Beginning to fit in!

Today when I walked into the classroom for our first session, I heard only Spanish being spoken, and there was no teacher. My classmates had taken to heart the urging to speak Spanish. Although not all of it was Spanish, it was a grand attempt. We created a lovely combination of English and Spanish until the teacher arrived. But bravo for us!

This morning we met our third of four teachers, Mariana, and we enthusiastically discussed housing and "Hogar, Dulce Hogar"-home sweet home. We did the ultimate painful language acquisition activity of listening execises!!! I know why my students cringe at this activity. It takes a moment or two to acclimate oneself to the accents of the speaker, and by that time the listening segment is over! Together, however, we were able to make sense of what we were hearing and actually completed a few listening exercises today.

During the break, I noticed that even the students in the beginning class were speaking more Spanish outside of the classroom. It appeared that they were much more comfortable today. Everyone seems to be pulling together to help team members, in terms of comprehension and what to say in various situations.

Number four teacher for our class was Tiziana. She is the academic director of our program here at UCEL. We discussed slang for a bit and language usage, especially vocabulary, in other Spanish speaking countries. It appears that Tiziana is more of a linguist than the other teachers. Her teaching style is somewhat more laid back, which made the afternoon session a bit tough. It was tough keeping the old eyelids open after around 12:15.

For lunch today we were treated to a meal at the restaurant next door to the university. While some balked at the idea of having the meal together as a group, I think it helped everyone to continue to share about experiences. I am seeing a cohesive team of U.S. students building, and we are helping each other with language and cultural adjustments. We were joined for dessert by the director of the program, Dr. Fanny Gotfried. She continued to make everyone feel welcome and quite at home.

After lunch we did a short walking tour to the shopping area of the city. There is a pedestrian shopping area much like those in European cities here as well. We "chicas Argentinas" spent a few hours strolling through stores, buying gifts for family back home and enjoying each other's company. My favorite stop was at the grocery store. The brains and intestines in the meat department were of particular interest.

Once again, it's time for homework and dinner. Hasta manana!