Executive summary: I'm still in Canoa, taking Spanish, surfing, meeting new friends, and enjoying sunsets. Spanish has been difficult to learn, even a bit fraught. Surfing conditions aren't super but it's been fun paddling in warm water every day. And I've enjoyed the break from first world costs. Learning Spanish: User Beware! My first experience with Spanish happened in the Miami airport. I was getting some Cuban fast food at a stand and the woman and I couldn't understand each other. I hadn't even left the country, so I knew I was going to be in trouble! My first successful translation once I arrived at the Sundown Hotel happened the first morning, when I tried to ask for some milk (maybe one of, oh, 100 key words I might have learned before I left). For some
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