The Beginning

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Day 1 - June 14, 2011

I suppose in a sense this is Day 1 of the "adventure".
Today I sent in my application for Peru and it has been confirmed. (These guys are quick.)
Cusco, Peru is my destination. I am going over there to teach, help the orphanages, and hopefully climb Machu Piccu (Yippee!). On the list of things I HAVE to see, Machu Piccu and any Mayan or Incan temples are #1. That is a fact.
Looking around at the sites I can't pretend I don't envy the people headed for Tanzania and Thailand and India. Envy is such a nice word. I'm jealous, but not in the way that I'm unsatisfied with my location but in the way that I wish I could go to ALL of them! But all the more reason to start saving for another trip!

Peru is a Spanish speaking country and I'm studying my TUSH off to be at the least conversational before I leave.
So far I've learned that I know German far better than I ever realized. In the middle of my sentences I mindlessly convert to German, especially with numbers. German just clicked in way that other languages don't. It will take a while, but i'll get there. I rented the Pimsleur Spanish CD's from the library and they are really good. So far, I would recommend those CDs to anyone. It's not like other programs where you start with the basics and repeat the same thing over and over then do something else and can't remember what you've done. It teaches grammar and words through short conversations that they ease you in to. You go back and forth and constantly apply the words and phrases and 30 minutes later you can have a focused conversation in Spanish.

Here's what I learned today. I'm just going to type it out as a conversation.

Pardon Seniorita. Entiende Engles?
No, Senior. No entiendo. Entiendo castellano. (According to them, most Latin American refer to the Spanish langauge as Castellano, I don't know if that's accurate or the program is just outdated.)
Hablo castellano Senior? Es usted Norte Americano?
Si, Seniorita. Abla Castellano un poco.

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