Adventures... Beginning, Ending, Cancelled, and Planned

Beginning...
I have started volunteering to help teach English to adult immigrants. Right now I'm only putting in about 2 hours, one night each week, but I will be adding more hours once I finish my school semester. It's definitely been an adventure so far - all in good ways. Even having had the experience of being a foreign language student in an immersion program, there have still been a number of things that surprised me. For one thing, I have been discovering what a difficult language English is and how much I take for granted as a native speaker. We say, "I've been to Mexico," but, "I've not been to Spain," sounds weird... instead, in the U.S. we usually say, "I haven't been to Spain," contracting "have" and "not" instead of "I" and "have." Then try explaining why "knife" starts with a "k." Oy. It's been a really great experience so far though, and I'm excited to continue with it. I'll be attending a training in a couple of weeks that will certify me to be a one-on-one tutor as well.

Ending...
The semester is almost over! One more week of classes and one week of finals. I have 23 pages of writing due in that time frame and there's also Ce's dance recital, the humane society Walk-a-Thon I'm involved in, and a final religious education lesson to plan in the same two weeks. Maybe I should actually title THIS part of my post "Beginning" since today is the beginning of two very hectic weeks. Still, it's the beginning of the end and that light at the end of the tunnel is what's keeping me going. Well, that and a lot of caffeine.

Cancelled...
Due to the "swine" flu (H1N1), the U of M has cancelled all study abroad to Mexico. This means I will not be going back to Cuernavaca this summer. I am VERY disappointed. I'm a planner and a list maker and I already had itineraries and lists of things I wanted to do (and things I wanted to buy) there both by myself and once Jake came to visit. It's hard then to change gears and plan for something else. However...

Planned...
Since I can't go to Mexico, I'm planning on going to Buenos Aires, Argentina instead. At first, I pouted and stamped my feet and thought if I couldn't go to Mexico I wasn't going to go anywhere. So there. Pft. Then I started looking at Buenos Aires a little more and now I'm actually pretty excited to go. I'll get to go to a continent, a HEMISPHERE, and TWO countries I've never visited since Uruguay is just right next door and is an easy trip. I can visit Eva Peron's palace, grave, and museum and before I go I will have justification to watch Evita and sing, "Don't cry for me, Argentina..." ad nauseum under the guise of "research." (However, I will NOT be watching the movie Alive as I will be flying just a bit too close to the Andes.) It also means a whole new adventure in a place I wouldn't otherwise have reason to go. When I think about going to Buenos Aires I get that tingly nervous feeling in my belly from the uncertainty of what awaits me there and that is exactly how I know its something I need to do to push my boundaries and embrace all that life has to offer. Wish me luck!