And The Plot Thickens...

Included in my list of agenda before leaving the UES is to enroll in a Spanish class here in the Philippines. I wasn't able to catch the first set of classes mid March, but finally I was able to enroll in Instituto Cervantes last Friday. I have been teaching myself Spanish through CDs, books and podcasts (I HEART CoffeeBreakSpanish.) and I reckon it is time to get some classroom education for this new endeavor.

There are a lot of Spanish-speaking communities in the US. They are the largest ethnic group in the country and people translates into patients in the medical business. Since my surname is Spanish in the most strictest sense, I have a feeling they will all gravitate to my clinic schedule. Thus, I want to make most out of the opportunity and being fluent in the language will help me in the future. Besides, I think it's time to learn a new one. I would also want to watch movies and read books in Spanish. Most of the time, subtitles lose the essence and the passion of the language when translated into another one.

Dumbfounded by the question, I proudly raised hand when the teacher asked if who among us test takers haven't attended a single class in Spanish. It was a diagnostic class anyway; my goal is to enroll in a class as far as possible from Level I Spanish. The test was hard. I got lost in the subjunctive, imperfect and even on the preterite tense. Nevertheless, I answered the best I could.

After a few minutes, the teacher went out and talked one by one to the people in the room. I was the third person. She said, "You're Level 6." WHAAAT? "Your grammar is great." More WHAAAT? Then, she showed me the paper. I told her my predicament: I haven't been speaking the language that much (well, except with Mariaelena in PA) so I don't think I can cope with a higher level of Spanish. When I took the exam, I am assuming I have enough Spanish to get me past I and be in Level II or III. It willl definitely hurt if I pay thousands of pesos just for them to teach me how to count in Espanol.

"No...I don't think you'll like Level III, at least Level 5. If you are confident after that, we can skip 6 and get you through Level 7."

Hahaha. Wow! I was so happy! I totally did not expect this! Like a kid with a gold star, I ran home (figuratively. In reality, I rode a FX for 2 hours...again) and told my mom about it. She was also happy and told me she had 24 units of Spanish in college. I tried coaxing her to speak it in the house, but she shooed me away. She dismissed me before I could start to speak a word.

So the plot thickens....I am juggling several jobs, attending class, commuting 4 hours to and from work, drinking like a hobo in some nights, playing badminton TTHS and trying not to fall for someone. The plot twists are draining me out.