The first day of school was horrible. I felt like we were racing along much too fast for me. I was learning mucho [a lot], but I wasn’t remembering anything. I was filled with anxiety and felt that I would never learn. Quise volver a los Estados Unidos [I wanted to return to the United States.]

Today was better. I felt more comfortable with la conversación, y las clases no estuve demasiado dificil [the conversation and the classes weren’t too difficult.]

Pienso que [think that] our trip to South America will be like that. The first few days in Venezuela will be mas dificil [very difficult]. We’ll be confused, we’ll make mistakes. Pero después dos o tres dias [but after two or three days], it will be a lot more comfortable. Within a month, we’ll be ‘old hands’. Granted, each country will present different problems, but I think that the first week we’ll be learning to slow down, how to solve problems, and how to travel.

Ron