Spanish class

Rose stared at the little community center flyer. It was bright yellow, so it'd caught her eye. The flyer was for Spanish classes at the community center. Rose had been volunteering there since she'd retired a year ago, but hadn't actually thought about taking a class before. Sure she had helped with set up and take down of classes, had arranged supplies, and had even cleaned up after some. But there hadn't been any classes that had caught her eye.

But this Spanish class really appealed to her. A few weeks ago Rose had decided to finally cross an item off of her bucket list: visit Machu Picchu. The planned trip also took her through Ecuador and Colombia, because Rose didn't see the point of going all the way to another continent without seeing more than one country. Of course, Rose would also be spending time in Peru outside of Machu Picchu. Now, while she had booked a tour guide for a good part of it, Rose was feeling nervous that she didn't know a bit of Spanish.

Well, no more Spanish than being able to say hello and goodbye at least. It's not that Rose thought the class would make her fluent, but Rose thought she could probably learn the pleasantries as well as how to ask basic questions like "Where is the bathroom?" or "How do I get to the bus?" or "How much does this cost?"

So, that evening Rose sent an email to the address listed on the flyer. Rose had taken one of the little tabs off of the flyer just in case the photo on her phone didn't save properly. She was happy to receive a prompt reply saying she was one of the first to sign up.

When the first day finally came, Rose was a bit giddy. She had bought herself new school supplies and had even taken a first day of school selfie (her niece had told her it was a thing to do). She happily walked into the community center and waved to her fellow volunteers as she went to the classroom.

She was the first one there, but soon the instructor showed up. He was also an older gentleman and smiled kindly at her. But as the clock ticked to start time, Rose was a bit sad to see that only one other student had showed up. The other student was a bit younger than her, but not by much. She smiled brightly at Rose and took out her notebook too.

The instructor, Davíd, kindly greeted them both and they all chatted about what they hoped to get out of the class. The instructor shared that it was his first time teaching, but he was glad to have people sign up. The other student, Irene, said that she'd learned some Spanish long ago, but wanted to try and remember it. Rose was a bit sheepish to share that she had never really learned another language, but she wanted to be able to converse on her upcoming trip. Davíd, luckily, was equally excited about both of their reasons for being there.

As the weeks went on, Irene was clearly excelling over Rose, but Rose kept trying. Irene, probably because she'd done Spanish before, had a much easier time pronouncing Spanish than Rose. Rose wanted to be better at it, but it just didn't come naturally to her. She spent time watching YouTube videos and speaking at home, but she still knew she wasn't as good as Irene.

When her trip finally came up, Rose was a bit nervous. She didn't want to embarrass herself or say anything offensive to anyone. When she landed, she saw that she had a text from Davíd that read:
Buena suerte, Rosa. Lo haras bien.

Rose smiled to herself. She had understood every word.

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)