Reading. In Spanish.

So with the whole Spanish [i.e. Latin American & Iberian Studies] major, I've been doing the Spanish literature class thing for quite some time. That got hyped into full-gear when I landed in Barcelona, and by the time I was a few months into the program, on my way to grab a flight to London, I got cocky and purchased the Barcelona born-and-raised La Sombra Del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Now this was no ordinary Spanish lit work of fiction or play that I was required to read for a class. I had gotten myself into full-blown, 550+ pages, best-selling contemporary Spanish fiction.

http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/

I sat down in my seat on the plane feeling pretty good about myself as I cracked the book and glanced around to see whether anyone had noticed the blond-haired, blue-eyed chica reading The Shadow of the Wind en español. But after spending about a month reading the book in Barcelona and pretty much this entire summer finishing it up, I was past the point of caring whether others cared that I was reading in Spanish.

As I was coming down the home stretch (i.e. last 100 pages) I was just desperately trying to finish the damn book. I became dejected, whiny, easily distracted, and just generally uninterested in the book. But then as I hit the last 50 pages or so, I got a second wind in realizing that my Spanish had actually improved.  Five hundred pages later, I realized that I had actually learned a variety of new words and that I was reading at a faster pace. Not to mention that the book was finally starting to tie up all of the mysterious loose ends that were having me second-guessing whether the book was really that confusing or whether I really can't read Spanish good.

Turns out, I can read Spanish good, and I'll be the first one to give myself a pat on the back for it.

Next up, the sequel, El Juego Del Ángel.