The Spanish continues to be hard and has so many rules that I get very confused so many times. I will think I am understanding something and then I try it on my own and have no idea what I am doing. I randomly find myself regressing back into French and giving French names to different items. 6 hours of class a day is quite extreme although it has been good for me - it is definitely what I needed considering my elementary level of Spanish (known as nothing, nada, no Spanish). The only thing I can say is that I wish I had more talking with people so that I can get used to actually speaking. I had Dona Violeta, the Spanish coordinator for CSA, for class the other day and my class was absolutely amazing. I learned more in one class period than I had learned in one week with one of my other teachers. My teacher in the morning is awesome and I usually understand most of what he says to me in class. We get along really well and I enjoy those classes even when I get frustrated. All part of the learning process.

It´s the little things here too that get me through the days. I find myself stopping under a certain tree in the morning just to get a whiff of wet leaves that smell like autumn. There is a corner near my house as I walk to the bus stop in the morning that no one sweeps and the leaves that fall of the tree collect on the sidewalk. When it rains, the leaves fill with water and smell of autumn in the mountains of North Carolina as you hike up the trails that are covered in yellow, red, and orange leaves that have fallen. I´m sure the people around me think I´m crazy because I take a deep breath and smile ever so slightly every time I come to that specific corner. Lovely that it almost got me hit by a car the other day because I wasn´t paying attention at all after that and crossed the road. Oops. Speaking of traffic, that´s definitely another thought that gets me through the day...whether or not I can manipulate public transportation in order to get to work without getting lost. My first day was quite fun in terms of public transportation because I ended up on the other side of the city completely and had to walk 15 blocks. Now I know my way around the city quite well..at least in certain areas. It´s such an accomplishment every morning for me that I made it to work without getting killed as well. Forget the lines on the road for two lanes only - that means 3-4 lanes depending on how tight you are willing to squeeze the cars. The whole system is so hectic but I´ve mastered it! (At least from my house to CSA....yeah that´s about it).

Mornings require coffee and Ana at CSA makes fun of me almost every morning about my coffee taste - completely black. No sugar, no milk. Black. Deybi, my teacher, puts about a pound of sugar in his and swears it´s not that sweet....yeah ok, sure. I like it bitter.

I´m learning faster and am starting to understand more and more spanish although Dominican slang is quite a different story. I need everyone to speak proper spanish to me, por favor. I´m sure it´s like moving to the South and not speaking any English and hearing ¨redneck¨for the first few times. Sometimes I don´t even know what they are saying and I´m from that area. Ah - the wonderful Southern language...