Day 7 - 10 : Back to 'skool' and Tango in Bariloche!!
 
Setting the alarm so we would make school for 9am was abit like being back at work but surprisingly we both said how good it felt to have a 'purpose' so to speak for the week . Don't get me wrong, every day travelling you have some kind of purpose, normally to sort out where you will stay, eat and go but this felt like a different more realistic purpose and it was quite a good feeling......how long would it last though?!!
 
Arriving quite nervously at school, we met Veronica the Director and our 2 professors for the week, Adriana (who was Argentinean) and Xavier who was from Barcelona. As Ads had much better Spanish than idiot here, we were split into 2 groups, myself being put in the beginners of beginners group with Xavier, definitely the preferred option! Everyone was really lovely and in our groups we were joined by a couple from England, Emma and Mat, Emma joining me as a beginner and Mat with Ads. I was relieved to have Emma with me as I think one on one teaching for the week would have been hard going and I definitely learned more from being in a pair.
 
It was a hard but good week, having not properly used our brains for a good 9 months now, once we had blown away a few of the cobwebs some things started to click and slowly we grasped bits of the language but it wasn't easy, especially verbs!! Aaaah! I kept getting confused with French and German at times, god knows why cause I was useless at those languages too but its amazing what you do remember about things you haven't used for over 15 years!
 
After skool we tended to treat ourselves to coffee and pie at the local bakery and it was fun to go over the lessons we had had with each other, Ads lessons totally going over my heard of course! One afternoon we also went with skool to the park and like kids did some games to help us grasp the language better, one where you had to wear the dreaded hat on your head with a person on that you had to guess, with only 8 hours of Spanish lessons though it was a tad hard! Xavier also brought along the traditional local tea called 'Mate .' Basically you put this green stuff in a small pot with looks like a bong then suck out of the metal pipe in it. Every where you go you see people drinking this and it is seen to be rude if you decline the offer of this drink. All I can say is it tasted very strong, had abit of an after ash taste for me so I didn't manage to drink to much of the stuff, it was fun though!
 
Every eve we had homework to do, yuk!! Normally this consisted of me asking Ads for help and Ads asking Mark in our hostel, but despite the late nights we managed to get all our homework done like good school children, mums I hope you are proud! The hostel was like a home which was nice and a good place to relax although as we were right next to the living room and kitchen, the noise meant little sleep was had that week unfortunately, especially as both of us had longed to be in one place for a few days to recharge but by the time Friday came we were more shattered than when we arrived! The home made bread and jam in the mornings made up for it though!
 
As part of Spanish school we were also given the opportunity for a free tango lesson which for some reason we were the only crazy ones at the school who went!! It was heaps of fun though and despite feeling very nervous when we arrived to the 'Tango Cellar' to be the only ones there until heaps of locals started turning up and dancing in front of us, it was a cool experience! To cope we bought wine and beer but then realised rather embarrassingly that not single local bought a drink as apparently tango is a serious business and you don't drink on any accounts when you dance, ooops!! Thankfully some other westerners turned up (including one guy who thought he was the bees knees and very funnily smooched his way thro the lesson which was hilarious) who also like us bought copious amounts of alcohol to cope and then kept getting told off by our older lady tango teacher who kept saying 'Dance no drink!!' We actually ended up making some moves and shapes and madly the lady told me I was a good dancer??!!! I think the fact all the ladies were in their high heels whilst I was stomping about in hiking boots must have been the answer ha ha! Well I am not sure if Tango Ads will continue the lessons back home with me ......??!
 
By the end of the week both of us had improved (I think!) our Spanish and it was quite sad to say goodbye to everyone as we had got used to the routine of coming here and both had really enjoyed the learning experience! We definitely want to continue our Spanish studies when we get home and thought perhaps we could have our wedding ceremony in Spanish.....???!! Uuuumm! Least the words 'I do' are easy, 'SI!' On the last night we went out for beers with our class mates, including a swiss couple, Marcos and Daniella who had joined Ads group and were as all Europeans are, much better and quicker at grasping the language than we were! It had been a good week & we were looking forward now to our boat (hopefully!) running and trying out some of our Spanish skills in Patagonia. Although on leaving our final class I said 'aurevoir' and Ads said 'Gradias' so maybe we need a few more weeks of school!! UUUUUmmmm!
 
On our last day we headed up the lake 20km and got the chairlift up to 'Cerro Companero' which had the most amazing vista's of the mountains, lakes and Andes all around us and set against the clear bright blue sky it was just out of this world!! So far for both of us it was the most amazing panoramic view to date, even beat NZ for us which is hard going! I think the fact that there were so many deep blue lakes set within the forested valleys was what the made the scenery top just a little bit the ones we had seen in NZ and the fact you had 360 degrees all around you was just spectacular, hence the 3000 photos uploaded on the blog!! We sat having a cuppa at the top, taking it all in and realising once again our dream and how lucky we were to be doing this. Blowing all your money on this definitely beats any day not doing it just to have a smaller mortgage for sure! We will definitely come back to explore and hike here one day. A beautiful way to end our week here.....