Field Trip to Vallarta

Spanish class went on the road yesterday. We traveled to Vallarta with our friend and instructor Cecilia. We walked along the Malecon admiring the art and amazing sand sculptures. We visited the plaza and the cathedral, and conducted class in a little cafe.

My hard fought effort to learn the Spanish language dates all the way back to Spanish I in the 7th grade. I subsequently skipped it in 8th grade, which landed me in Spanish II with my sister in High School. She was a Junior and I was a Freshman. I slept through the entire semester and it drove her nuts. My next attempt occurred freshman year of college when I again enrolled in Spanish II. That ended abruptly when I dropped out of college 2 weeks later to kayak in Costa Rica with the US team. Over the next 15 years there were multiple failed attempts to learn on my own. Audio disks, workbooks, and even Rosetta Stone were employed in an effort to master my Mexican tongue. Yet here I am, still struggling to piece together what my ears interpret as goggly-goop. This time is different though. With Stevie's drive and motivation for learning I feel more determined than ever to push through to fluency.

I am so impressed with all the Mexican immigrants who go to the US and learn English, ON THEIR OWN. No teachers or books or internet or resources. These people inspire me. It's interesting how some Americans (not all, but a lot) automatically discriminate against someone who is struggling to learn our language. We just assume they should know it or they aren't educated. We consider it a nuisance if the person in front of us in line is struggling to find the words to complete a purchase while we have to wait. We spend little if any time helping them practice english in day to day life. The opposite is true down here. People love it when you try to speak spanish. They encourage and help you. It would be great to throw every American into a spanish speaking country for 1 month, with no help. I'm sure it would change our national perspective dramatically. Maybe we'd even join the rest of the world and start teaching our kids a second language, starting in 1st grade. Wouldn't that be great? I doubt it will ever happen though. There are too many NUTS in the Tea Party who would fight it on Fox News. I can hear them now... "But this is AMERICA, we speak AMERICAN here." Actually dude, you're not America. You're the United States, which is only part of America. The rest of America includes Mexico, Central, and South America. Guess what language they speak Bro?  OVER AND OUT - TREE