Or how to go back to school as a solo female traveller after retirement

They say you can’t teach an old dog, new tricks! I decided to test that theory by going to Guanajuato to study Spanish. Ok, I already speak some Spanish. I have learned a fair bit of survival Spanish in a variety of countries. I like to tell people I learned my Spanish on the streets and in the school of taxi! And, to some degree, that’s true. A good deal of the Spanish I speak is the result of chatting with very patient taxi drivers who seem quite happy to help me with my vocabulary as we drive. But I felt I had reached the point where I was becoming frustrated by my inability to say exactly what I wanted to say (or a close approximation thereof). So I decided I should do a little travel/education vacation. I chose Guanjuato because a few years ago, a friend of mine had posted some picture of the place and I fell in love with the look of the city. So I did a little studying and discovered Guanajuato is not only a Unesco World Heritage site, it is a university town and well known for it’s Spanish schools as well. Without thinking about my decision, I blithely signed up at Plateros Spanish School, not only for classes, but for the whole immersion experience – daily classes, staying with a homestay family, and traveling alone. So, should you choose to do so, please join me on my journey of discovery (as in, can an old dog really learn new tricks).

Arrival

I arrived in Guanajuato, having traveled by bus from Mexico City. Things didn’t start well. I was supposed to have someone meet me and take me to my homestay. I waited for 30 minutes and nobody showed. Ok, I’m ok, I have the homestay address. So, I grabbed a cab and showed the driver the address. Turns out he didn’t know where the house was. After driving around in circles for several long minutes (thereby allowing me to continue my education in the school of taxi) we finally asked somebody and found the place. Luckily my homestay host was home. She is a lovely woman in her 70s. Her grandson also lives with her as does one other student from Japan who has been here for 4 months. Nobody spoke any English. Nobody!!!!! Well – that’s what translator apps are for.

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After showering and putting on non-sweaty clothes, my host and her grandson took me into the historic centre of town. A short 11 minute walk – virtually straight down. Many steps. Did I mention it’s a long way down. The historic centre is colorful and beautiful.. . and hopping. There is live music everywhere, street vendors, beautiful buildings and many, many people. I immediately fell even more in love with the place. (Don’t you love it when a destination not only lives up to, but exceeds, your expectations? Although tired, nobody wanted to go back to the house, the night was just too perfect, but finally at about 11 we decided to walk home. Walk – straight up, what seemed like thousands of stairs. Anyhow – made it with the help of several rest stops to catch my breath. I went immediately to bed and fell into a deep sleep very quickly!

First Day of Class

I woke to the sound of dogs barking, birds singing, roosters crowing and a donkey braying. Yes, a donkey. So, here I am, at the age of 63 facing my first, first day of school, since 1978! What to wear??? My homestay “mom” prepares my breakfast – yummy melon and a cheese quesadilla and asks me if I want coffee. Of course, I say, and she passes me the jar of Nescafe!!!!! Seriously, Nescafe! How am I supposed to face such a daunting experience with only Nescafe?

My homestay host and her grandson walked me to class so I would know how to get there. With some trepidation, I enter what will become very familiar to me over the next few days. We begin with a placement test to see what level we should be in. I must have done all right because I get placed in a class with four people (another Canadian, an American and a lovely young couple from France), all of whom seem better than me. I survive. The teachers are great! The other students are great! I talk too much (in Spanish) as I do when I am nervous! Three straight hours of Spanish Class and I survive. Phew – time for a beer. And lunch. Lunch at a lovely small outdoors bar in a quite plaza. Food was great. Beer tasted great even if it was nothing special and I am rarely a beer drinker. I watched the world go by. I spoke to the people at the next table. I wandered around. I had assured my homestay host I could find my way home. I couldn’t. Luckily, cabs are super cheap. Found a cab to take me back up the hill, made it to my homestay and then my room, lay down and crashed!!!! Can you say “Brain dead”. Anyhow – wonder what tomorrow will bring.

In Class!

So, what happens in school? On the first day we were asked to arrive at 8:30 a.m. so they could place us in an appropriate level. We were given a sort of test – asking us to identify appropriate words (multiple choice) in a sentence and then to write a paragraph in Spanish about why we wanted to attend Spanish classes and what we hoped to learn. I indicated that I hoped to learn more about the grammar and tenses of Spanish and wrote that I had learned almost all of my Spanish on the streets of various countries and speaking to taxi drivers (in the school of taxis).

As mentioned before, I was placed in a class of 5 people and very quickly felt I was in a bit over my head. Our first two hours was on tenses and grammar. However, the instructors are fabulous and class was, surprisingly, not dry at all. We started by talking about what we had done the day before. We would go on to do some sort of exercise – usually filling correct verbs into a story or letter. We would get homework, often to write a story of our own or to tell something about our life. The classes were lively and fun and two hours passed surprisingly quickly.

My third hour was a vocabulary class and it was even more fun. We used the hour to learn common ways of expressing ourselves, useful and fun phrases, and discussing various topics in such a way that our vocabulary was increased fairly quickly. We also practiced listening – listening to conversations and then responding to questions on what we had heard. Topics ranged from previous boyfriends, crazy things that had happened to us, our families and trips, politics, marijuana, anything and everything. There was a lot of laughter in that third class.

All in all the instructors made a great effort to accommodate us and what we wanted to do and were unfailingly charming and entertaining!

Guanajuato

So . . . . I’ve talked about why I chose Guanajuato but, did it meet my expectations. No – absolutely not. In fact, it exceeded my expectations on several fronts. First, it’s stunningly beautiful. Reminiscent of places like Cinque Terre and Amalfi, it is populated by brightly coloured houses, climbing the steep side of a hill interspersed with narrow cobblestone streets. Ok, on a hot day, it’s a slog. But, hey, as mentioned, taxi’s are super cheap. Seems to be a standard price of 60 pesos to haul my tired ass up the hill which translates to just over $4. About the cost of a bus ride in Vancouver. So, I walk down and cab it back up.

Second, even the high end restaurants are super cheap. A fancy dinner with wine might run you about $50 per person, but if you want to eat cheap, this is the place. Get a little off the beaten path and order beer and tacos (usually 3 or 4) and it will run you about 100 mexican pesos (or about $7 Canadian). A sandwich run around $55 pesos). And the food is good! Even the cheap pub food. The beer is super cheap, so is the coffee, so long as you avoid Starbucks and don’t even get me started on the street food.

Third, music is everywhere. Literally. The town is full of Mariachis. Some awesome, some not as good. There are also groups of students dressed in medieval costumes that hold nightly concerts and then walk you around the town singing. Yes, you pay for the experience but the money goes to support University students and who doesn’t want to do that. Most of them are very good. At night the music drifts up to my room and I fall asleep listening to it. There is also just about anything else playing on the streets that you could ask for. Yesterday a young group of men performed a pretty good rendition of Santana’s “Oyo Como Va”. You don’t need to go far for entertainment – just grab an outdoor seat at a bar and wait, it will come to you.

Fourth, people are lovely. They greet you. They want to help you. And it feels so safe. Even the street vendors walk away with a nice smile and a “mucho gusto” if you say no to what they are selling. And if you do want to buy, the prices are good. Much of it is made by families of the vendors or the vendors themselves so do take a moment to chat with them and get their story.

Fifth – shopping – on the streets and in the stores you can find beautiful handmade clothing, jewelry and crafts. No big chain stores here (well maybe one or two, but definitely no department stores). Spend a few days browsing before buying because there is a lot to choose from and you don’t want to blow the budget on the first day.

Finally, there is often something going on. I am here during the Cervantino performing arts festival. There is always a guest country and this year it is Canada. Prices are very reasonable (for the most part) and much of it is free. I will see six different shows while I am here with paid tickets and, possibly more depending on how much energy I have. And there are fireworks every night. They are right overhead. The fact that there is often less concern with safety means that you can get up close and personal with the fireworks.