3 Months!

Today is my 3 month anniversary with Mexico! It's kind of weird to have an "anniversary" but I like to keep track of where I am from month to month.

It's amazing how much my Spanish has improved from Day 1. I always get really excited when I successfully have a conversation (the little things, remember?), use the subjunctive in the proper context, or understand everything that's going on around me. I keep reminding myself that this is such a good experience to have, especially if I want to teach ESL. I know that I'm not stupid...it's just the language barrier that sometimes gets in the way. And I hate when people think that I'm below-average intelligence because there are still so many things about Spanish that I don't know. Now that I know how it feels, I vow never to think the same of any of my future students or treat them in that way.

Also, the other frustrating thing about learning a language is that it comes and goes in phases. Some days I feel like I can hold my own with any Mexican and other days it's like I've never seen a Spanish textbook in my life. I'm realizing that by attempting to learn Spanish I've committed myself to an entire lifetime of fighting to maintain it.

So, back to my anniversary. Today I'm going to celebrate with several other exchange students with dessert and coffee (the tradition that Lisa, Laura, and I started), AND it's still the Cervantino so there's ALWAYS something to do/see!!