When I left the Army in October, 2019 I sold all of my belongings and moved to Cartagena, Colombia to study spanish. After checking out several different schools in the area, I enrolled in Nueva Lengua at level A2 (beginner).

I started my days with a lovely workout, first at Smartfit el Castillo and then at Bodytech in Bocagrande. The school started at 9:00 am and ended at 1:00 pm, and left my afternoon free to go out for lunch with a big group of other students or enjoy cooking or dancing classes at the school, which I particularly enjoyed.

I'm not going to pretend like learning a language is easy. It takes a lot of work, and you can find yourself in uncomfortable situations trying to communicate during simple, routine errands. It can be tiring, and I took a 3 week break during my studies to relax, which I completely recommend for long term students.

However, over time my Spanish began improving and I started going on dates with women who only spoke Spanish. It was exciting to be able to hold my own in a conversation and I loved the opportunity to apply everything I was learning.

After several months of study, I achieved a fairly high level of Spanish. I met a woman I've been dating for a year and a half and started a medical tourism business called Apollo Medical Travel.

Since graduating from Nueva Lengua. I have been able to expand my business to Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia and help people get medical treatment abroad. It has been fulfilling work, and everything has been unlocked through the excellent professors and staff at Nueva Lengua.

This article was originally written in English