Day 474 – 477 – Minca

Spanish Lessons in paradise

Over the following days we spent 3 hours of each morning at our Spanish classes. It was intense but fun. Most of the time it felt like we were learning new things, but as we dug through our notes from the previous Spanish lessons in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, we discovered that we had already learnt and then forgotten a lot of basic grammar.

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The style of teaching felt very practical. To learn numbers we played a bowling styled game and to learn fruits and vegetables we went to the frutería (grocery store) and practised by talking to the owner in Spanish. He was a really nice guy who was very patient with us. 

Rest of the day

In the afternoons we would complete our homework. My wife was able to use the oven to bake a delicious cake. A stray cat appeared, who would not leave the hostel. Turns out that one of the guests in the hotel was feeding it.

We cooked most of our meals with supplies from Santa Marta or the smaller shops in town. Occasionally we went out for a meal. Some of the highlights include the burgers from the restaurant Lazy Cat (one of the few restaurants in town that takes card payments) and La Miga Panaderia Francesa (a French styled bakery).

Also during this time, we became friendly with the cleaning staff at Finca Hostel Bolivar, who were originally from Venezuela. They were both sweet and did a great job of maintaining the hostel. This was also a perfect opportunity for us to practise our Spanish.

La clase es muy bien pero aprender español es muy difícil (Class is very good but learning Spanish is very difficult). At the end of the week we decided to extend our classes for another two weeks since we were making progress and we thought that Minca would be a perfect place to celebrate new years.

Travelled December 2019

Expenses and Transport

• Spanish Language School 15 hours – 450,000 COP (~$176 AUD) per person at CREA/Mission Gaia