The four of us spent the day in Toledo, visiting the gorgeous cathedral, walking around the tiny cobblestone streets, visiting super old synagogues, stopping for a really yummy lunch at an Arabic restaurant and finishing the excursion with a tea at the hotel across the river with gorgeous views of Toledo as the sunset and it began to rain.
I hadn't seen my Spanish parents in two months and it was so nice to spend a whole day with them. I always love being around them, but I especially love going on excursions with them! :) They're so adorable and funny and knowledgeable - like, they always know the regional sweets of wherever we go, and they always buy a lot of it for us to eat throughout the day!! ;)
What was different about being with them today, though, was that I had to play interpreter for nearly 10 straight hours. Holy crap. By the end of the day, a normal person would have been tired after all the walking and exploring... But add in all of the brain power required to go between Spanish and English and translate and interpret... I was flat out pooped by the time I got home!!
Summer of 2011 I undoubtedly spoke Spanish with much more fluency and less mistakes, as I was always using the language - at home, at school, etc. - than I do now. BUT my auditory comprehension of Spanish is currently the best it has ever been. I attribute this to two things: 1) Hearing my students speaking to each other quickly in Spanish when they think I can't understand them / When they always ask me "How do you say.... in English?" 2) The sheer amount of gossip that goes on at the teachers' lunch table - all in extremely rapid and colloquial Spanish. I've had it happen one too many times that I am more or less following the juicy story and then they get to the kicker and I can't understand the key words and am left wondering what the heck happened!! It is exactly like how I motivated Sam to read English quickly when he was 6 and told me he couldn't really read at all. Woody and I would IM and he would see his name and that we were talking about him and so he would use all of his brain capacity to keep up with our rapid chat and read it all. :) I am that same way during lunch, only they aren't talking about me, but students I have and want to know the latest on!
During the day, I could totally tell how much my auditory comprehension had improved since Grandma had visited and I'd had to play interpreter for just a night. I didn't ever have to think twice before interpreting, and I can't remember the last time I was so awesomely mentally stimulated! :)
Anyway, our day together visiting the Toledo Cathedral, walking around, having a delicious Arabic lunch and finishing the day overlooking the city and relaxing with tea and cookies was awesome! The cutest part was when my Spanish dad told my American dad that I was a very determined and tenacious young lady. :) Adorable!
All in all, a lovely day!
XOXO
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