I Am Casi Española

That's right folks, all it takes is a week of classes in the morning and you will be almost Spanish! I can't believe how much I've learnt and picked up this week. I actually understand things my hostess is saying to me, I understand almost everything in class, I even walk past people on the street and understand them. What was an incomprehensible babble on Monday I am now able to break down into words, phrases, meanings!

The classes have been great, I've been in a class with two other guys. One is Dieter, a very German older bloke who'll just put his foot down and go 'I don't understand. Explain it to me.' And the other is a Pommy guy, Daniel, who doesn't pick it up as quickly as me, but is much nicer about it than Dieter. Our teachers have all been fantastic, Alberto, Antonio, Ana and Juande. I never heard more than two or three words in English out of any of them, but they spoke slowly and clearly so that we'd understand. And if we didn't understand a concept they would explain it again, still in Spanish, just in a different way. By yesterday I was pretty confused and struggling with stuff we seemed to have been doing for three days, but today we did some different things and I feel like I can now say a million more things based on what I learnt this morning. ¡Ahora es muy facil!

Plus there have been some wonderful moments of misunderstanding and murderous pronunciation, which have kept us amused. Well, me more than anyone. For example this morning, Daniel accidentally said he would need his bikini if he was going to rent a car. I just couldn't stop laughing! And what I will now refer to as a meat card - ID. The word in Spanish for meat is CARNE. The word for card is CARNÉ. So your carné el identifidad is your ID card. Or your meat card, as I prefer.

Alberto couldn't stop laughing at me yesterday morning when he made me read a sentence out of our text book too.

Written - Hay muchos canguros.
My pronunciation - Ay moochoss cunhooross. (Insert fits of laughter from Alberto here.)
Correct pronunciation - I muchoss kanhuross.

I had no idea what it even meant, which added to Alberto's mirth because it means 'There are lots of kangaroos.'. Crazy australiana and her murderous español accent!

So escuela has been excellent and I can't get over how much easier it is to pick up when you're actually IN a country where they speak it. Wish I was staying here a bit longer, can you imagine how awesome I'd be after another week?!

Sevilla is GORGEOUS. I did some group excursions with people and a teacher from school to la Catedral y Giralda and Museo des Bellas Artes. The teacher only spoke en español, but I picked up some of it and they were absolutely fantastic. La Giralda was built by the Arabs back in the day, like around 700AD I believe. Then the Catholics claimed it and built the largest Gothic cathedral in the world around it. Muy impressivo! Plus what bodily remains there are of Christopher Columbus are entombed there. The gallery had some great examples of Sevillian and Spanish art, understood more of that stuff due to art history lessons at school and uni.

Unfortunately it bucketed down with rain on Wednesday evening, until Thursday after lunch, so I got drenched repeatedly and wasn't horrendously interested in rambling the city. Plus there was a slight incident with getting my washing done. In other words, I didn't, so I may have worn some vaguely pre-loved clothes yesterday. Seven days does not a clean pair of undies make, however. I did get my washing done last night, so it's all good now! At least until Saturday!

Today, though, the sun has burst forth in all its glory for my last day here. So after this I plan to wander through the gardens and enjoy the orange trees a little bit more.

In case you're wondering, my living situation has been severely below par. The most horrendous food I have come across, Mystery Stew most days - hello random chunks marauding as carrots when in reality being sausage. I also had Heinz Baby Finger Pasta yesterday. And TOO MANY CHICKPEAS!!!! I also enjoyed the lesson on using the microwave on Wednesday morning because my hostess would be out that day. I was told most specifically not to put cutlery in the microwave and to put a cover on my plate. When I saw the inside of the microwave I did question whether it was a case of putting a bandaid on open heart surgery, but I fear my Spanish is not yet at such a sophisticated level as to convey the necessary sarcasm that would be needed to do that remark justice. Plus I can't seem to get the hot water happening. So perhaps it's a waste wearing clean undies at the moment if I'm not exactly pristine myself? I leave tomorrow - squee! - for Malága though, so I don't have to suffer uncleanliness and unidentifiable meals any longer.

Tonight Daniel, from my class, and perhaps a few others, are going to hit up a recommended tapas bar. I asked Daniel if he was interested and his response was 'Definitely! I need to get out for a night. I'm like a tightly coiled spring, I need a few looseners.' I took that as a yes. I also discovered that when visiting his brother in Sydney, he was given both VB and goon to drink. I was suitably appalled and embarrassed for all Australians. What is this 'hospitality' we're showing our foreign visitors?!

Yo, voy a plaza en pie tomar el sol. (I'm going to walk to the plaza for some sunshine.) Mañana voy a Malága por visito el Museo de Picasso. (Tomorrow I'm going to Malága to visit the Picasso gallery.)

¡Hasta luego chicos!