Ya Basta!
Never ever again in my life am I taking another Spanish class! God damn I hate Spanish here so much it is so boring and useless and I hate it. The teacher is nice and everything but GOD DAMN IT'S SO FUCKING BORING I FEEL LIKE I'M IN HIGH SCHOOL AGAIN WHENEVER I AM IN THAT BUILDING.
Good thing I only have to take a grammar exam tomorrow and never sit in a Spanish classroom again.
When I decided to come to Chile, I intuited that a real immersion experience -- actually living in a Spanish-speaking country -- was what I needed to get my Spanish to "full fluency" status. It turns out that I was right. I feel great being able to flip the "English/Spanish" switch at will and operate fully in Spanish without having to try. Sure, I don't have the vocabulary of a native speaker, but I don't sound like a gringo either. I'm proud of my accomplishment, and also a little bit resentful that the Spanish class I've been taking has had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it. Fortunately, I don't really have to do any work for the class either, so I guess it balances out a little bit, but JESUS IT IS SO BORING IT MAKES ME WANT TO JUMP OUT OF THE WINDOW (which is on the 17th floor of the building) AFTER 15 MINUTES IN THAT ROOM. Just have to take deep breaths and be done tomorrow. Fuck yeah.
In more awesome news, I went to Peñaflor again yesterday to get a dent taken out of my horn, and holy crap I love that place. Not only is Jorge the nicest guy in the world, but it's so relaxing to be there, play with his dog Pluto, and the KITTIES! Yes, KITTIES! Their cat just had kittens and so I got to play with them. There are two and they are soooo cute. I don't know if they rival that one that keeps showing up in Huelo's entries, but they're freaking awesome. When I go back with my family in a couple of weeks, I will make sure to take pictures. Oh man I love kitties.
Santiago, Jorge's brother and director of the big band, was supposed to come home in the evening yesterday while I was there and give me some music to take back to the jazz band at Amherst. I'm really excited that he is giving us those parts; it will be fun to play them with the band in Amherst next semester (I hope we can next semester). He didn't get home in time, though, so I will have to get it from him later.
Alright, the combination of venting to my parents (I talked to my dad for like a half hour -- he just got back from El Salvador on a trip to do medical visits with campesinos in Tierra Blanca,) writing this shit down, and listening to The Shark Spaceship has me hating my Spanish a little bit less. But still I am glad to be basically done. I can't wait to be back playing with these guys in January!
Good thing I only have to take a grammar exam tomorrow and never sit in a Spanish classroom again.
When I decided to come to Chile, I intuited that a real immersion experience -- actually living in a Spanish-speaking country -- was what I needed to get my Spanish to "full fluency" status. It turns out that I was right. I feel great being able to flip the "English/Spanish" switch at will and operate fully in Spanish without having to try. Sure, I don't have the vocabulary of a native speaker, but I don't sound like a gringo either. I'm proud of my accomplishment, and also a little bit resentful that the Spanish class I've been taking has had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it. Fortunately, I don't really have to do any work for the class either, so I guess it balances out a little bit, but JESUS IT IS SO BORING IT MAKES ME WANT TO JUMP OUT OF THE WINDOW (which is on the 17th floor of the building) AFTER 15 MINUTES IN THAT ROOM. Just have to take deep breaths and be done tomorrow. Fuck yeah.
In more awesome news, I went to Peñaflor again yesterday to get a dent taken out of my horn, and holy crap I love that place. Not only is Jorge the nicest guy in the world, but it's so relaxing to be there, play with his dog Pluto, and the KITTIES! Yes, KITTIES! Their cat just had kittens and so I got to play with them. There are two and they are soooo cute. I don't know if they rival that one that keeps showing up in Huelo's entries, but they're freaking awesome. When I go back with my family in a couple of weeks, I will make sure to take pictures. Oh man I love kitties.
Santiago, Jorge's brother and director of the big band, was supposed to come home in the evening yesterday while I was there and give me some music to take back to the jazz band at Amherst. I'm really excited that he is giving us those parts; it will be fun to play them with the band in Amherst next semester (I hope we can next semester). He didn't get home in time, though, so I will have to get it from him later.
Alright, the combination of venting to my parents (I talked to my dad for like a half hour -- he just got back from El Salvador on a trip to do medical visits with campesinos in Tierra Blanca,) writing this shit down, and listening to The Shark Spaceship has me hating my Spanish a little bit less. But still I am glad to be basically done. I can't wait to be back playing with these guys in January!