Día 1: Un Primer Día Perfecto

 First, a little update:

Josey is currently in Panama. Sutton is currently… not in Panama. Due to some unfortunate travel delays, spring break drama, and surprise passport expirations, she will arrive later in the week. While this delay is “increíblemente triste'' for both parties, Sutton will be working diligently from home to keep up with the Spanish immersion course. Meanwhile, Josey will be familiarizing herself with the city to be an up-to-par tour guide for the arrival of her BFF. 

The following blog features Josey’s Day 1 A-Term experience (from Josey’s POV). 

I woke up this morning anxious but excited for my first day of classes. After a quick breakfast in the apartment, I took a brief stroll over to Casco Antiguo Spanish School which is our “school” for the next two weeks. The Spanish school is located in Casco Viejo, meaning “old city,” which is a small neighborhood full of tourists, policemen and Kuna people, who are indigenous to Panama. The plaza is bursting with lively shops selling homemade fabrics, jewelry and other souvenirs as well as housing many of the country's government offices. 

When I first walked inside, I was immediately greeted by the friendly staff who gave me a tour of the school and talked me through my schedule for the week. At 8 o’clock, my class promptly started.

My native Panamanian (isn’t that the coolest word ever?) teacher for the week is named Héctor. 

Until Sutton arrives, he will just be teaching me and Ervin, my fellow classmate from Reno, NV. After the introductions, we got straight to work with some conversation practice. This practice included having conversations based on a variety of question prompts that would help us learn more about each other. We started by talking about where we were from, whether we liked it or not, and our favorite and least favorite things about our cities, then moved on to talking about a variety of topics ranging from sports to family to politics. While seemingly random, it gave us a chance to get to know each other, get used to Speaking, and use a wide range of vocabulary. While we were speaking, Hector would give small instructions or notes to keep in mind to help improve our grammar or vocabulary. 

After about two hours of thorough conversation, we moved on to our first lesson: Imperativo. This is the tense used for commands, instructions, and orders. While the basic structure itself is not too complicated, there are many irregular verbs or small changes that need to be kept in mind when speaking. To help put this tense into context, we filled in the blanks in a story about a top secret spy cat, and answered question prompts. 

Our final activity was to create a recipe using imperitivo. Feeding into my Panamanian food craving, I wrote a recipe for black beans and rice, which while seemingly simple, required many more new vocabulary words than I had expected. Whether talking about pots and pans, boiling water, or measuring spoons, I was learning new words left and right. 

After presenting our recipes, our morning class was over. The four hours had gone by fairly quickly, and looking back I realized I had spent them speaking entirely in Spanish. Even when learning new words or asking for clarification we never switched to English which was both an accomplishment and a great learning technique. 

Finishing my four hours of intense learning I had worked up an appetite, so I wandered Casco Antiguo a bit before finding a tasty restaurant where I enjoyed delicious fish tacos and fresh guacamole. 

In the afternoon, I went to the store to get some food to have for the rest of the week. This proved challenging since most foods were in Spanish, but also a good way to practice what I was learning in a real world context! After returning from the store, I decided to visit one of the many churches in the area: Iglesia de la merced. This is a catholic temple located in the heart of casco. The church was constructed in 1680, but still has ongoing services. The sanctuary was adorned with stained glass windows, and other beautiful sculptures. After admiring the art and trying my best to translate the sermon that was taking place, I left the church and returned to the apartment for the evening. 

My first day was a huge success and I look forward to learning more tomorrow and joining in some of the school’s evening activities!