Spanish Language Center of Cuernavaca (SLCC)

The Spanish Language Center of Cuernavaca is located a few minutes out of the city center, and about an hour and a half south of Mexico, D.F. Maestro Arturo Pineda and his family warmly received me on Sunday evening for my first week of intensive, advanced grammar, conversation and composition lessons. Yes, we all need refresher courses and immersion time.
A simple google.com search will supply the average person with mutiple schools as well as multiple cities throughout Mexico and Central America, my personal favourite being Antigua, Guatemala.
I will spend two weeks in the Pineda home, as they are also my host family. November and December are the low season for Spanish students arriving in Cuernavaca (which is chocked full of such institutions!). As luck would have it, I am getting private lessons at group prices (because they do not have anyone else enrolled this week). I receive five hours of lessons from 8am until 1pm (three hours of intensive grammar and an hour of conversation and reading), followed by a couple more hours of local excursions and cultural discovery with Andres (markets, museums, cathedrals, etc.). Andres handles the business and marketing side of the school. All this for just $150US per week (plus the standard $100US registration fee). I have a private room, bath and three square meals a day for $20US per day. Madre Maru is a fine cook and extremely hospitible. She takes extra care to respect my diet which leans toward vegetarian (fish and fowl only).
Her kindness was tested further these last two days when I awoke ill. Unsure of the cause, but the symptoms presented themselves one at a time. I started my morning kneeling beside the toilet and ended my day with a thermometer in my mouth. Nausea and dizziness, followed by a fever made lessons that day a challenge to enjoy. My visit that afternoon to the local artesan market was even worse, as the odors brought on further nausea, reaching new levels as we turned down the open air meat market. I took comfort at the top of a stairway stall full of herbs and spices. A familiar and pleasing aroma hit my nostils and immediately allieviated my nausea, and nerves. I reached down and drew the spice contents to my face, inhaling intently. Cloves! I made it home without further disturbance, clutching the cloves like a security blanket. That evening I would skip dinner but enjoy a wellknown and celbrated tea of Yerbabuena (good herb) which has medicinal properties said to neutralize nausea and stomach problems. Well is must have worked, as my fever disapated and my body purged the remainder of its unwanted contents the following morning... fortunately via the preferred method of elimination, mind you.

So what might one expect for lessons?
My classes begin at the kitchen table with a chalkboard hanging on the wall and resource texts spread out. We play with multiple verb tenses that are craftily introduced, especially the elusive subjunctive whose rules vary from those found in Frenchj, and which have been essentially erased from English. I verbalize all my work (even when written), and seek clarification when I am uncertain of usage. My homework consists of worksheets, occasional translations into the target language, and ALWAYS un ensayo... the dreaded essay!

As I am avoiding tonights paper with this entry, it is best I close for the evening.
Please feel free to visit the SLCC webpage: www.allinfo.net/SLCC/
email:
slccinfo@terra.com.mx
Snail mail:
Familia Arturo Pineda
Calle Vicencte Guerrero No. 8 Col. Las Granjas
C.P. 62460 Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Telephone from the US: 011.52.77.73.16.49.66