¡Hasta la Próxima Oaxaca!
Taking in Oaxaca’s many murals.
What’s top on my bucket list? Finally becoming fluent in Spanish. A native speaker until I resisted speaking it when I was 5, I’ve never mastered this beautiful language. That stopped last month. In April, I flew down to Oaxaca, Mexico, and spent two weeks living and learning at the Spanish Immersion School. Every day, I took four hours of one-on-one, individualized Spanish grammar and conversation classes with my teachers. During lunch breaks in between classes, I explored Oaxacan lunchtime cuisine. Yes, I’m now a big fan of tlayudas!
Evenings were spent on rooftop terraces of the most delicious restaurants with other students from the school, practicing Spanish and eating the best mole in the world. One day, our amazing host taught us how to make our own mole de almendras, with groceries that we bought (in Spanish) in the Mercado de 20 Noviembre – so yummy! Immersion took so many forms during the two weeks, including celebrating the 492nd birthday of Oaxaca with locals on the Zócalo. The best day was the tour to Monte Albán’s archaeological site and nearby artisans with a van full of retirees from Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Of course, my new friends from Buenos Aires broke out the mate mid afternoon, and passed it around to share. Talk about immersion!
Now, in all that fun, I learned a ton too (and not just about food). I highly recommend the Spanish Immersion School — it felt like I was living and learning in a big hug, full of support and encouragement. Two weeks of Spanish immersion was just enough to diagnose what I know and don’t know, and to quickly find many of the missing pieces to my fluency. The subjunctive is no joke! My teacher: “I notice you avoid using the subjunctive, so let’s focus our time there.” And that we did. I also now know that I need to continue practicing my use of the direct and indirect object, and of course there’s the neverending learning curve of ser/estar. Finally, I left Oaxaca with hundreds of new vocabulary words for me to learn and use when I speak Spanish!
My homework for my return from my teachers: watch Spanish-language TV shows using SPANISH subtitles, make and practice 3-5 vocabulary flashcards each week, and practice with anyone I can. Well, ok! I’m loving “El Rey,” the limited-series story of Vicente Fernandez, but when I suggested to my kids that we practice together, the one minoring in Spanish replied, “Sí,” and the other added a “No, mercí.” LOL. Baby steps. I also added two additional homework items to keep me honest and on the path towards fluency – take online classes with one of my teachers, and return to Oaxaca next year to continue learning. Manifesting those now; stay tuned.
As a Mexican American growing up in the U.S./Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas, Spanish came naturally to me. My Mexican roots came from my father, but I was raised by my single mom from Minnesota. She majored in Spanish in college, and spent the 1960s living abroad and teaching English to Spanish and Portuguese speakers in Europe, South America and North America (Mexico). She made it her goal to raise me bilingual, and we spoke both Spanish and English at home. Around age 5, I did what many bilingual kids do – I declared that I only wanted to speak English. My mom pleaded, but I refused to speak Spanish with her. What a loss.
Well, living in El Paso means you’re going to speak some Spanish regardless of your desires because it’s basically a bilingual city, and folks switch back and forth all day long — at school, at work and at play. I like to say that I continued learning Spanish by osmosis! That, and three years of Spanish in high school. But, I still couldn’t keep up with my friends who were fluent — the friends who lost the battle at home, and continued speaking it as they grew up. You see where this is going. I’m trying to right my own wrong, and become the fluent Mexican American my mom wanted me to be. In her memory!
I also cannot express enough my love for Oaxaca. Oaxaca is so unique and special, and so different from the Northern Mexican states of Chihuahua that I frequented growing up and Coahuila where I lived for a while as a small child. I love Oaxaqueña culture so much – the spontaneous celebrations in the streets, the indigeneity as a focus of the community and the people – Oaxaca is a true gift in my life. This was my first trip, but as I mentioned, not my last. Oaxaca and the Spanish Immersion School will continue to be my hosts as I work towards fluency in the coming years.
Taking time away from my desk meant a slower response to my clients … who were awesome and patient. I was able to work a few hours each day while I was away to keep my clients’ priorities in focus, and I’m really so grateful. You are on this journey with me, giving me space to do this important work. It took me a bit longer to get back to you, and you were all so great! Maybe one day, you’ll be able to hire me to work directly with your Spanish-speaking families and educators. ¡Ojala que sí!