Yo comprendo Espanol mas y mas cada dia.

Spanish classes this week are going GREAT!!! We have a new teacher (they rotate your teacher every week to give you broader exposure to different ideas.) Se llama es Maria Alejandra (Ale)Yaconis. (Her name is Maria Alejandra [Ale] Yaconis.) Heritage is Greek and Italian. She has worked at helping us build our vocabulary, systematize our understanding of Spanish verbs, and worked with us in simple oral exercises to build our skill in conversation. I still have a long way to go, but her approach, along with the extra work I have been intentional about doing this week, has moved me along tremendously. I am beginning to be able to communicate in simple fashion around town. I am much more able to understand what I am hearing from people (especially when I can get them to despacio [go slowly] and repite [repeat].) I am also beginning to be able to read the headlines and understand the news headlines on TV. I still have a long way to go in understanding what the reporters are saying about the stories, but I was able to understand the story about the disappearance of tres emprasarios (three managers) who were in their thirties who disappeared over the weekend and the update today after they found their bodies yesterday and that they had clearly been murdered, in execution style. I am no expert, but I am beginning to feel like I will actually learn this language. (I still struggle to read what Antonia is writing in the comments, but I am even getting there, little by little. I go back and reread them each day and each day I understand a little more what she has written.) All of it is helpful. I think this weekend I will be able to post some more observations and reflections about life in Buenos Aires. But for now, I must study!