fingers crossed

We may have made a HUGE amount of progress within the Spanish instruction search:

As we've been checking out all of the various eateries near our apartments, we've come across some cool people. Generally, folks in Monterrey have been extremely warm and hospitable...to the point that they'll try to speak in English to accommodate us. We met one such individual, Ruben, at Lolo's Tortas a few nights ago. He figured out that we weren't from around here, and started to speak (very good) English to us. Rob took the opportunity to ask if he knew of any spanish courses around us...at all other ventures so far, the answer would have been no.

With Ruben, we were pleasantly surprised when he mentioned that he knows a woman who teaches at the undergrad University (I can't take a course there without enrolling, and we won't be here for the length of the semester), and would be happy to check with her to see if she'd be interested in outside work. He suggested we come back in a day or so to see what developed.

We went back tonight, and were in the place less than fifteen seconds before he provided me with his business card with contact info for the professor on the back! I was STOKED, to say the least. He mentioned that she'd asked what level we were at, which shows that he legitimately connected with her!

In the twelve minutes since this exchange, I've emailed the professor, and Rob and I are already brainstorming what sort of "thank you" gift we can get for Ruben...

My fingers, toes, and eyeballs are crossed right now.