Only one more week until I start to work in the villages! I am excited to move into the second part of my time here very soon and finally put into practice the Spanish that I have been learning. Now, for an update from the week...
This week had its ups and downs. My classes felt very slow this week and I didn’t feel that I learned as much as I wanted to, which was definitely frustrating for me. Two of my teachers are focusing heavily on repeatedly practicing the same material and reviewing, while my hope is to learn as much material as possible now so that I can then practice it in the villages. So this week was a bit of a struggle because I often felt held back from reaching my full potential of learning in my classes. I plan to more clearly state my hopes for next week so that my teachers are on the same page, because there are still some important tenses that I want to learn next week and my time is dwindling.
Aside from this, however, the week has been great. I have especially enjoyed going to the church here, even though all the people talk really fast and I do not always understand what they are saying. I really enjoy the presence of others. Church on Sunday was very long. There was an hour of Christian Education, that was more or less a sermon or lecture, and then a two hour service. Tonight I went to La Sociedad de Jóvenes. It was someone’s birthday, so we celebrated that with tostadas (of course; tortillas of some sort are always necessary when having a celebration or eating here) and cake. Then we sang some songs and talked. Some of the young men can speak a tiny bit of English. I really enjoyed conversing with them.
There was La Fiesta de Corpus Christi on Thursday. I do not know much about this celebration, but my understanding is that it is a Catholic celebration of the Eucharist. In San Cristóbal, it is a tradition to have many regional desserts in the center of the city during this celebration. There were tables and tables of vendors selling cookies and other pastries (see picture below). It was very interesting.
This week I also went to a conversation club with Instituto Jovel, though I wouldn’t really call it a club because it was just me and the teacher. We talked for an hour in Spanish and it was great to have a more natural conversation. That was definitely a highlight of the week.
Additionally, I did a language exchange this week. I conversed with a student at Instituto Jovel who is learning English. Hence, we talked together in Spanish for the first half and English for the second half so that we could both practice the languages that we are learning. It is good to learn from the perspective of someone studying the opposite language. We hope to converse more in the future.
Other than that, the days have been fairly repetitive. Study, eat, sleep, and do a few things in between. I have been building up my endurance of running the steps at Guadalupe. It is a great workout. I have enjoyed conversing more with Ricardo and Mariana. I spend a little time each day reading and playing my ukulele. Ricardo and Mariana are very fascinated by the ukulele. It is my understanding that ukuleles are almost nonexistent here. My teacher even had to look it up to understand what I was talking about.
As you pray for people in Chiapas this week, please pray particularly for the brother-in-law of Ricardo. He severely cut his hand this week making tortillas; my understanding is that he severed five veins and a nerve. He had surgey, but I do not believe it was done well. The doctor had been working for three days and nights nonstop and wasn’t very cognizant. Not only was the operation extremely expensive, but it will be hard for him to work moving forward because now he can only use one arm. Hence, please pray for him and all others with medical needs in Chiapas.
Additionally, please pray that my final week in Spanish school before I start working will be fruitful. Pray for patience and perseverance for me, and also that I will be able to maximize my learning this week.
Furthermore, please pray for safe travels for Randy and the first group that is coming to work in Chiapas. I will post more details in future weeks about the work we will be doing. If you would like to learn more about Hebron USA in the meantime, visit hebronusa.org.
Until then, thank you for reading and feel free to say hello by commenting below!
El Buen Pastor, the church I attend here
A picture of the pastries from La Fiesta de Corpus Christi; photo from http://www.gacetamexicana.com/dulces-tradicionales-en-el-corpus-christi-de-sclc/
A favorite hymn at El Buen Pastor; The translation:
There are moments when the words do not reach me to say to you what I am feeling for you, good Jesus; I thank you for all that you have done, for all that you do, and for all that you will do
Comments
We're very excited for you and your adventure and love reading your blog.
The Zearleys
What a wonderful adventure you're having!
Miss and love you!