Espanol en Inglaterra

Today was the reading comprehension exam for my Beginning Spanish class. I walked into the Large Examination Hall (its official name!) with a classmate. I said, "Soy preocupada."
He said, "Soy dormido."
I said, "What's that mean?"
He said, "I'm trying to say 'I'm tired'. What did you say?"
"I'm trying to say 'I'm worried.'"
"Oh."

That conversation pretty much set the tone for the exam. I had a moment of surreality as I was trying to translate a text about medieval pilgrimages in northern Spain... who the hell knows the word for "pilgrimage" in Spanish?! Well, I do, or at least I hope that's what that word meant...

The best part was that afterwards I was loitering in Market Square, which is always a madhouse of tourists on Saturdays and great for people-watching, and a group of Spanish-speaking people walked by! They were nonchalantly comparing our market to a market in Valencia, and noted that we sell more t-shirts here.

Hooray for instant gratification and for learning things that are useful!!