Que Significa? and Feliz Acciones de Gracias

So the first week of language school was a roller coaster. The first two days were hooooorrrrrrible!! I could not understand anything . . . I think I was just overwhelmed and did not know what was happening to me!! Classes are completely in spanish, no english is used unless they can not describe the word to me in spanish. By Wednesday, however, I was starting to pick some words up and could speak a few things to my teachers which made life easier or at least it felt that way!! I still definitely have problems with understanding what they are asking me though! I seem to ask them all the time "que significa?" (what does the spanish word mean?) or "como se dice . . . ?" (how do you say . . . in spanish?) or my favorite word "si"!! I seem to say "si" even if I am not understanding a thing! I just nod my head and smile!

Above are pictures of the courtyard of the school and the classroom I am in for 4 of my 6 hrs. of classes. Six hours does not seem like to much but you are using your brain constantly, and it is very exhausting. My first class is with Blanca, and it starts at 9:30 and goes till 11:30. Blanca is a really good teacher, and I enjoy spending time with her. I have gotten to go do different things in the city with her at night. She teaches me grammar which I do the best at. My second class is with Tania and goes from 12 to 2. This is my hardest class because it is a conversation class and if you know me well you know that I am not much of a talker!! My last class goes from 2:30 to 4:30, and it is with Pablo. This class is vocab and other stuff. The first day with Pablo makes me laugh now because he started out his lesson by having me read something out loud and he realized I did not pronounce things right at all. He stopped his lesson, and we practiced the alphabet and pronouncing vowels for first three days!! More about the teachers will soon come!

Feliz Acciones de Gracias (Happy Thanksgiving)

So Thursday night for dinner, aka Thanksgiving, Estela took me out to a local food joint which is very traditional in Mexico. It is called a cenaduria, and it is a restaurant run out of a house and is only open at night. It makes cheap, traditional Mexican food that was really good! Estela ordered for me pozole, a corn and pork soup, a tostada, a hard tortilla with pork and sauce on it, and a sopa, a small corn tortilla with cheese and other good stuff in it. All of it was very simple but soooo good. And the best part about the meal was that is was only 62 pesos which is roughly $6!! Where in the US can you get a meal for two and be totally stuffed for $6. So it wasn't your traditional turkey and stuffing but it fit with where I was! I am so thankful for what God has done for me over the past few years and the experiences and people I am encountering. Thanksgiving ended up being a really good day which surprised me since it is my favorite holiday and I was missing all the festivities. But the Lord was present even in Mexico!! Below is a picture of the pozole and tostada and below that a taco (not what you thought the taco would look like right?!)

Lastly, I had to post the picture my family took back home during Thanksgiving. If you look at it closely you can see that they set out a table setting for me!! Supposedly my mom was adamant in my plate and cup not being touched!! I love you guys very much and know that I was there with you in spirit!!