spanish immersion

in Antigua, there is a large population of expats and tourists so you’d think that the locals in the main expats shops and restaurants would have english but they don’t. it is my experience so far that they either don’t have or don’t want to use english.  even in the heavily touristed areas of Antigua the menus are in spanish.  my spanish is good enough to get me around but not to negotiate a contract or debate politics.  there's another strange thing - even though i respond 'yo no comprendo' every time people keep speaking to me very quickly.  so i've found myself a teacher.  it is strange to pay some to talk to me in Spanish, however, I find that when it is my money i do a much better job of engaging than in my high school spanish class.  my teacher figured out pretty quick that I wasn’t going to conjugate every verb and what I need is street Spanish.  wish me luck.