The first day on the Intensive Spanish Course was nice and easy. We had a quick orientation tour around the main streets and sights of Mendoza, followed by a light lunch at a quaint restaurant. In the evening, we hung out in the kitchen, cooking and eating (or finishing) the fresh empanadas and alfajores de maicena we had just made. This was going to be easy…. or so I thought!
The rest of the Spanish week was anything but ¨tranquilo¨….. roll out of bed at 8AM, 4 rigorous hours of Spanish with Inés, 30 minutes to change out of my pyjamas, and then an afternoon of excursions with Jose. True to its name, this was definitely an intensive Spanish week. But every moment of it was brilliant. Each day was completely different, with some days packed with more than one activity. And siestas didn’t count! I could tell, at various points through any given day, that I was experiencing a moment that would be a fondly remembered memory for years to come.
Like my first tango class with Ana y Luis. I was dreading the lesson as I have never been particularly coordinated, and I hate dancing with a partner. But 5 minutes in and I was already in love with this dance. Since they don´t speak English, it was difficult to understand the technicalities of each step: ¨Where does my hand go? Why can´t I do that? I do what with my foot?¨ But because it´s such a physical and intuitive dance, the body language facilitates the Spanish, making the language barrier a non-issue. Ana y Luis will repeatedly tell you to feel, listen, and let your body speak to you. Cheesy, I know, but totally true. So just go with the flow!
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“Hey everyone, we are safe and sound and enjoying Africa. Mwanza is an amazing place, set on a hill with lots of houses that look like they might tip off the edge! The local people are very nice and me and Sam are learning the local lingo - we have lessons every Tuesday.