Considering I am (or at least was) Ryan's only friend in the entire country, it wasn't too hard to convince him to do things with me, no matter how unexciting they sounded. He'd wait for me outside class, meet me for 1/2 hour coffee breaks, and show up just in time for teaching. I surprised him by letting him teach some of my classes and then took him to my favorite tutoring. Little does he know he was lucky he got to miss the hair pulling, screaming little ones. Here we are with my favorites teaching them "on, in, under". The language gap was so incredible to watch, because she talked to him just as if he understood everything and somehow they worked things out. If she knew the word in English she'd shout it proudly, like "finished! ready! hello!" Wonderful.
What a crew I have. Only my girl could manage a smile for the camera. She was so intrigued by Ryan that while she and I were working on a book, she would lean over the table and just stare. She must have asked me to repeat his name 15 times and when it did finally come out it was with a very strong, rolled, spanish R. And it was precious. My two little ones have learned enough to at least have been able to tell him "you're crazy". I've taught them well.
Yet another new view of the cathedral that I hadn't found before. The only reason we found it was because we wandered all around waiting for the gelato shop to open, but then we forgot to ever go back that day.
Some graffiti I find intriguing because it seems tragically romantic. Perhaps there's something lost in translation, but to me it's beautiful. I'm not the girl that likes the simple happy ending, the romantic comedy that ends predictably. There needs to be more to keep my interest. Also, this phrase is similar to a Pablo Neruda verse, and I'm a sap for him.
I think we had 2 failed attempts before we finally found Holy Cow open. I had been craving their gelato for way too long and I never know their hours. We found a spot on some church steps and ate happily. The owner is an Italian man with an Irish girlfriend so Ryan even got to order for himself in English, which was an exciting luxury in Leon. He did also manage to order a coffee and maybe even a beer at one point (in Spanish). Ask him how many new words he learned this trip, and I bet you'd be impressed.
Also, after traveling with me for a few days, he figured out the same trick my parents learned...if I start to get in a bad mood, get me sugar. Gelato does the trick every time. Once, he even walked into a candy shop without saying a word and came back out and handed me my favorite: a crunch bar. "Because you like them". I'll take the hint :).
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