Lee and I took the dive into learning to speak Spanish with classes in the quaint neighborhood of Russafa not far from City Center. Twice a week we relive those faint memories of school days with our pen and notebooks. Apprehension from getting called upon in class in front of strangers honing their language skills. All these years I am finally getting a grasp of English. Begging the question, at this stage in life can I actually start over?

Thank god this is a Latin-based language and we are not trying to learn Mandarin or Cyrillic. I enjoy recognizing the similarities and the roots of words that both languages share. But as far as pronunciation, breaking down syllables, syntax and gender, that is a whole other story.

Generally, people are friendly and open up when we make an attempt to speak Spanish. Or we quickly admitted that I can’t and asked if they could speak English. My most used phrase is Lo siento, no hablo español. ¿Habla usted Inglés? But one day we aspire to speak conversationally. Hell, I take the simplest of communication.

There is hope. One day… vamos a poder hablar español. Sin embargo, no se deje engañar. Actualmente usamos Google Translate a menudo.