Last night I needed to write down that I'd finally found a new place to move to. But yesterday was also my first day of second semester, and I didn't really go that much into how that went, so I'm going to take the time to do that now.
You see, it's funny how things happen. Last month, I would've told you that despite being here for about 6 months already, I unfortunately wasn't close to being fluent like many people (including me) thought I would become. Now before you jump ahead, I'm going to say that I am still very far from being considered fluent, but I'm closer. Definite, solidly, closer. Over this past break, I'd started to realize that not only was I now being to understand everything that was being said on the streets, but I was finally being able to comprehend almost all of what my French friends spoke about, which--let me tell you--has always been much more difficult than understanding my teacher who used proper French and pronounced it well.
That isn't even the best part though. I went to class yesterday a tiny bit nervous because, despite my intentions, I hadn't really reviewed on my break. After the surprise at finding out that my teacher is actually a woman, (ok, yes, I should have noticed that the first name ended in -nne, indicating a girl's name, but would you imagine a lady with a name like Fabienne?) my nerves were eased when I remembered that first days almost never start out with actual work. My hunch was confirmed when my teacher announced that we would start off by participating in a type of speed dating-like activity to get to know each other a bit.
Here is what I learned in the first 10 min:
-Unlike my last general French class, at least half the students are American,
-Where my last class had people from 18-60 years old, here, the only people older than 21 were 23, 26, and 32.
-No priests/nuns-in-training, (not that that was a terrible thing or anything, but now it feels more like a real class),
-There were only a couple of us from last semester, everyone else was fresh from their respective country,
-Therefore, said fresh people's speaking and comprehension abilities were sub-par to say the least, which,
-MADE ME FEEL LIKE A FREAKIN' PRO.
Ok, so I felt a little sorry for them as they stumbled and struggled, often asking me to kindly répéter s'il te plaît, as I spouted out my French confidently and with ease. Of course, I remember being in their spot when I first arrived. But I'd be lying if I said that it didn't make me feel just a little bit (read:really) good. 
Yeah, I saw many faces like this one yesterday..the poor things.
It made me glad that despite the fact that I haven't been home or seen my family and friends for the longest stretch of my life, it's worth it if I'd finally started to be comfortable with the language. At least with non-natives.
But if you know me, I'm not exactly the type of person to truly take pleasure over someone else's discomfort, so in return, I've decided that I'm going to give my new fellow classmates the best advice I can think of: swallow your pride, but be confident. That they shouldn't be afraid or hesitate to practice their speaking as much as possible, even if they know that they're making mistakes. Because once you become comfortable wrapping your mouth around French words and hearing a foreign language come out of your mouth, you stop focusing on how much of an idiot you sound and start focusing on applying what you learn in class into your day-to-day life.
Well, there's still more I want to write, but I think I'll stop here for now. Tomorrow Alejandro and I head back to our new apartment to give our landlord the rest of what we owe her in rent and to collect the second key. Getting even more and more excited! :)
Much love!
Rachael
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