Calle del Raspón

This is one of the streets in Guanajuato.  While the street is slightly skinnier than most, it isn't that much different than many of the roads here.  The street is called "The street of Scrapes."  You probably can't see it in the video, but many of the houses have scratch marks all down the sides from cars that couldn't quite fit.  Driving here is always an adventure.

My Spanish has progressed....

For one of my classes, we had to write a report over a famous person from the country we are going to.  For another class, we had to record a video of ourselves reading something.  It could be anything we want since the main purpose was to read the video smoothly and with appropriate enunciation and not "como un roboto"  (like a robot).  So I decided to do a video of me reading my report and share it with you guys.  I am aware there are several mistakes in the video, but figured it would be a good way to show my progress to those of you who keep asking for proof I am learning.... in other words,

This video is for you, Sandy; because we all know it is all about you.

Pride cometh before a fall…..eth.

“I’M DOING AWESOME AT SPANISH!”

Oh no.... wait:

“I’VE LEARNED NOTHING THE ENTIRE TIME I’VE BEEN HERE!”

Those two statements are the extremes and not really my thoughts, but I do bounce between one side and the other of that spectrum of thinking.

I will have a day or moment when I feel like I have just nailed the conversation.  We will be in class and I will know a word my classmates don’t, remember the conjugation for a word when others can’t or without help, or just understand the directions the teacher gave and feel pretty good about my progress in Spanish.  There are times when I will talk to the teachers or someone on the street or at church and the Spanish flies out of their mouth quicker than an F-15 taking off.  I don’t miss a beat but understand most of what they say and I am able to adequately respond and have an actual conversation (albeit a short one).  I walk away with a smile on my face and a dance in my heart.

Then it happens.  I see someone else I know and they come up to me and start talking to me:

“Hola.  ¿Cómo está?”  In that moment the only thing I can do is look at him and say,

“I don’t speak any Spanish.  What did you say?”   I walk away not with a smile on my face but with teeth gritted in frustration- and not with a little man dancing for joy in my heart, but that same man lying on the floor screaming in pain as he just broke his ankle trying to dance.

Just a few days ago in class we were talking and the teacher asked when I study.  I knew enough Spanish to joke and tell her, “Oh I don’t study because I have already learned all there is to know about the Spanish language.”  I think she knew it was a joke- she laughed and then said something I couldn’t understand as it was in Spanish.

Obviously I have moved on past “hello, how are you?”  But, God does a good job of recognizing when I am getting a bit too confident and cuts me back down to size.  I have never gotten so frustrated I felt like crying, nor excessively prideful in my linguistic abilities, but either one could happen at times.  Fortunately, the pride does come before the fall so anytime I am getting too confident, God helps me to remember I know approximately 2.8% of what I need to know and will be a lifelong student of this language.  In the same way, when I get to the point of being frustrated and prefer to stop talking or listening, He helps me to have a moment of success to show me just how much I have progressed.  He is definitely a good God that gives us exactly what we need- whether we think it is a “good” thing or a “bad” thing that has happened- God gives it to us so it is good for us. 

Meet the Teacher, Part 2

We now have the video for another teacher, Karen.  She is the academic director of our school.  Take a look a the video.  Also, when she says she sometimes speaks a few other languages; take my word for it that she is being quite modest.

Perspective changes things...

After what feels like 4 months of being out of classes- we finally have resumed school to begin my second trimester of Spanish.  It is amazing what perspective does for you.  I have always done well in school, even if I didn’t enjoy it.  Once I got older I was always very ready for school to start back up to resume the social aspect of school, and I’d put up with the classes in the process.  My schooling now is totally different.  Most of my friends live very close to us, so I was able to have the social aspect the entire time we were on break, so I was not looking forward to school resuming for that reason.  Now, I have been anxious for school to start back up for the classes.  Having the knowledge that this part of my education will directly and strongly impact my future life as I settle into the community in Mexico as well as my effectiveness for God changed my whole outlook.  I no longer desired school for the friends I’d see, but for the information I would learn.  So, this short post is for one reason,  to say:

I’M SO GLAD TO BE BACK IN CLASS!

And then there were two!

That’s right.  One trimester of language school at CINCEL is officially over.  I am now 1/3 of the way to knowing all there is to know about the Spanish language (if you believe that- there is a deposed Nigerian prince in need of your financial assistance).  I am off to a pretty decent start though.  The language school is meant to give the missionaries a solid start to their lives in Latin America so they can do ministry and continue to develop their language skills in the country of God’s choosing.  I definitely think it is doing that.  I am able to understand what someone is talking about roughly ½ of the time so I am excited about that.  Of course, more often than not their comments are of a simple variety:  

“What would you like to drink/ eat?”

“How are you doing today?”

“That will be 6500 colones.” (The Costa Rican currency is around 500:1 with the US dollar, so 6500 would be roughly $13.00)

“Did you see that guy just now, he was REALLY tall?”  (This is said more about me than to me, but I still count it.)

The point being, if they want to talk about politics or anything more than the daily norm, I am lost.  But considering where I was, I feel like I am coming along well and anticipate the more complicated stuff to come in the next two trimesters I am here.  

It is a bitter sweet time though.  On the one hand, I am very excited we have finished 1/3 of the stay here, that I am learning the language and we are that much closer to Mexico.  I am also excited that several friends who just graduated are now either in the states making final preparations to move or already doing the work in the country God has called them to.  But, that same excitement brings some sorrow as we had to say goodbye to thirteen different people that I was just barely starting to get to know.  The amazing people I have become privileged to call friends are now scattered throughout North and South America with a great chance that I won’t ever get to see some of them again.  While there are a few minor negatives about being in Costa Rica instead of Mexico to learn the language, I am forever grateful for the fact that I am able to build this network of friends and colleagues while here. Several of our friends are still here, and several more will show up in January.  Many of them will leave in April with more coming in May.  It is a world of hello’s and goodbye’s while at CINCEL, but one I am thankful God brought me to.

Meet the Teacher, Part 1

Over the next few months, we are going to try to interview each of our four teachers so you can get to know the lovely women who are teaching us Spanish.  This is the first of the interviews.