First Day of School

So I just got in after my first day & figured I should tell you about it. When I walked in, I was asked if I wanted to take a placement test. Hmm. I thought it was required, but I played along and said sure I would. I ripped through it, thinking both that I didn't know as much as I thought & that this test would be of nearly no use to someone trying to place me in a class. The problem is that I have very little formal schooling in Spanish- all of that way back in high school- & I've learned much of what I know through interactions with Spanish speakers. It's kind of like building a house without a foundation. If you look at it from across the street it may look fine, but step inside & you don't feel so safe.

So after they grade me, I'm told to follow a woman upstairs where she points to an empty classroom & says go there & ask the teacher for the book. FYI- this is all in Spanish & there is virtually no English spoken by anyone at the school. So I sit by myself with no idea why I was there, who my teacher was, if this was a permanent assignment or a temporary holding area, what the schedule & structure is. Nothing at all. Finally 2 very non-Mexican students walk in & tell me (in English) that this was a regularly scheduled class in the low end of intermediate / high end of basic level that meets at 10am Mon-Friday with 2 hours of instruction, a half hour break, then 2 hours of conversation. When the teacher shows up, she tells me to ask someone else for the book. Not to bore you with more of the logistical issues, but it's not run like any other school I've ever attended.

My classmates include a Swiss fellow who recently moved here for work & pronounces Spanish perfectly, a Moscow-born Israeli citizen who has lived in Detroit for the last 3 years (poor soul), a little girl who can't be more than 20 years old who chased a man here & is learning Spanish out of love (awww) and an older woman who refuses to speak Spanish with the rest of us & constantly tells us how much she hates Mexico & the classes. Only the Russian guy & I are new today but it seems like it's standard practice to throw newbies in with others who have a week head start to keep the size of classes & number of classrooms down.

I struggled mightily with some of the early lessons but felt I did well in the conversations, as I expected. The teacher mentioned a song she loves from a Swiss band & the Swiss guy told us it's a story about being homesick for Zurich & missing the mountains & chocolate (what, no cuckoo clocks?). I had a quick bite during the break with the Russian & he seems like my kind of fellow even though he doesn't eat pork. The time flew by & I think it will be a productive place for me, although my lack of fundamentals may become an issue.

You're probably wondering now if I'm going to make it through a post without mentioning food. Of course not. On my way home, I saw that an entire block starting right outside my apartment gets lined with food carts on work days to feed a large municipal building at the other end of the block. Walking by in wonder I spotted one of my favorite Mexican snacks: a woman making blue corn tortillas from scratch to order & forming them into quesadillas & gorditas. I couldn't resist my go-to quesadilla stuffed with squash flowers & Oaxacan cheese & I loved it madly. In the event I'm forced to turn vegetarian this treat will undoubtedly form one of the staples of my diet.

Also in food news, part of my class conversation turned towards food & the teacher told us her favorite restaurant in the DF is nearby in Condesa. I'm meeting a friend there for dinner tonight.

Before I finish this frighteningly long post, let me leave you with another culture shock tale. Somehow my web browser knows that I've logged on in Mexico & automatically directs me to Mexican versions of all my favorite sites. For example, all the instructions at the top of this blog posting page are in Spanish, as is my little Google search box built in to the toolbar. I can't seem to change it to English, but I'm not the most computer-savvy guy. Immersion indeed. ¡Besos!