Backpack Mack

Ok, that title is a little dramatic but that was not far from my experience this week. I was in Cusco, Peru for another week of Spanish class with Maximo Nivel and not all went according to plan. Candidly this week’s classes were a little rocky. Even though this was a continuation of my program in Guatemala they placed me in a class that was essentially a repeat instead of a progression. After much back and forth with the program director I was placed in an alternate class that was technically 2 class levels up (High Basic > Pre Intermediate 2). 

In the first class I felt frustrated because I had gone over all the content just a few weeks prior, but in the second class it was a bit of a jump into the deep end. There were definitely times where I had no idea what my teacher was saying (the entire class is taught in Spanish) and I struggled a little bit to action several new verb tenses. That being said I would pick the harder class ten times out of ten. 

Learning a language is so exhausting. It takes so much brain power to express concepts that are so simple in your native language. Some days it feels like you just bumbled through class, BUT the most rewarding thing is looking back and realizing how much better you are today than you were two weeks ago. When classes are hard it means I’m working those little brain muscles extra hard and in another two weeks I’m going to be so much stronger. 

There is of course an ego component that gets a little hurt when you feel so behind, but it’s really important to keep that in check. It’s not about being the best in the class and getting a little gold star, it’s about accomplishing my own personal goals and learning for the sake of learning. 

The other lesson I learned this week was around balance. I might have overextended myself by signing up for this extra challenging four hour class and adding on two hours of private one on one lessons. My little brain was like mush by the end of the day, and I was not operating at full capacity. It also limited my free time to explore the city. Luckily I had been to Cusco before so I didn’t feel like I was missing too much but a little leisure time would have been nice. 

That being said I did squeeze in a hike, lunch/dinners spent with new friends, a Peruvian dance show, a parade and a night out at the bars (including a salsa club!) so don’t go feeling too bad for me. I really enjoyed my time in Peru but after just a week it’s on to the next adventure!