Monday, First day of escuela (school)

I laughed to myself as we headed out the gate on our way to school - I knew Victoria was walking with us but Miranda and Bobby didn't know it until she was right on their heels.

I laughed to myself because the school is literally at stone's throw away from Victoria's house and we had a personal escort to be sure we got there alright.

I laughed to myself because I felt like I was in elementary school again with my father or mother dropping me off on the first day.

I laughed to myself as the bell rang for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods - some things don't change, I guess. This really was going to take me back to those days early in my life.

The first day went well - we began with placement exams (written and oral) to determine which classes were most appropriate for us. All students in the school - regardless of their level - take grammar/structure in the first two periods, followed by conversation in the last two periods. It didn't seem too bad, but it would make for some long days with the entire morning dedicated to Spanish classes. Of course, I suppose it's not called an immersion experience for nothing!

The school is a very small, but cute place. It's called Instituto Chac-Mool. We have our classes outside in these little huts. There are five people in both my classes - two chicas from Arizona who are school teachers of mostly Hispanic students, one woman from Colorado who is a retired University Professor, and Miranda and me. We spend a great deal of time speaking Spanish in our classes, but I'm still a little concerned about knowing enough by the time we leave. Time will tell, I guess.

There are some "after school" activities that sound pretty interesting even after spending much of the day at school. There is a cooking class on Tuesdays and a dance class on Wednesdays - two areas where I could really use some instruction! We'll see how it goes!