Me le presento...

Written Friday, July 8th

Four weeks down, two weeks to go. PHEW! I think I've made some pretty good progess in the last 14 days. Allow me to introduce you to the team of experts that has been helping me along the way.

Judith.
Judith gets me out of bed in the morning with her rolling Rs. I've never heard anyone roll their Rs so beautifully and with such a contrast of force and grace; she inspires me. In fact, last Friday, for the first time in my life, I rolled an R. I have witnesses. It was great. Judith helps me with my pronunciation and rhythm. We read the Gospel together.

Teresita.
Teresa knows her stuff. She also knows when I DON'T know my stuff, and challenges me in my areas of weakness. I pretend to be upset about this in class, but she knows I'm just joking, and I know that it's good for me. She uses lots of words that I don't understand, and while this is sometimes frustrating, I'm also learning the most vocabulary from her.

Viviana.
I have Viviana for my last class of the day, and together we laugh our way through grammar exercises. Today she asked me if I had a novio, and when I responded, "It's complicated," she said in Spanish, "I'm a love doctor. Tell me everything." So I made up stories about my complicated boyfriend to practice my indirect object pronouns. He never buys me flowers on Valentine's Day. (No me las compra.) Que triste.

Mario.
Mario is my culture class professor. Every week we have a culture-related lecture, and the class prepares us for the topic. Mario grew up in an indigenous community, and was the professor that led the group of students up the mountain to celebrate the Andean New Year. His stories about being raised in el campo are pretty incredible, and his philosophies about community provide a stark contrast to the individualism and materialism that pervade the culture of the United States. He is born to be an educator, and he brings a ton of energy and enthusiasm to the classroom. If I had to pick a favorite of the eight professors I've had so far, he would be it.

Getting to know these four professors has been the best part of the last two weeks. Monday brings a new week, and four different professors, and they're going to have a hard time topping the experiences I have had with this stellar team.

Love and conjugations,
K