Day 74: The Good Day

The rain lifted slightly today, which was the first sign of a good day to come. It was only misting lightly when I dragged myself out of bed and to the hospital. I only got up half an hour later when I went to the Spanish school, and yet my body reacts as though it is four hours difference.

The first class was on Parkinsonismo which in English is Parkinsonism, which in understandable terms refers to the condition where nerves are degenerating and present the following four symptoms: tremors, rigidity, postural instability and decreased bodily movement. It was a difficult class for me because the teacher was Dr. Vega, who today was a little tired and spoke with a very closed mouth, quickly (as always) and quietly. Plus the topic was hard for me to follow since there are multiple subcategories of conditions that the umbrella of Parkinsonism covers.

The second class was on Demensia, focusing on Alzheimer's Disease as it is the most prevalent from that group. This class was with Dra. Santoro. I think that I had known more about Alzheimer's than a good portion of the rest of this course, but the lecture was still (or possible therefore) very interesting. Dra. Santoro also connected the statistics and diagnostic criteria with personal experience and commentary that really made the topic not just a condition that others have or work with, but a condition that is current, that exists and affects individuals and more importantly families all the time.

After our break, just enough time for a coffee and a pastry for those suger-driven Argentineans, we split up again for another short practical period. I was a little more lost in today's observational section because I find it harder to jump along in conversations than the native speakers and so the conversations started to escape me. Therefore I can provide less detail about that part of the day, but we looked at MRI scans of a patient's head before visiting her in the room. They tested her using several tests we had talked about in class previously, so it was nice to see the tests in action and view real results with patients that actually have a neurological condition. Unfortunately, again, there was only one patient for us to visit, so we were dismissed around noon. I rode the subway back with one of the students who gets off the station next to mine and we talked about the classes and I asked her a couple of questions I had about abbreviations and definitions.

Tango today was possibly the best lesson so far. I had a new couple as teachers, and there was only one other woman who showed up after 30 minutes to join the lesson, so it was essentially private. Both of the teachers were young, friendly, supportive and very instructive. We worked on individual steps, and progressed adding more and more together until we had a little sequence. It is very satisfying to think back on the lesson and see what I learned. It was challenging, but still fun. And that is what I am here for: the challenge, and a good time. Unfortunately, the two of them will not be teaching at the studio any more, but they gave me the address of a different studio where they have an open house on Saturday for free dancing, so I might check that out.

Had some pasta tonight for dinner with Betty, Luke went out to meet a friend. I had a moment at the dinner table when I realized that I was understanding everything that Betty was saying, even the little "ums," "I means," and those little parts of conversation. When I first arrived, I understood sentences by identifying a verb or a noun and filling in the blanks. I felt like I would never be able to hold my own in a conversation, but now I can, even making jokes on the subject. It makes me incredibly happy and so glad that I took this opportunity to immerse myself in another language.

I am sleepy and I am looking forward to a busy weekend so I would like to finish off the week without a sleep deficit if possible, so will end my commentary here.

Chao.