Ok, I am back! After being hit for six by some stomach bug last weekend I’ve been feeling run down all week and have only been able to face eating one meal a day. I think I am finally perking up now, but must drink more water!
As I spoke about in my previous post we started spanish school last Monday which came as another shock to the system for both of us I think because for the past fourteen months we’ve had no routine, just going with the flow and waking up when we felt like it. It’s been a long time since we had to wake up early and have any sort of set routine.
Spanish school has been getting easier though I think I have picked up a bit of a reputation for being impatient. I am in a group where the general level of vocabuary is lower than mine but as I suck at grammar it is filling in the gaps. Someone left the group to return home to the US last Tuesday and my other two classmates left on Friday so unless new people start or I am moved into another group it will just be me and the teacher! Bonus!
When we’ve not been at school or practicing our Spanish, which really doesn’t leave much time, we’ve been looking for an apartment of our own to move into as we have decided to stay in Oaxaca till our visa runs out in January. Katie is sick of the moving around and I promised her a short while back that when we reached a suitable place to put away our backpacks for a while that we would put down some roots and stay. I am also feeling travel weary and would love some time to live in a place that becomes to feel familiar and like home, make some friends, have some adult conversation for change. Oh yeah, that latter one would be lovely! We are really going to commit to learning Spanish and I am going to try and pick up some work, hold English lessons and there are some massage treatments that I don’t need any special equipment for. It will also give us some time to get on top of Katie’s schoolwork, we’ve been basically unschooling for the past year when she finished the books we left England with. We’re covering a lot of ground but the books are excellent for language skills and maths, which though not as much fun as learning about Balinese offerings are pretty much essential!
So between learning Spanish, teaching English and performing the odd massage here and there, and cracking on with some kind of formal education, by the time our visa runs out in January I will be happy to be on the road again, kicking back with a margarita or two.
Good luck with the Spanish! It sort of kicked my ass when I tried it but I might be heading back to Central America to have another crack in October. It’s always nice to settle into a place for a while. I might head north to Mexico so if you are still around I will get in touch.
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Oaxaca is one of my favorite places in Mexico and a great place to be for Day of the Dead in November.
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Hey! I’m a single mum travelling with my 8yr old Thomas. We were in Oaxaca last October/November and totally loved Oaxaca. Thomas says he wants to live there when we finish our travels he enjoyed Mexico so much. Day of the Dead is amazing there, make sure you hang out in the evenings in the Zocalo for a few days before, there are so many free concerts and things going on. Try and get down to the coast sometime too it’s so beautiful and you can swim/snorkel with wild turtles and dolphins. Where are you studying spanish? We were at Amigos del Sol. I’ve added your blog to ours, there were hardly any single mums travelling in Latin America when we started so it’s so nice to find so many others doing it. Take care and enjoy your few months of rest! Lucy & Thomas xx
Oaxaca is a perfect place to settle down for a little while! Actually heading down to the Mayan Rivieria this fall (in November) for a week to attend a friend’s wedding — it’ll mark the first real ‘travel’ we’ve had in years! Looking forward to it! The thing with Romance languages — they always are easier to learn when you are firmly rooted in English grammar; well, I find it to be that way, anyway. Looking forward to further posts!
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