The teen left Monday for a Spanish language immersion program in Salamanca per my post several days ago. I hadn't received any emails or texts since the initial one to let me know she arrived safely, so I messaged her to see how it's going.
All of the students were given a written and oral test to ascertain their level of Spanish proficiency for class placement. The teen was very disgruntled because all of her buddies are in the intermediate class while she was placed in advanced. And, according to the teen, it's full of a bunch of nerds and weirdos that really take their Spanish seriously.
Get this - they make them speak solely in Spanish during class. What nerve! And they're assigning actual written work. Ay dios mio! I guess SOMEBODY thought mom and dad spending serious cash for her to have this wonderful experience improving her Spanish skills didn't fully comprehend she'd have to put forth some effort. You know, just ponying up the bucks to get her out of our hair for the month of July.
It's not all about looking fabulous and hanging out with friends and working on her tan in the Spanish sunshine. And buying six new pairs of shoes for the trip. Or taking a million pics to plaster on her Facebook page. But you can't fault a 17-year-old for thinking that's a great way to spend the summer before her senior year, right? Our daughter would definitely get an A for effort in all that stuff. Let's hope she earns the same accolades regarding her compentence in mastering a second language.
One of these days she may need to order a fajita quesadilla with a side of borracho beans and margarita, specifying the top shelf liquor rather than the cheap swill. Then she'll be glad she spent a month in Spain to perfect her Tex Mex pronunciation skills.
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