Learning Spanish

Today was laundry day and I know that that is a boring subject and no one wants to hear about it BUT...... this may be the laundry day that will help us in our quest to learn enough of the Spanish language to get by in a tough spot.  We found this Laundromat (lavandería) in Roma which is just down the road from us.  Now because all of this area is only a mile or two from the Rio Grande River, Spanish is definitely the first language.

When we got inside there was a young girl who was barely 20 with her baby who was maybe a year and a half running the place.  We discovered we didn't have enough quarters, so the battle was on to ask her for more quarters.  There was a nice guy sitting there who spoke English so I said to him that rather than translating for us if he could tell us how to ask for change.  He said to try "Necesito cambiar por favor"  The girl smiled and nodded.  She said "Ce, cuántos"?  Well I figured that out and we replied "Dos" and she went in the back and brought us 2 rolls of quarters.  Now I was as proud as punch because we had broken the language barrier!!  So we got to talking that we will be in a Spanish zone a lot in the next few months, so we need to start learning some words to get us by.  We don't need to put them in sentences yet, but rather single words that get the meaning across, so we will be doing a Spanish word of the day for the next few months.

So today's Spanish word will be:  Necisito ---- which we will use when we need something.

Sorry but it won't be like the facebook Mexican word of the day!!!

While the laundry was brewing, I spotted a little taqueria across the street so decided to go get a lunch snack.

Well guess what?  Yup.  No speaka Englees!!!  And this time no one to translate.  Now I know that carne is beef and papa is potato but that's it.  And I want something with some zing, so went with the Papa a la Mexicana.  It was what I thought... Potato with hot sauce.  mmm good, and only fifty cents and a Coke for another buck. 

Wow.  I'm liking this Mexican thing.

We got to almost see another accident today.  Some guy lost it on a bridge and did a double pinball off the guardrail.  We weren't far behind as you can see by our position in line.  Nobody hurt. 

I said another accident, because I forgot to mention that the other day when I was getting my new spare tire, we saw a rear ender happen at the stop light.  Big smack and lots of stuff flying right in front of us.  Both cars had kids in them but I don't think there were injuries.  That's the main thing.

We spotted a couple at the stop light down the road eating and driving.  Isn't that distracted driving when the ice cream is spilling down their chins???   Oh wait... Is that?? Oh my it is Ed and Lessie!!!!

It was a beautiful evening so we spent some time under the trees talking.  I'm not feeling good tonight so will see what tomorrow brings.

The view from our window today:

Our Location tonight:  Falcon Heights Texas   Boondocking