Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 10:25AM Last monday I started group Spanish classes at the Buenos Aires Spanish Center (BASP) near Congreso and that is why I've been MIA for the past week. BASP is a 2-week intensive program and classes are from 9:30am to 1:30pm (with a short break in between). The first 2 hours are spent on grammar and vocab while the second half of class focuses on conversational practice (and dirty jokes). The team of professors are ton of fun and very helpful. The only real problem with the class is that I have to get up at 8am after working at the bar until 4 or 5am. But it's okay, we setup a system: No one is allowed to talk to me for the first half hour of class (including the profesora) until I get my groove back.
While the building is a little creepy and has no sign out front, the office itself is real "cute". They have multiple floors of small classrooms that fit about 6 to 7 people around one table. It is a nice change of pace from my private spanish classes. Being around other people allows me to speak, listen and laugh when others make mistakes. At the moment there are a ton of Brazilians taking the course, so I get to pick up a little portuguese in the process (todo bon, todo legal).