when i first got here, those ten long years of studying french came flying back to bite me in the ass...whenever a verb is the same in spanish and french (to have: tener, tenir) the french version generally ends with -ir and the spanish with -er. my most common homework errors are spelling everything the french way: augmentir, imaginir, perdir...at first it was funny but then it got to the point of ridiculousness so whenever i didn't know how to spell a verb i just threw in an e. same with pronunciation, my naturally tendency is to use the french pronunciation out of habit, so i have to think really hard to make the "e" sound come out instead. unfortunately this has had dire consequences for my english...i now find myself, amidst writing an email, reciting grammatical rules like "i before e except after c" before i commit to the spelling of a word (belIEve me, i've been catching myself doing this a lot)....or writing a word out three different ways before committing...and may i remind you i used to be a champion speller--i won second place in the fifth grade spelling bee (matt rubenstein beat me).
it seems that i have taken all the e's out of my written english and tossed them out into my spanish prose. just in time for grad school, as i received my acceptance letter from NYU (yay!) and will return to academic writing this fall. at least i have the summer to transition back to english....hopefully i can find my e's somewhere before i attempt the cross country move. although, this news has left me quite the smitten kitten so what am i complaining about? i may not be able to spell anymore, but i sure as heck am enjoying my last three weeks in GORGEOUS sunny granada. especially my patio, my newfound favorite drink, the clara, and the 4 euro deck of cards we bought in barcelona. i've got big plans to make, lots of changes coming up, but for now, i'm content to sit back, struggle along in spanish, and live it up the way the spaniards do (by taking advantage of the doing of nothing...it's really a complicated process you'd be surprised). happy weekend!
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