Language Exchange

So it’s been a month and I have finally found a few people to hold regular inter-cambios (language-exchanges) with! My two roommates both have Spanish friends who want to practice their English as much as I want to practice my Spanish so at least 3 times a week I will be meeting with Estie and David seperately to talk about our day and various topics while practicing my Spanish and their English.

Estie, who is a few years older than me, was one of the people who saw me make a fool out of myself salsa-ing my first week here. I think my lack of coordination and obvious embarrassment might help her to feel more comfortable speaking English with me. Our first session was Wednesday and we decided to split the two-hour session into an hour of only English followed by an hour of only Spanish. Each hour we will talk about our day in the Language of choice and then discuss vocabulary and sayings about our chosen topics.

David, a friend of María, came over to our apartment last night for dinner and to meet. He lives within walking distance so meeting will, thankfully, be convenient. Last night we cooked fish and David brought over wine for dinner. My roommates, David, and I all had a great time talking and getting to know each other better. David, who went to the U.S. last summer, is obsessed with America – and I love it. I have never seen such enthusiasm about a country (eh, maybe it’s comparable to my love for Spain actually) – it was so refreshing. In the time he was over for dinner I found out he loves California, knows Andy Roderick is from Nebraska (holla), his favorite clothes from the U.S. are Abercrombie and Holister (who would have thought?), he loves the T.V. series “How I Met Your Mother” and shares my love of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz – I have a feeling our inter-cambios wont be boring. In exchange for my knowledge on American pop-culture we have talked about visiting museums around Madrid, traveling close to the city, and running together while we practice our Language of choice.

I’ll keep you updated on both of these inter-cambios and will hopefully have some new Spanish words to share with you!

Un beso, Rachel