Well my resolve to learn Spanish has been cemented. Arrived at the Centre to find everyone from workers to kids to EVERY volunteer speaks the language. I'm a minority of 1. So the first day was a bit challenging. Played a few cards games with some of the children who are all early primary school age and then had a crack at translating some letters that the children had written to their sponsors. Between my near zero grasp of the language and their poor spelling and grammar it was a bridge too far. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat! A quick lunch with a couple of the other volunteers and then spent some time wandering the streets before i headed off to my first Spanish lesson. Two hours of "theory" followed by an hour of conversation practice. In some respects it is an easy language but in others it simply torments you. Who would have thought that a cafe is masculine and must be addressed as "el cafe" while a school is feminine and is addressed as "la escuela" ( hope I've got that right otherwise it's a massive fail!) Needless to say at the end of 3 hours my head was spinning and pulsating. However I left feeling positive. Some great tacos and icy cold cerveza from a hole in the wall taco place was a just reward. Day 2 put my accounting department experience to use. Filing and archiving accounts payable documents - something I understand well. Another 3 hours of language lessons to round out the day and confirmation from my teachers that I'm doing well gave my confidence a boost. Got home around 8pm to find Natalie, my co volunteer, banging out a tune on the piano. Lovely way to end the day. Day 3 and I continued to wow them with my filing ability. Tonights language session really tested me and my confidence took a little hit. I'm finding it very different to be living in a city rather than just travelling thru as a tourist. The morning walk to work is quite invigorating and watching how a place comes to life each day never ceases to be interesting. I try to take a different route each day and it has become a real walk of discovery. And I need to discover the every day things. Where's the best coffee, where's the laundry and the supermarket. Not even a week has passed yet and I'm losing track of the days. Still it's not a bad way to live.