The last two days of Spanish classes have been hard for me. There is so much to remember when it comes to putting sentences together. Is the subject masculine or feminine? Is the adjective one that changes or is permanent? You have to carry the plural form all the way through the sentence. As long as I can write what I want to say I do fine, when I have to put it into conversation I struggle. We were talking about that last night at dinner. Steve and I have to get past the fear of looking like a fool when talking. It is clouding our ability to speak in Spanish.
In school we can only speak in Spanish so I have not heard my teacher, Nancy, speak in English. She takes English lessons in the afternoons so I knew she was learning. Yesterday I took her to lunch so she could practice. That was a lesson in itself for me. It was hard to understand her English (which means she has a hard time understanding my Spanish!) and her speech was very slow and painstaking. A lot like mine. It did make me feel a little better because it helped put things in perspective. We are all learning. Steve and I are by far the worst Spanish speakers in the school, but we are very proficient at other things. I should not be so hard on myself as I struggle to learn.
After lunch and class yesterday we went to cash some traveler’s checks. We were told that several of the banks in Quito would which is why we brought them. No, they only do it for account holders. We then went to the American Express office but they don’t cash them there. Of course not. That would make too much sense. The teller did send me across the street to a bank that would though. I thought she said Banko Porto. Great. I had seen a sign that said Porto on the way over. I went there, took a number (after a guy there showed me how) and then went up to the teller. Turns out it was a cellular phone store! I swear it looked like a bank! Turns out next door was a bank called Banko Puerto. No problems there. That pretty much sums up doing things in South America. You are always in the wrong place.
We then all went to Museo Central Banco which is the main Culture museum in Quito. It is sponsored by the bank and thus the name. The museum was very good. There was a lot of pottery, which was all very animated so the kids really liked it. Almost every bowl, pot, spoon, etc. had a face of a person or animal on it. There was also a lot of gold jewelry items, which was a huge part of the Inca culture. We saw a lot of Catholic influenced paintings and statues. They are much more gruesome that we saw in the US or England and France. Of course, the kids liked that.
When it was time to go it was raining as always. Luckily we found the right bus right away and were back to the house before we knew it. It is always nice when a travel plan in a strange place goes well.
Last night after dinner, Steve, Paul (UK but lives in Spain), Isabel (French but lived in UK and now trying to get a job in Ecuador) and I had a lively discussion about technology, the world economy, world relations, human relations, and on and on. I love hearing different perspectives. We were not practicing our Spanish because Steve and I cannot go much past “My family went to the museum today,” but we were definitely getting a different kind of education. Travel is so much learning all the time.
In school we can only speak in Spanish so I have not heard my teacher, Nancy, speak in English. She takes English lessons in the afternoons so I knew she was learning. Yesterday I took her to lunch so she could practice. That was a lesson in itself for me. It was hard to understand her English (which means she has a hard time understanding my Spanish!) and her speech was very slow and painstaking. A lot like mine. It did make me feel a little better because it helped put things in perspective. We are all learning. Steve and I are by far the worst Spanish speakers in the school, but we are very proficient at other things. I should not be so hard on myself as I struggle to learn.
After lunch and class yesterday we went to cash some traveler’s checks. We were told that several of the banks in Quito would which is why we brought them. No, they only do it for account holders. We then went to the American Express office but they don’t cash them there. Of course not. That would make too much sense. The teller did send me across the street to a bank that would though. I thought she said Banko Porto. Great. I had seen a sign that said Porto on the way over. I went there, took a number (after a guy there showed me how) and then went up to the teller. Turns out it was a cellular phone store! I swear it looked like a bank! Turns out next door was a bank called Banko Puerto. No problems there. That pretty much sums up doing things in South America. You are always in the wrong place.
We then all went to Museo Central Banco which is the main Culture museum in Quito. It is sponsored by the bank and thus the name. The museum was very good. There was a lot of pottery, which was all very animated so the kids really liked it. Almost every bowl, pot, spoon, etc. had a face of a person or animal on it. There was also a lot of gold jewelry items, which was a huge part of the Inca culture. We saw a lot of Catholic influenced paintings and statues. They are much more gruesome that we saw in the US or England and France. Of course, the kids liked that.
When it was time to go it was raining as always. Luckily we found the right bus right away and were back to the house before we knew it. It is always nice when a travel plan in a strange place goes well.
Last night after dinner, Steve, Paul (UK but lives in Spain), Isabel (French but lived in UK and now trying to get a job in Ecuador) and I had a lively discussion about technology, the world economy, world relations, human relations, and on and on. I love hearing different perspectives. We were not practicing our Spanish because Steve and I cannot go much past “My family went to the museum today,” but we were definitely getting a different kind of education. Travel is so much learning all the time.
Comments
Glad you are getting to see such interesting things. Take Care! G