Called Out By a Friend...

Otherwise known as... No, I Really Can't Learn Spanish In Three Weeks...

I met Kelly, one of my closest counselor-friends today at Nona Sushi.  This has been our out-of-school, ladies-who-lunch, tradition since early this summer, when we started going every two weeks in place of our monthly "therapy" sessions after work at the Aussie-themed restaurant in My Small Town.  We love our breaks, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere that the restaurant provides.  Not to mention that the food is phenomenal.  (Know that I don't use the word phenomenal lightly-- especially when it comes to Japanese food!) 

We are usually accompanied by our friend Shari, another great counselor-friend, but she is out of town with her family for the holidays.  Kelly and I don't let the lack of a threesome prevent us from meeting.  We usually talk about work and about what's going on in our lives.  Except today I don't think we talked about work for more than about sixty seconds!

Jen, you survived the last week before the break and got everything done?

Yep-- we sent out cool online surveys to our 2011 graduates too. 

And that was it.  She told me about developments in her family; I told her about my dad driving me crazy (I love him but yeah... he's driving me crazy right now.) and about my adventures with GDA, my splendid new boyfriend.

I still can't believe I actually have an honest-to-goodness boyfriend. 

GDA (Great Dancing Argentinian) is, naturally, a native Spanish speaker.  I took Spanish for three years from 8th grade to 10th.  In 11th grade My Small Town High School offered Russian, and since the wall had just come down and it was a very exciting time, I decided to take Russian.  What a helpful language to have in the state of Florida.  Wayyyyyyy more helpful than Spanish.

Not. 

Dumb, dumb, dumb. 

Not only did I take Russian in high school, I continued to take Russian in college, for my first three semesters, making it the 9 hour area of concentration I needed as a prerequisite to my Elementary Education major.  My roommate at the time was a nursing student from Ohio on a full-ride Army ROTC scholarship.  Her commanding officer worked on me like you wouldn't believe to get me to join the army.  It didn't fly with my dad.  I didn't know enough at the time to realize what an impact that would have made on my life.  That said... I don't know if I am Army material. 

It's neither here nor there, since I stuck with my civilian life and my Elementary Education major.  I wanted a family, after all, and what better occupation than to be an elementary school teacher?

God has played such a cruel joke on me. 

On the other hand, if I had a family of my own, I know that I could not do the great work that I do for so many students.  They are my kids.  They make me crazy, they make me proud, they keep me up at night, and sometimes they fill my heart with such love that I feel I'm going to explode in the best way. They are mine, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Wow.  I have digressed in a serious way. 

The point of all this is that I never became fluent in Spanish, and only became semi-fluent in Russian, and then I spent three years in Japan (becoming mostly fluent in Japanese) and ended up learning basic French on top of it all.  The amazing part is that at this point, I am probably more proficient in Spanish-- the foreign language I started with-- than any other language, because here in Florida it's all around me.  My students are 75% Latino, and as readers know, I take salsa, whose participants are 75% Latino.  My best friend's boyfriend (the son my father never had) is Puerto Rican... and my sweet is, as previously stated, from Argentina.  He speaks English well, and we have no problem communicating... but...

Suddenly the pressure is on to increase my fluency in Spanish.  Hey, I'm Jen Single... I can do anything, right?   I went by Barnes and Noble on Sunday and picked up Berlitz's Advanced Spanish course.  I looked through the book before I bought it, and thought it was just what I needed. 

I was wrong.  It's a bit on the difficult side.  I told Kelly about my purchase.  You couldn't get Intermediate?  

They didn't have Intermediate at the bookstore.  

I know you, Jen, you thought you could learn Spanish in three weeks while GDA was gone (he's going to Argentina for three weeks for the holidays), and you told him that too!.

I buried my head in my hands.  That's not exactly what I said... but it's close!  That's the testament of a true friend.  They know you inside and out... they know how you think... and what you think you can do... and they love you anyway.  They also call you out when you're being a bit overzealous. 

I am nothing if not overzealous.  Especially when it comes to a new special someone in my life.  That's just who I am.

I went by the library after our lunch and picked up a couple of simpler Spanish textbooks to prop me up before tacking the Berlitz course.  Hey, I was a Berlitz teacher-- I have been indoctrinated into the Berlitz method.  My Spanish will get better, his English will improve, and perhaps our relationship will become part of that great melting pot that I learned about in elementary school.

Maybe I can't learn Spanish in three weeks, but at least I can try.  And if I didn't, I wouldn't be me.