Classes so far

Classes have been fun so far, but my instructor (Gonzalo) has been giving me more vocab than I had last time. So class is from 8-12, then we eat lunch, run errands, and I do my homework and study the new words and grammar. But, I really love studying Kaqchikel, so for the most part it's a good time. And Antigua is so gorgeous... there are so many nice places with beautiful flowering patios to hang out in and study. And cheap coffee! It's been harder than last time, though, and I worry that I'll never know the language well enough to actually converse with real people, you know? I think I could with enough practice, but getting that practice is the key issue.

Spanish-wise I love Guatemala because the people are so easy to understand. Terry is less than thrilled with studying Spanish so far. It's kind of cute. I think his teacher is trying to do the communicative approach (where you teach by hand motions, pictures, etc. entirely in the target language, so entirely in Spanish in this case), but she doesn't really know how. It's what she has to do, though, since she speaks basically no English. So he's been frustrated with it so far, but I think that's somewhat just from learning a new language. He is learning things, though.

I found that professor I was supposed to talk to yesterday, the one that the other grad student knows - her name is Judith Maxwell. The other grad student here told me where I could find her in the afternoons, and so I went there (it's a cafe) to check it out, and she was there. So I introduced myself. She's a very important academic in this area... although in linguistics, not cultural studies (which is more what I'm in). But she's written Kaqchikel textbooks and other stuff, so she knows what she's doing, clearly. She works at Tulane, and they have a summer Kaqchikel program for grad students that last 6 weeks - you have class in the morning, and in the afternoon you go out and do your research. So I asked her if she had some time and I could talk to her about their program, and she told me to just stop by the class when it starts on the 25th. I really think I should consider doing this program next summer. But in any case, I was glad to have the opportunity to meet her.

I'm also considering taking classes all day instead of just in the morning. I always study in the afternoon, but since I'm here where there are Kaqchikel instructors, I'm wondering if I'm really using my time best. I think Terry is going to look for another, cheaper school (there are a lot of schools around here), so that would be less money there. I think I'll do that for the last two weeks, maybe.