Spanish

We covered a past tense yesterday in Spanish class, which I had already studied, so I got to feel like a star for a few minutes since I both knew how to form the tense and knew all the irregular participles.  I know some day the rest of the class will catch up with my current Spanish grammar knowledge, so I'm trying to study as much as I can now. 

I really need a good way to learn more Spanish vocabulary as quickly as possible.  Grammar is (and has always been) the easiest part for me, but I feel like I don't know the words to say what I want to say.  I had a great vocab book at home that was organized in a way that made sense to me and had nice drills to practice.  Unfortunately, it weighed about 50 pounds and was huge, so it didn't make the suitcase cut.  I'm sure more vocabulary will come with more practice, but it's a hard thing for me to pick up on my own.

In other news, I managed to do laundry yesterday and use my new drying rack, which is pretty much the best thing ever.  My Still Need to Buy list is shrinking - I need towels and a couple more things for my kitchen (some sort of bowl to mix things in, a trash can with a lid), and a few baskets/storage containers for my entertainment center, which now has stacks of junk on it, and my bathroom, where most of my stuff is under the sink.  I'm trying not to think about what to do with all this stuff when I move back to the US.  I've suggested we start a box (room) at work with stuff for new people moving in.  I'll probably have to move once before I leave here, and I'll take a lot of the stuff with me for that move, but probably won't take it all back to the US. 

I've been here for four (4!) weeks today.  I can't believe it and am not sure what I think about it yet ... more on that later, I'm sure.