Aura - our professor

AURA - Nuestra profesora excelente

After Pat and Wally invited me to tag along to Nicaragua with them, they told me the first week we'd be joined by a Spanish language teacher for an "immersion" program. If I joined them, I would room with her. I had mixed feelings. While wanting to learn some Spanish,  I was somewhat concerned about being "left in the dust" by my sister and brother-in-law who had been taking Spanish regularly. I had taken Spanish in high school 30 + years ago, and one semester in college, but that only takes you a bit beyond "Hola," "Como esta usted?" and "Donde esta los banos?" In addition, some acquaintances who had recently traveled to Nicaragua and loved it were a bit aghast. "Why would you want to stay in a hotel trying to learn Spanish when you should be out seeing Nicaragua?!" they exclaimed. After clarifying with my brother-in-law, I felt reassured. His plan was that this señorita would go on excursions with us and basically become a part of our family group, and we would not be shored up in some classroom.
I am not sure I thanked Wally adequately afterward for this brilliant idea, as our young profesora's presence turned out to make the trip very special. Aura was a gem! Patient, funny, and a great teacher.  She may have been taken aback by us at first, but she handled our craziness and our blunders very well.  

Pat, me, Aura at Caterina with Laguna de Apoyo in background. (We'd hiked around a volcano earlier, so Aura was dressed in something other than the skirt and blouse she always wore when teaching us.)