Soaking

One of my favorite trips in California is to go to the Eastern Sierra and sit in the natural hot springs in the middle of the desert mountains. It's incredibly relaxing and reinvigorating, and you usually meet some really nice people and have great conversations.

With that in the back of my mind, I've been jonesing to return to La Gruta hot springs this week, and today was going to work. I drove with Antonio to drop Laurel off at school, and he dropped me at La Gruta which was nearby. I enjoyed the hot mineral water, the cave, and the hot waterfalls. A few other people were there, and I started talking to one of them. Her name was Miriam, and she lives in Celaya, an industrial center about 30 minutes away. We talked for probably an hour mostly in Spanish. She is the exact middle of 15 children, and was married to a German guy who now lives in Queretaro. Her three kids are going to school in Europe - the 18 and 16 year old girls are in a boarding school near Prague, and the 20 year old boy is in University in Berlin. She was really nice, and her Spanish was easy to understand. (Her mom was with her, and if anyone needed a relaxing day, it would be someone who raised 15 kids.) I also chatted with a San Miguelense and an American woman living here 13 years, also in Spanish. La Gruta is a beautiful place, and with the hot relaxing water and flowery surroundings, it's a great place to have a conversation with no rush.

The funny thing about interacting in a foreign language you are still learning is that sometimes you feel just like a local, and the next moment you are practically illiterate. It depends upon whom you are taking to. As I was waiting for a taxi to return home, I talked to the greeter outside La Gruta, and I really had a hard time understanding him. It was night and day different than my conversation with Miriam.

Nevertheless, I got a lot of good Spanish practice today, and will hopefully return to La Gruta soon!