March 13, 2016
10 de marzo
We had a very exciting day here in Mexico! It consisted of classes, laundry, yoga, dance, and an English / Spanish conversation program.
For the past few days, our ECS has split up into different groups, depending on the level of Spanish knowledge, to take classes with Spanish teachers at Cuahunahuac. In my class, we have been learning how to put verbs into past tense form, the difference between verbs in present and past tense, indirect object pronoun use, and much more. We have also been participating in cultural conferences to learn more about the present and past of Mexico and its culture. These classes have been very helpful to all of the people on this ECS. Hannah G. says, “by immersing myself into these classes I’ve been able to learn very quickly and understand Spanish better than I had before”. Given that Hannah has been studying French for 4 years, this has been great for her! These classes have been extremely helpful because the teachers only speak in Spanish which causes us to listen more intently and really focus on what is being said. Also, because the classes are so small the teachers are able to interact with us more and ask those questions to help keep us involved. These classes have been very helpful overall and it taught us a lot about the Spanish language.
During one of the break we had during our classes, we took all of our dirty clothes down the street to the Bubbles Laundry. They will wash and fold all of her clothes and we will have them back by tomorrow. Now we don’t need to worry about getting smelly!
Today, we also went to her second yoga class. Before we left, we learned about hand signals in yoga, the finger positions, and also some of the main muscles in the body. This helped us very much because we were able to better understand the directions our instructors were giving us. Yoga today included some hand/head stands, the warrior pose, downward/upward dog, and many more. We found it very difficult to do the hand and head stands because they required a lot of balance and strength, but many of us were able to accomplish this difficult position. Overall everyone really enjoyed Yoga today. Laney S. said,”I thought that yoga was really fun and a little crazy with all the stretch as they wanted us to do. But in the end it was very relaxing and I had a great time!” All of that relaxing culminated with a dance class.
Our day was incredibly active as it included both yoga and dance. Everyone enjoyed dancing today because we’re all learning something new and immersing ourselves into the culture even more. Today we worked on. Inasmuch as it was a lot of fun, it was also quite a workout because the dance steps are so quick and require you to really move. We danced as a group as well as in pairs and have come a long way since our first experience in Colorado Springs with el Jarabe Tapatío.
We also got to participate in a Spanish/English conversation program. It was a great learning experience that help this work on our Spanish more, help others learn English, and also teaches things about Cuernavaca. The people we talked with were very friendly and recommended places for ECS to visit while we are here. It was also great experience helping them learn how to speak English. Many of them were able to speak very well but others are still learning. It is the same for us, though. Some of us are learning a whole new language, while others have been practicing for several years. This is an amazing opportunity that really helps us learn a lot about Spanish and Mexico.
We ended our day in a café downtown where we were able to have some sweets and do some homework. We hope to go back if there is time!
Today, overall, was a great and exciting day that included so many aspects of the culture here. Everyone is really enjoying this experience and cannot wait for what we will do next.
