Ending the week on a high note

[thelaughingmuse]

Today I renewed my temporary residency. I had two noticeable signs of my improving Spanish language comprehension during this:

1. I took a book to read while we waited for the process to ... well, proceed. (Bureaucracy is bureaucracy, no matter the country.) The book was El Marciano (The Martian, in Spanish.) In the 20-ish pages that I read, all monologue by Mark Watney, there were a lot of words that I figured out from context, and several more words that I didn't know. But the sentences that I did have a lock on, I "heard" in Matt Damon's voice. If Matt Damon knew Spanish.
2. As the final part of the renewal process, the clerk behind the counter asked me 6 questions (what was my religion, did I have kids, how many years of school did I complete, did I like living in Mexico, similar) and while I did need to ask how to say one of my answers in Spanish, I understood all the questions!

And my washer and dryer were hooked up yesterday, so today I can start doing my laundry!

I'm absurdly pleased about many things.