Conversational Spanish

Since my arrival here in El Salvador, I have found myself talking about a lot of different things that I never really thought about discussing in Spanish. For example, during my second week here, I attempted to describe Dungeons and Dragons to Michell. I have also discussed the research that lauds the cerebral benefits of learning multiple languages, although I have no idea how to say "dendrites" in Spanish, so I just said the word in English and described them as best I could. Through various other conversations, I have learned the words to discuss minimum wage salaries, mortgages, bank loans, and renting houses.
I have even learned a lot of medical terminology, thanks to the doctor with whom I live. His cousin is dying of cancer, and so the poor boy has been the topic of many a dinner conversation. Additionally, I've had my own share of illnesses that I've had to learn to talk about. I learned the words for flu, stuffy nose, mucous, bleeding, intestines, and more. We've even discussed abortions and rape and social justice, which were slightly difficult conversations for my comprehension, though Renat patiently explained the words I didn't know.

I just realized yesterday how far my language skills seem to have come! I mean, in the U.S., my Spanish has been limited more or less to the classroom, where we discuss mostly just history, current events, and literature. I haven't learned a lot of "every day" type words, and so I have learned a lot of conversational Spanish while here.