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Published: June 16th 2017
Geo: 33.2111, -111.875
In 24 hours our adventure begins and nobody knows when it will end. We fly out in the morning for a week in Orlando with Mickey and the family, then it's off to Uruguay and our new family in Montevideo, and THEN a couple of months in Argentina.
In Uruguay we're staying with a tango teacher and her 3-year-old son for 3 weeks while we try to learn a little el espanol.
I know, I know. We're a little OLD to be foreign exchange students, but isn't that part of the fun of having all this age? We're free! No jobs, no kids, no pets...well alright. We do have 16 kids, but it's the time in life when they take care of us and we're lovin' it.
And no (for anyone unfamiliar with our story) that's no typo. We really do have 16 kids, but that's another story.
We're waaaay out of our comfort zone with this one. You get to this age and you like it how you like it, but this is really putting ourselves out there. I had a bad experience with a Spanish immersion school in Seville, Spain several years ago (the lady I lived with hated Americanos--I never did quite get that), anyway I'm trying NOT to let that color my expectations now.
Anyway, we're going for it. Bob and I will be in separate classes and he's just cool, ready to take it as it comes.
But me! I was studying like a crazy woman until company and Christmas came, thinking I HAD to master past and future tenses. But you know what? They test you. They put you in a class over your head no matter what, so why stress? I can be overwhelmed at any level--I don't have to STUDY for it.
And what if we have to share a twin bed and it's really hot down there and there's no fan or windows and the neighbors play guitar and sing 'till 4 and her 3 year old wants to run trains over our tummies in the night and she feeds us cookies for breakfast?
Because all these things have happened. The choicest by far was sharing a twin bed at Marcelino's place in Cartago, Costa Rica, because his son David wanted us to stay in his room. That was a sweet experience and we wouldn't trade those three sleepless days for anything--but 3 weeks?
Keep tuned, we're manning up and barreling ahead almost like we know what we're doing.
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Landis M. Vance
non-member comment
I am still amazed that you guys are doing this. You have our blessings and prayers following you everywhere you go. The Divas meet on the 10th for the postponed DO dinner and we shall toast your success!