I can't believe I did three years of high school in Brea without speaking a word of Spanish. Since I've been home from China, I've:

• ...sat in a barber-chair for 30 minutes chatting with a rather attractive Mexican hairdresser. She kept me talking the whole time, said she loved my Spain accent.
• ...been hired to tutor ESL kids on Mondays and Wednesdays at Laurel School.
• ...met a graphic design artist from Guadalajara, Mexico, at Tower Records and discussed what *real* Spanish music is (Mecano, Alejandra Guzman, Cristian, Hombres G), as opposed to that ranchera music, which is the Mexican equivalent of country. And you know what I think of country.

I hope my order for Perez-Reverte's El Maestro de Esgrima shows up at Borders soon, so I can get back into the habit of learning Spanish. At least folks around here are more forgiving about forgotten words, and I can use the English if I really have to.