Frida School, NFL, and Yelpers

This is me, Dar, on the first day of Spanish class.  

I feel like a kid, but not as tummy rumbling as I would get on the first day of class back in the day.  I feel enthusiastic to start my 2 week session at the Frida Spanish Language School.  The cost was about $360 including the registration fee and they roll loosey – goosey with everything from there.  I did take a placement test prior to arrival so when I got there the administrator told me I would start in Basic A.  Well I could have told her that.  But it was perfect and the first week was awesome.  Diego went through all of the basic grammar setup.  feminino v. masculino, plural v. singular, ser v. estoy, and on and on.  He gave lots of great tips like talking to ourselves in Spanish as we go about our daily activities, which I thought was brilliant.  The class was perfect.  There were 3 other students from various counties including Wales, Switzerland, and France Texas.  Yes, Texas thinks it’s a country.  We were a small crew and got along well and were interested in each other.  The week progressed easily and very interestingly.

The second week, well not so much awesomeness.  We lost Marion, our French partner, in the second week and the rest of us were thrown in with Basic B group.  Now we had new classmates from Italy, Germany, Japan, and a new “replacement” partner from France, and a couple of other people that never really spoke so I’m not sure from where they hailed.  Point being, there was a crap ton of us.  And some of us spoke much better Basic B than others.  Not pointing any fingers, but it was that Italian guy and girl from Germany.  Well they definitely raised the bar and the teacher, being the diligent teacher she was, taught to the highest level in the group.  Now, all lessons were given in Spanish and honestly, I didn’t get most of the questions much less most of the answers.  But I did get to practice diction, vocabulary, and putting together sentences.   So it was a worthwhile week, albeit frustrating.  After all, I did spend most of the week lost in translation.  Oh, and to be honest, I ditched the last day of class, just recapturing a little dignity.

For the next couple of week I will be working in my Spanish exercise book.  Once we get back from Pittsburgh I can figure out next steps on the language front.  Meanwhile, we have been enjoying American football and watching our Steelers (Los Acereros) kick ass this season.  We are headed to Pittsburgh to see them whip on the Ravens next month at home.  Mexico City is having a big time with American football.  Today the Raiders are playing the Patriots in the City.  There’s a lot of excitement surrounding game day.  There’s a handful of teams that this city loves.  The Steelers happen to be one of them.  La Reforma, a primary boulevard through the City, is lined with over sized artistic football helmets on display representing the teams of the NFL.  There are a few select quarterback that were created in a caricature style and Big Ben happened to be one of them.  All day people are taking snaps with their favorite team.  I certainly got one of Andy giving a high five to Ben.  I like to think it’s brought the team all the good look for a winning season.

On a final note, I'll be Yelping it up!  You can followup my account at Dar M  If there is a particular place you would like to know about, sound out and we will check it out.  We are always on the lookout for new food opportunities.  You can also follow Andy at his Snack Master account.