Your Spanish Friend

A few weeks ago, I told you about my long weekend in Madrid staying with Guadalupe (click here for the last of several posts on that trip).

Guadalupe and a few of her friends can communicate fairly well in English. Other of her friends are fluent — and probably have a much better academic knowledge of English grammar than I do... than do I... than I... In addition, some are also fluent in French, German, and Italian. One friend is even fluent in Hebrew. All I could remember how to say in Hebrew was, "What's this?," "I go to Hebrew school," and "Koopy is a good monkey." Phonetically, that's "Koopy cove tove," if it ever comes up in conversation.

Putting Koopy aside... The core group of five professional women started a business together called "Your Spanish Friend." They host people in their homes and offer a few days or more of immersion in Spanish conversation while sharing the city of Madrid from an insider's view.

This all sounds like an advertisement and I don't mean it to be that. I just thought I'd let you know about it in case you're interested. Although Guadalupe and I had recently become friendly, we weren't close friends and really didn't know each other very well. I agreed to go up for a visit and was kind of nervous about staying in someone else's home (not my favorite way to travel) and spending so much time in such close proximity to a fairly new acquaintance. I also love to travel independently, so didn't know how I felt about being taken around Madrid by someone else.

The entire visit was a revelation. First, the homes are large and elegant. I had my own beautiful room and private bath. I know people with apartments smaller than that. So, staying in Guadalupe's house was like staying in an elegant B&B — with the added benefit of feeling part of a family (and being able to eat whenever I wanted). We spent the entire weekend speaking only Spanish. At times, my Spanish was comical, but I can't believe how much I improved, and how relaxed I was the entire time.

YOUR SPANISH FRIEND(s).

You may remember the photo I shared of Guadalupe and her friends. They are all gracious, fascinating, classy, relaxed, warm, kind, funny, knowledgable. I could go on an on. I fell in love. I told San Geraldo even he (yes, even he) would have had a great time.

This is not a shameless plug since it's not about me. Check them out at www.YourSpanishFriend.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/YourSpanishFriend. (You may recognize some of the photos. I sent all of mine to Guadalupe.)

AND JUST THINK, AFTER YOUR TIME IN MADRID,
YOU CAN VISIT THE COSTA DEL SOL AND WAKE UP TO THIS.

CLICK THE IMAGES TO FILL THE SCREEN WITH SUNRISE (AND FRIENDS).

Koopy
During your next trip to Spain I know you'll be asked about Koopy the monkey (he comes up all the time, as you can imagine): When asked, all you need to say is:"Koopy es un buen mono," because Koopy is a good monkey.