Studying Spanish in Sucre

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Hola mi amigos,

Hope everyone is well.

So I have finished my first week of Spanish classes and am very happy. Mi gusta Sucre, mi familia and mi clase de Espanol (I love Sucre, my host family and my Spanish classes).

Sucre is a beautiful city, it is the highest capital city in the world and it has a beautiful charm and look about it. The buildings are mostly white and grand and the view from my favourite (ultra steep) hill is moi bonito (very beautiful).

My Spanish is coming along very nicely. I have learnt so much in a week and find I can converse with the merchants in the mercado (market) and I sometimes sit in the plaza and talk with the beautiful (and smelly) homeless children. I certainly can´t have a proper conversation and struggle with the verbs and the order of the sentences but to think where I was a week ago comprared to now is pretty cool.

I have met some fantastic people (Bolivians and other travellers). The other students in the school are heaps of fun, we usually catch up in break and after school when the rest of Sucre is siesta-ing. My classes are from 8.15 to 12.10, I go home for lunch and an hour or two of study, catch up or study with friends then have a dinner, go home and crash. I did a cooking class the other night and we cooked a traditional Bolivian dish and although all of the students were way ahead of me and I couldn´t contribute to the conversation I can listen and learn and enjoy the atmosphere.

Last week there were only 2 of us in my class which was fantastic and I am still suprised at how much fun I had. I was laughing so much in my classes and making my profesora laugh with my funny expressions. eg...when reading back my tarea (homework) to her I would have statements like "Los chickos gaupos" (the boys are cute!) or "Yo duermo cuando estaba haciendo mi tarea" (I fell asleep whilst doing my homework - which is true...)

Mi familia en Sucre is moi bueno (very good). They are so lovely to me. The mum, Mercedes, is gentle and loving and a great cook (breakfast and lunch are included as lunch is the big meal in Bolivia before siesta and then dinner is a small afair and not included with my family). The family is very "comfortable" and I was suprised to be ins uch a lovely home with all the comforts.

The son, Javier, is 24 and is a civil engineer. He is great fun and took us to a salsa party the other night to teach us some moves. The daughter, Daniella is 21 and very beauiful. She is a model and studying to be an architect. The father works away from home so I will not meet him whilst I am here. There is also a lovely English girl, Caroline who lives with us - she is here on an 8 month volunteer program through her church.

Both children and Mercedes speak very good English so I have been a bit slack and been speaking a lot of English with them but I have been practising with one of my friends, Cheiko, a Japanese girl I met in Potosi who speaks almost fluent Spanish and has been fantastic company and a great friend to me.

My wonderful first week in Sucre got even better on Friday when mi bonita amiga, Stacey, arrived. It was really cool seeing her and hanging out with her again. Initially Stace wasn´t interested in studying Spanish but after travelling on her own for 10 days she has decided she could use some help so now I have my friend in Sucre for a week with me studying in the school, although we will be in different classes we can study after lunch together.

Manyana (this morning) myself, Stacey and Chieko went to Tarabucho, a country town about 1.5 hour bus ride away through the impressive mountains and villages. In the town there are beautiful mercados with colourful handicrafts and the people wear traditional dress. Really, really lovely. We bought lots of things, scarves, bags, jewellery - of course I bought and spent the most cos I can never resist a good retail therapy session.

So that´s my first week in Sucre. I wish I could spend a month here - I love it so much but another week we will be amazing all the same and then Stacey and I will head to Uyuni (we actually have to backtrack 12 hours) this coming Good Friday to see the famous salt lakes.

Until next time hasta luego (see you later)
Lots of Love
x

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Photos

My Host Family in Sucre
Hoche (dani´s boyfriend), Javier
Caroline, Dani and me

Breakfast in Buenos Aires
Breakfast on the rooftop of our hostel

Comments

[Leanne]

Keep blogging!
Shaz, the blog is great. I can sit in my pokey office and dream of future travels. Leanne :)