I was on and I just had to laugh. Yeah right there was a street sign. Suddenly I saw a church that I remembered thinking I needed to remember on Sunday so I could find my bus route home. I told him I was near that church and he gave me enough help to get close enough to ask someone. By the time I asked the third person (Comexus told us in DC to ask a minimum of three people for directions until you got the same answer multiple times!), we were within a block. I was certainly glad I had changed my shoes!
Being the ever prepared and punctual gringa that I am, I had alloted time for a late bus and to get lost. We walked in at what seemed like the strike of 5.
The ambiance was very intimidating. For one, the sign on the door said, "Spanish semester 6." The classroom was tiny, but already had about 15 people in a circle. When we opened the door, it was apparent we had interrupted. No effort was made to welcome us or to make sure we were in the right place. As I made my way to the second layer of chairs, the teacher (I assumed only because of the stack of papers in front of her) told us we had to be in the circle. Easier said than done when space would not allow! We managed. Several more people walked in. We went around the circle saying our names, what we did outside of Spanish classes, and why we were there.
Lori and I were the only two gringas, and there was another foreigner. Ali from Palestine. He was married to a Mexican and they had lived in Palestine 18 years. He and Lori both spoke about the same amount of minimal Spanish. After the first class, I was thinking they maybe should look for a class for foreigners learning Spanish since this one was quite a bit over their heads.
The teacher grew on me quickly. She has a slow way about her, which is good in a teacher. She was in no hurry to get an answer from someone. She left plenty of time to think.
Her Spanish was very clear, and being a Spanish teacher, it was proper.
I enjoyed the class very much, but wondered what it would be like for a trimester. We were going to learn lots about linguistics and written Spanish, as well as improve our speaking skills. What more could I ask for?
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