Friday

I am finally starting to get the hang of how Ernesto learns. He tells me exactly what he wants, and what to do and what not to do. Sometimes he just needs to play, or colour, or draw a word, instead of always talking. He asked me to read the alphabet, so I sung it. He knows a lot of words, as do my adult students, but like them, doesn't know how to say each individual letter like we do. (I have had the same problem in Spanish: I can read full length novels, but until recently, forgot how to say "x").

Then he told me to be quiet while he coloured all the letters a different colour.

The lesson was overall quite good. Though at one point he crawled behind me on the couch and either licked or spit-washed a large freckle on my lower back just above my behind, and then told me I had done "caca" on myself. (I tried to tell him unsuccessfully that it was chocolate).

I was laughing to myself as I walked home aftewards. I know my hair is a lot shorter and sits differently - there isn't much curl - it's a less "pretty" look. But I was unprepared for two Chinese boys that passed me and glanced, while one said "Nu de haishi nan de" (man/boy or woman/girl). The other one didn't hesitate a second before answering that I was a woman. But I turned around and said "HUH?!" So they turned around and looked, as they walked away. I laughed, and they said from a distance, "hasta luego". I answered, "zaijian".

I wondered how many more weird things were going to happen to me that day, but luckily I arrived in Jerez and met Geoffrey with only a small delay while he arrived from the airport.

We saw Juana la del Pipa sing at Pena Buleria, which was an event. The first time I've seen her live.