[mono-android] How can you learn native Android faster than Monodroid?

[Lee Whitney]

All of a sudden I had 4 days to come up with a proof of concept Android
app working on device.  Only problem is I had never touched Android
development.  In fact I had never even used an Android device before
(typical crazy developer assignment right?).  Oh and by the way, I've
never coded in Java.

So I figure my best shot was Monodroid since I have a C#/.NET background.

I spent a full day with M4A, and gave up due to roadblocks.  Spent the
next day from scratch with only the Android SDK, and actually have all the
basics of my app working on device.

What's wrong with this picture?  If the problem is I'm not smart enough
then shouldn't the native option have been harder?

Lee