First Day of Class

Last night I woke up at 2am worried we might die from a gas leak.  


Houses in Mendoza are heated with small gas heaters. No central heat and air here. Before going to sleep I turned off the small wall heater in our room and didn't think twice about it.  
Until 2am.

I wasn't sure if the gas needed to be turned off at the wall like I had to do when I lived in a 1920's Austin bungalow. And I wasn't sure if the egg-smelling sulfer compound is added to natural gas in Argentina.  What a perfect story from South America: American Couple's room catches fire after gas is left on! John was asleep and I didn't want to wake him in case I was over-thinking the situation.


I opened a window so we wouldn't pass out if carbon monoxide or gas filled the room. After ten more minutes of worrying, I woke John up and told him I was concerned about the gas valve. He didn't seemed too worried, but bless his heart - he got up, took a look and then went downstairs to ask the B&B employee. Since we couldn't find anyone, he got on the computer and attempted to google us out of this quandry to no avail. 


As precautionary measures, we opened the window and door and closed the gas valve in our room, before going back to bed at 3am. We were so exhausted, we slept better then we have since we arrived. 


The next morning the B&B owner assured us we had nothing to worry about, and that the gas shut off when I turned the heater off. John and I laughed about the situation.  Unfortunately we started spanish class on four hours of sleep.


I was looking forward to starting spanish class. After a week of trying to speak it, I realized how little I know and how little I can say.  Here's what I know after 3 days of 4-hour classes: learning Spanish is hard! I didn't realize how many different verb tenses there are, and my ignorance was bliss. My class level is too advanced for me, and I struggle to keep my head above water. I sit wide-eyed, listen to the teacher, and try to make sense of her words.  Although frustrated, I remain patient and motivated. 

in front of our language school

Update: I switched to a beginner-level class and am very happy!  The teacher reviews things I already know, and I can actually participate.

(from nataliedee.com)