After a couple months on the road moving from city to city every 3-5 days, I'm taking a break. I've been in Sucre, Bolivia for 10 days now and if feels great to finally empty my backpack completely and relax. The main reason I decided to take a break here in Sucre is that it's an awesome city to take Spanish lessons. They have several Spanish language schools in the city and private lessons cost a fraction of what I paid in Buenos Aires. Aside from costs, I also find Sucre a much better environment to study in since it's quieter and the cafes are often filled with other gringos studying which makes it feel like a college town for backpackers.
For the past week, I've been taking lessons for 2 hours a day at Fenix Language School. I've been very happy with my progress so far working with my profesora Yashira. The format for my classes is very flexible which I prefer. We usually start with simple conversation where I'm able to practice both speaking and listening. The advantage to having a conversation in Spanish with a teacher is that she corrects any grammatical and pronunciation errors I make right there on the spot. I had no idea how many bad habits I'd formed over the past couple months on the road. Also, whenever I get stuck due to not knowing a word in Spanish, she will tell me the word and write it on the board. At the end of my lesson, I usually have a list of 8-10 words which Yashira will then quiz me on to see if I remember their meaning. After 30-45 minutes of conversation, we begin the lesson for the day. Many of the lessons are based on Yashira's observations during our conversation of areas I need to improve upon.
I decided to stay with a host family while in Sucre which was arranged through the school. This has proven to be a great decision since I get to practice speaking Spanish with the Gutierrez family while I'm not in school. I have one more week of lessons before I load up the backpack and hit the road again.
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