Help! I thought I had a decent grasp of Spanish until I bought today's newspaper and viewed these apartment ads. The ads I can translate, but the phone calls to the landlords...yikes! Elaborate!!!After several attempts, I finally communicated with one landlord and Arin and I set out to locate the apartment. Arin was in charge of directions and had us walking over a mile in the wrong direction as I would find out later. We never did locate our potential home and I realized that I need a different plan that does not involve me trying to communicate in Spanish over the phone. I've been studying Spanish since 1989 and getting nowhere. I even came to Mexico to engage in what was supposed to be an immersive Spanish course in 1991. The problem was that the instructor continued to resort to English despite cries from his students to speak in Spanish. Somehow I became teacher's pet and still have the cassette of Joan Biaz's Spanish language album which he made "specially for me", he said. I didn't even know that Joan spoke Spanish, and apparently Linda Rhonstadt also has a Spanish album. The class lasted only 2 weeks and on the last night, while sleeping at my host's home, I actually dreamed in Spanish, so I guess I got something out of it. One of the reasons I have chosen Mexico as my first destination is to work on my Spanish language. I have had so many classes over the years, joined Spanish conversations groups and enrolled in the The Intensive Spanish Summer Institute http://www.ltcc.edu/academics/specialized_programs/issi/index.php at Lake Tahoe Community College, etc. During my years as an elementary school teacher, I taught one year of 5th grade to Spanish speaking students. That is when I really fell in love with the Mexican culture. Every one of my students lived in the migrant camp and I had zero behavior problems with these kids. What a joy these families were to me. I was invited to family parties, baptisms, etc. And you should have seen our classroom parties! For the very first party we had, the students began moving the desks to create a dance floor in the center of the room and I realized there would be no sitting quietly at desks eating cupcakes. Our parties involved bunches of homemade Mexican food, loud music and dancing to the music of Selena. Thus were my expectations of Oaxaca and I have not been disappointed. Oaxaca is a party town to beat all party towns. And this coming from a gal who attended California State University Chico when it was voted Playboy magazine's #1 party school in 1987. Anyway, back to my apartment search...maybe the people at the lending library can help.Meanwhile, my three days reservation at Hotel One ends soon and I need to either pay for more days or find another affordable hotel. With all of my Spanish training, I figure I'll be bilingual within 2 months of living here.
The Lending Library has a folder filled with rental listings. You can imagine how much fun I am having trying to call these rental ads in Spanish. I had an appointment to see one place but after walking for 1 1/2 miles in the heat, I couldn't locate it. I've been studying Spanish for Living in California, I have picked up some Spanish, and now that I am living in Mexico, I'm sure to be fluent within 2 months.
Take a look at this newspaper page. It's the housing section. As you can see, it's all in Spanish. Do you think I will be able to find an apartment in 3 days? I had a rude awakening when I
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