The Spanish inquisition (nobody expects it)

Walked into the living room to grab my water bottle and found Jake hunched over his desk with what looked like homework. Which would be weird enough since he graduated years ago, but then I saw the Spanish pronunciation guides.

The Spanish inquisition (nobody expects it)

Apparently he’s been working through basic conversational Spanish for weeks, convinced that when I finally schedule those formal interview sessions with Abuela Rosa, he should be able to at least introduce himself properly. The man has been secretly drilling ‘Mucho gusto conocerla’ every morning before work.

The evidence speaks for itself

His notebook is filled with phonetic spellings in his careful handwriting, plus approximately seventeen attempts at writing ‘archivo familiar’ because he wants to understand what I’m working on when I talk about the heritage documentation project. The dedication is both touching and hilarious—especially since I caught him mid-pronunciation of ‘genealogía’ with the most serious concentration face I’ve ever seen.

Of course now I’m wondering what other secret support research he’s been doing. The man has a pattern, and I’m equal parts impressed and suspicious.