Janie Weeks

Hello everyone!
Actually I hope to be confidently saying, "Hola! Buenos dias!" very soon!
Stan and I have lifelong dreams of speaking a second language. Here we are at this late age and still speak only English. To help make sure we tick this goal off our list we are going to school! Yes, we are going to school . . . in Santiago, Chile! We are committed and have enrolled in month-long classes starting February 24 where we will spend 4 or more hours a day in the classroom studying Spanish for beginners. Now, we both already know a collection of Spanish phrases, certainly enough to say hello, thank you, where is the bathroom and how much does this cost. But beyond that, we are lost.
It won't be all work, of course. We're going to have some real fun too. Our trip starts in Buenos Aires where we will relax and enjoy visiting this beautiful city once again. Then we will board a cruise ship and sail for around the southern tip of South America through Patagonia and along the South American fjords. Fourteen days later the cruise ends in Santiago where we move into an apartment and begin living like locals, shopping, eating and touring the city. After just one week of fun, school starts on February 24, and it's serious stuff. I've been told the program can be quite challenging! But hey, something worthwhile is gained only by setting ego aside and simply digging in! I have a feeling we will have some interesting stories to share!! Seriously, since we will be staying in the heart of city, we hope to meet neighbors or friendly shopkeepers who help us with real world practice.
When our 4 weeks of school is done we plan to spend an additional month down south exploring the area with hikes in the Andes, maybe taking some cooking classes and making day trips to surrounding towns. And to our delight, Cody is even going to join us there during her birthday week! Shea and Tessa as well as a few friends might visit as well.
This should be an amazing trip and I hope you follow along. Not only will you witness the hilarity of us trying to understand, speak and think in Spanish but we also promise to share stories and of course, many photos of all we see and experience on this nearly three-month South American journey.
Come on! Adios Amigos!