I´m in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, taking an intensive Spanish course. I´ll be here for four weeks, and during that time, I´m keeping a reporter´s diary on the Aspen Public Radio blog!
Merida is a lovely city about 200 miles west of Cancun. There are a few direct flights here from America. It´s at the heart of the Yucatan and the heart of Mayan culture.
This is the Monumento a la Patria. And it's just a taste of what the architecture is like here in Merida. There´s a mix of Mayan and Mayan-inspired buildings as well as colonial architecture.
The Spanish Institute of Merida's building falls in the latter category. It's on a busy corner of Merida, but within the walls, la escuela is a peaceful space.
About ten of us started school on the first Monday of January. Most are here for the full month, and everyone's taking classes all day, whether individualized or in groups.
Here's my class, where we are all beginners. Edith is our very patient teacher. This week - week one - we learned about sentence structure, how words are gendered, etc. Next week we take on verbs -- and I can't wait because all I can say is, it's very hard to speak in Spanish without verbs!
Afternoons at the school are spent one-on-one with a young Mexican guide. This is probably the most valuable time: practice through conversation. I have an amazingly patient and kind guide, Miguel, and I have learned a lot about Merida from him.
This is the Catedral de San Ildefonso, the oldest in Mexico. It anchors el Centro Historico in Merida.
As you may imagine, there is incredible food here, lovely culture and the people are so friendly. I'll write more about all that later!
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