Interversity.Org

Hmmm! Topics should be related to learning?? Well, I'll try since recently I have had plenty of practice with education.

Well, after three torturous weeks in a Spanish immersion language school which was a wrong fit with another wrong fit in a homestay (lovely people but a far cry from what was promised) I returned one week early. After I completed three weeks of group and private lessons in Guadalajara, Mexico I couldn't even read the certificate of completion I received. Not all has been lost, however. I learned lots and lots about the culture, daily found my way around a city of 5 million people communicating by using lots and lots of nouns, almost no verbs, and a talent to mime, which got steadily better with much practice. I loved the people, and I think they loved me! I regularly rode the city buses which had no shock absorbers and that had kamakazi pilots sitting in the drivers' seats, and I feared only crossing busy intersections at rush hour, which was approximately 24 hours a day. When I hesitiated, little old ladies invariably grabbed my arm and pulled me across the streets with them.

At first I disliked the mercados with all those sweaty people and crammed booths and loud vendors, but soon it became intoxicating. Prowling the aisles, playing cat and mouse games with the sellers was a challenge. They soon learned I could tell a peso from a copper, even if I didn't know a centavo from a cien! I improved the Mexican economy in Ajijic and Tlaquepaque by buying textiles and ceramic pots. I also fell in love with the art work of the Huichol Indians, and could even pronounce their name. Talk about learning!

Before returning, I made a much-needed rest top in another city. Without any capitalistic shame or embarrassment, I adored Puerto Vallarta with all its hedonistic riches---and sun and sand.

Last Saturday night I helped release baby turtles in a turtle sanctuary after dark and cheered my very own turtle Jaime (named for my dear husband, James) who was the first little turtle rascal who made it into the sea under a pale moon, with my English shouts of encouragement ringing in his ears.

I arrived home on a delayed flight (of course!) and tumbled into my trundle bed with Jaime--I mean James--at 5 a.m. today, dreaming of my next trip to Puerto Vallarta, with nary a Spanish lesson in sight.

Adios, Amigos.