After 8 weeks in Xela my graduation dinner from Miguel Angel Asturias Spanish school was upon me. Twenty-five (25) years ago I made a choice to learn to speak Spanish. I came to Xela with a dream and a hope that after 25 years full of incremental attempts and limited success with spanish lesson books, audio-tapes, continuing education courses in the USA and a 17 day sojourn to El Instituto Chac-Mool in Cuernavaca, Mexico a few years ago, that maybe this time I might finally be able to converse in Spanish, and perhaps even dream in the language.
This past weekend while I was fitfully sleeping on Vólcan Tajumulco waiting to do our summit climb I began to notice that my dreams were full of Spanish verb conjugations amidst people speaking Spanish. It was a wonderfully, odd experience.
When this week began I realized I had a different willingness to speak Spanish to the last of my maestros, Carla. A few days after Theora arrived I noticed I was chatting with her in Spanish all day. I felt a sense of exhilaration and happiness in the realization that I had finally achieved my dream--the experience of speaking and dreaming in Spanish.
At the graduation dinner Justin and I received our diplomas. In Carla is presenting my diploma to me and giving me a hug. I am still a beginner with the language, but now I am ready to learn Spanish for "real"!!!!
