Not Sure What's Happened to My Immune System

Hi Mom & Dad,

Still not feeling top notch but I'm not complaining. Bizarre, no? That I, the kid who never gets sick, have been sick at least four times in the past four weeks here. Right now I'm recovering from a cold that's been quite successful in draining me of energy. But between you and me, I enjoy having an excuse to lock myself in my room and read for hours on top of hours. Not that I need an excuse to read or anything. I have a book with me almost always. If I'm not reading in my room, I'm reading while I eat. If it's light out and the weather permits it, I'm reading at the park. My family here calls my leisurely reading "studying" and with the help of hand gestures, they show me that my brain is going to get "thiiiiis big" because I "study" so much haha.

Was with an English speaking friend yesterday but since Spanish is his first language, our conversations are always a healthy mix of los dos idiomas. He's not shy to correct me and I'm always asking a lot of grammar questions...so maybe that's why when I was sharing a long story (yes, in Spanish) without needing him to interject or stopping for assistance, his first response was a laugh before he added, "You're Spanish is way better than I thought." Cha ching! Don't worry, I gave myself a healthy pat on the back after that. It's funny though- how much slipping between languages my friends and I do here. Enough that I have a hard time believing that Spanglish isn't actually a real language. Even when I write to you guys or my friends back home I'm constantly deleting Spanish words I accidentally substituted for their English equivalent.

And it's stupid, actually, how much bad English I hear that it's began rubbing off on me. I don't have anyone here to correct me when I say things like, "I go to the store after" or "I see you there" and my favorite "Where do you take dinner tonight?"

Welp, it's a Wednesday night and I skipped going out to nurse my cold with mom's favorite- that's quickly making it's way to my sacred list of good reads- The Red Tent.

Love you guys,
Rach