Soo…I haven’t said much about class/clinic. For the first 2 weeks we had class 9-3 every day, the 3rd week we had clinic 9-2 every day, then the 4th week I started my new program which is class 9-1 then clinic 4:15—7pm. Although they had said the schedule for the second program was less intense than the first one, that was a big lie. My day now goes like this:
7:30 Wake up
8:25—9:00 Walk/bus to class
9:00—10:40 Grammar class
11:00—12:40 Medical Spanish class
12:40—1:15 Walk/bus home
1:15—2:50 Lunch, homework, naptime
2:50—3:30 Walk/bus back to campus
3:30—4:15 Drive to clinic
4:15—7:00 Clinic
7:00—7:45 Drive back to campus
7:45—8:15 Walk back home
8:15—11:30 Homework, emails, PA stuff, whatever
~11:30 Bedtime
Not much spare time. I spend a lot of time in transit too…about 3.5 hours per day. But time passes quickly with this schedule, so I guess that’s good. I also end up walking about 2hrs every day which has been good for me. Class has been great—I have really learned a lot. It has helped to be in grammar class for 1 hr 40 mins every single day, I have less time to forget things. My current grammar class is also really cool because it’s extremely diverse—there are 2 Americans, 1 Chinese student, 3 Korean students, and 3 Japanese students. It forces me to use my Spanish all the time since it’s the only common language all of us have! One of the students is a Japanese lady who I would say is probably in her late 40s/early 50s. Her husband works for Honda and he got transferred to
Clinic is fun/interesting some days, and a little slow other days. My clinic is basically how I had imagined it would be—small with older/less technological equipment, but with basically all of the resources they need for the general medicine/OB-GYN/pediatrics/urgent care that they do here. Mostly we watch, listen, and learn here—occasionally I get to take a blood pressure or weight but that’s about it. I’m fine with this; my main purpose is to learn/practice my Spanish and I’m making progress with that. One thing that is different from the
I was starting to get down on myself about my lack of fluency the other day, but then I had several people tell me I speak really well so I guess I’m being my own harshest critic. I was definitely being unrealistic though when I thought I could become fluent in 7 weeks, but I have definitely improved a lot. The biggest benefit to being down here has been increasing my vocabulary, which is a hard thing to do when you’re not immersed. Some conversations I completely struggle and bumble through, but others I’m starting to feel like a pro. Just have to figure out how I’m going to keep it up when I get home.
I’ve still been doing a lot of touring around on the weekends. Last weekend we went to el Centro Historico (2nd time for me) and got to go to the Instituto Cultural Cabañas and see more murals by Jose Clemente Orozco. The building itself is really cool, it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built at the end of the 1700s and after housing troops during the Mexican Revolution, it was converted to the purpose it was originally intended to serve—an orphanage and a nursing home. The Orozco murals that are in it are considered some of the best of his career, with the “Man of Fire” being considered the most important. We couldn’t take pictures without paying extra, but here’s a link to someone else’s picture of the “Man of Fire”: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/471589056_ab4280d249.jpg?v=0
Then, on Sunday we went shopping in
Okay that’s it for now! Today we go to see the pyramids at Guachimontones, so I’m sure I’ll have things to write about after that!
Hasta luego,
Rachel
http://picasaweb.google.com/rachel.holston/LastDinnerWithFriendsFromSession1
http://picasaweb.google.com/rachel.holston/Trip2ToElCentroHistorico
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