Solidaridad

Not long ago, two of my North American friends were talking about this word, solidaridad (solidarity), about how they didn’t hear the word much until they lived in Honduras.  At the time I couldn’t remember hearing that word, but since then I have heard it used several times.  And I’ve been thinking about what it means, and why it seems to be such an important concept in this culture.

The other night I went with my host mom to a prayer service at my neighbor’s house.  My neighbor, known best as Dona O, cleans at the elementary school and is one of the kindest and most down-to-earth people I’ve met here.  She’s around my parents’ age and she recently lost her mother and father within a couple weeks of each other.  Dona Juanita (my host mom) was on her way out the door when she asked if I wanted to come.  I went, even though I didn’t know what I was going to.  It turned out to be a group of women who filled Dona O’s living room.  I was the only one not wearing a skirt or head covering and not carrying a Bible, but that seemed to be ok because I was welcomed with open arms.  We first sang a few songs, then a couple women spoke for a while, and finally people took turns praying over Dona O (I just listened).  What I kept thinking about was how amazing it was that came together just for her, and clearly cared very deeply about her.  They cried together and laughed together.  They all gave her hugs and words of comfort.  It made me think about how the situation would have likely been different in the U.S.  Sure, good friends will go out of their way to comfort someone when they are suffering, but to me the big difference is that Dona O openly accepted it.  Surely this huge amount of support made her pain a little bit less.  In our American culture I feel like we are so private with our personal lives and with our feelings, and probably would not want to inconvenience people even if they did want to go out of their way to help us.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad, I just think it’s interesting.  These women also have such a deep love and trust for God, and they kept saying that even in the painful times we can’t turn away from Him, that He is ALWAYS good and will always help us through the pain.  I admire that. 

A couple of months ago my baby sister, Allison, was very close to death.  She was in the hospital for a month and spirits were very low in our house.  The doctor said he was going to try one last medication, and if that didn’t work there was no hope for her.  To make a long story short, it did work.  It felt like a miracle had happened.  People came from Marta’s church and packed into our living room for a service of thanksgiving to God.  It was really cool to experience.  Dona Juanita also told me that when she was sick with diabetes right before I came, a group came to her house every day for the week that she was sick to pray and be with the family.  I see other small examples of this kind of community almost every day.  It’s definitely not a private culture, which is one thing I am continually trying to adjust to.

It is so inspiring to me to see this kind of solidarity and hope and joy, especially in such an impoverished community.  Whenever I see this kind of thing, I have to think that I’m not at all surprised that people living in poverty can still have such joy.  They have joy because they truly love God and they love each other.  Isn’t there something about that in the Bible somewhere? :)  I am again reminded that wealth does not bring happiness.  It is solidaridad, loving and being with each other, is that brings happiness.  Maybe it’s easier to have that when you don’t have very much else.  

Ok, Christmas update:  I just found out that we will be spending Christmas with extended family in La Paz!  We (Dona Juanita, Paolo, Hector, and I) will leave on the bus around 5:30 tomorrow morning.  I’m excited about this because it’s the first time I have gone on any kind of outing with my family; I’m also a little nervous because I have been sick for the past few days, and am hoping that it’s finally passing.  I would appreciate your prayers for health and safety while we travel.   By the way, in Honduras Christmas is celebrated on the 24^th, when I have heard people celebrate into the wee hours of the morning with food and fireworks.  The 25^th is a day to rest/recover from the day before. 

Feliz Navidad a todos! 

Recargas

I think it’s safe to say that I have unofficially become a part of the family business—selling recargas.  Recarga means something like “re-charge”, and here it means putting more money on your cell phone.  There are 3 phone companies in Honduras—Tigo (which I have), Claro, and Digicel.   There are two possible ways of putting money on your phone: one is with a tarjeta (card), which gives you a code you can punch into your phone at any time to get more minutes.  The other is a recarga, where you give your phone number and give them money, and they somehow transfer that amount of money to your phone, giving you minutes.  Also, every phone has it’s “bono dia” (bonus day), where you get triple saldo for what you pay.  Saldo is the amound of money/minutes you have left on your phone.  For example, my bono day is Sunday, so I always try to get recargas on Sundays because I get more for my money.  So it’s super convenient that all I have to do is walk into the living room to add saldo to my phone, instead of finding a house or pulperia where it is sold.

Anyway, this is what happens about every 5 minutes at out house:  someone will come to the door (it’s more like a gate with bars, so people can see inside) and yell “Recarga!”  Then Marta or whoever is closest yells back, “ya voy!” (I’m coming).  She then asks “de cual?” (which do you have), they respond with Tigo/Claro/Digicel, she asks for and writes down their number and how much money they want to put on, they  slide the money through the door, she gives them change if necessary, and she uses her phone to transfer saldo to their phone.  Since this scenario happens every few minutes, I had the process figured out not long after becoming part of the family.  One time when Marta was nursing the baby and no one else was around, I offered to help with a recarga… since then, it’s become kind of expected that I will help out if I can.  I don’t mind, and it’s helped me get really good at Spanish numbers—writing down phone numbers is harder than you might think, especially when they are talking crazy fast. 

I know I haven’t uptdated my blog in quite awhile, so I’ll give a quick update on my life.  In mid-November I started vacation reading programs, as school is out from November until February.  I have two groups of kids; one group comes Mondays and Wednesdays, and the other comes Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It has been a struggle to get kids to come, especially for my older group on Tues. and Thurs, but numbers have slowly been increasing.  I now have about 6 kids in one group and 10 in the other, which I am happy with.  I spend a lot of time planning for these club meetings… I try to make it fun, but sneakily (sometimes not sneakily) we are learning about reading, math, social studies, or writing.  I also try to incorporate themes of respect, cooperation, teamwork, etc. because kids here don’t seem to learn these skills anywhere else.  Sometimes that is the hardest part of my job, but I think it’s important.  This has been a challenge as I am completely in charge of these programs, and I am not used to leading things in Spanish… I think it has helped me a lot, but it’s not easy.  I have also been working a lot on organization in the library… something I don’t think I’ll ever be done with.  With help from Kathy Troyer, another MCCer in Tegus, I have made a lot of progress on the teacher books and resources… I just hope the teachers will take advantage of them now.  At this point there are very few teachers who do, and I don’t really understand why. 

Last weekend I went with Mike, Christa (our awesome new SALTer from Bolivia!), and Megan to visit Charissa in Santa Rosa de Copan.  Last year Charissa worked and lived here in Nueva Suyapa; this year she has her own apartment and works in Santa Rosa.  I had a great time!  The town is small and safe and very tranquilo.  She took us to some awesome restaurants, we spontaneously went to a Christian rock concert on Saturday, and on Sunday we took a short trip to the aguas thermales (hot springs) in Gracias.  On Sunday night we went to her church, and ate chicken with her awesome youth group afterwards. It was nice to get away from Suyapa for a little while and experience another part of the country. 

Other than that, I’m just looking forward to spending Christmas Honduran style on the 24^th… I have no idea what to expect, but it is sure to be filled with lots of food and family time.  We assembled and decorated our Christmas tree a few days ago, which was a fun experience.  It reminded me a little of being home, except with more yelling and confusion and kids running around.  Oh, and there’s another thing I’m looking forward to—I finally get to see my wonderful boyfriend on the 27^th!  Yes, Sam has bought his plane tickets and is coming to visit me for a little over a week… I couldn’t be happier! 

For anyone who hasn’t given up on my blog, thanks for reading. J  I hope you are all doing well and listening to lots of Christmas music as you prepare for the holidays! 

Iglesia

Besides my home and work life, another area that has experienced a big change since coming to Honduras is my church life.  I grew up going to a fairly liberal Mennonite church in California.  I then moved with my family an hour away and attended the contemporary service of a Presbyterian church for another almost ten years.  While in college I attended church most Sundays, although I usually didn’t decide which one I would go to until the night before.  Now that I have been settled in Nueva Suyapa for 2 months, I definitely consider myself a “regular attender” of the church my host mom attends—La Sala Evangelica.  This church is different from any that I have ever attended before, mainly because it’s more conservative than any church I have been a part of before.  It is required for women to wear a head covering of some kind, and to wear a skirt that falls below the knees.  People that have not been baptized have to sit in a separate section on the side of the church, and cannot take communion (thank goodness I was baptized this past summer so I don’t have to sit by myself).  There are also other restrictions put on women that I find difficult to understand, like women can’t pray out loud and women can’t start a song (they can whisper a song to a man, who can then start the song).  On Sundays, we sing a lot of hymns, which I really like.  Most people have been singing these songs since they were born so they know them all by heart; if I’m lucky someone will have a hymn book for me to use.  Communion is taken every Sunday at my church.  During this time the bread (sweet bread!  It’s delicious) is passed around.  Once everyone has eaten a big bite of bread, the wine (yes, wine) is passed around in a big goblet.  At first all I could think of was how many germs were being spread around when everyone drinks out of the same cup, but thankfully the goblet-passer wipes the rim with a cloth at the end of each row.  I then do my best to understand what is being said during the 45 minute sermon.  I try not to zone out, but sometimes it’s so easy to get distracted by roosters crowing or kids yelling outside.  Sometimes vehicles honk their horns so loud and for so long that the pastor has to stop and wait awhile.  After church I am encouraged to go to a jovenes (youth) Sunday school thing for another hour.  I am usually exhausted after this, but I know it’s good to go.

Although I have a hard time understanding and accepting certain practices in the church and it is much different from what I am used to, there are a lot of things I like about it.  The speakers I have listened to seem to really want to make the world (first, this community) a better place.  They acknowledge problems and seek solutions.  I also really like the people and am starting to recognize more people each week.  A lot of the members also work at Genesis (the school where I work) so it’s a good way to build relationships there too. 

Oh, also there are church services of some kind every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  So I have plenty to choose from.  I usually just go Sundays, maybe another day during the week with my host mom, and Saturdays.  Saturdays are grupo de jovenes (youth group), and have become another normal part of my week… not always the most enjoyable (definitely not the most comfortable) part of my week, but always interesting.  I have learned to come at least 15 or 20 minutes late each time.  Otherwise, either no one will be there or people will be sitting around not really doing anything… I’m trying to avoid awkward situations like this and coming “late” seems to be perfect.  Am I right in thinking that in the States, youth group is usually for jr. high or high school students?   That’s what I always considered it to be, but here youth group is basically for anyone not married.  Our group generally has a few kids from the school (5^th grade), some high school students, a couple my age, and a few who are definitely older.  To illustrate the idea that there is no set age range, let’s look at last Saturday.  Shortly after the group started, a mom came with her tiny baby who was immediately passed around to every female.  About a half hour later, a woman who had to be at least 85 walked in with her cane and giant bible (it was really the biggest bible I have ever seen, which I thought was hilarious because Hondurans tend to have the tiniest bibles I have ever seen).  We then had an age range from a few months to possibly 90 at our youth group.  No one except me seemed to find this funny. 

Anyway, during youth group they always start by singing a ton of fast-paced songs, so again if someone doesn’t happen to have a song book I just sit there and try to figure out a few of the words.  Sometimes the songs involved standing up and sitting down randomly, or clapping, stomping, etc.  I probably look awesome during this time.  It never ceases to amaze me how many humbling experiences I can have every day.  We then listen to a guy speak for awhile, and I (being the only gringa), inevitably get picked on at some point during the speech.  Sometimes before going home we play an interactive game of some kind—for example, racing to find bible verses that relate to a Spanish song we know (I don’t know Spanish bible verses or Spanish songs, which is a problem).  These can be kind of fun sometimes, but it’s usually my least favorite part because I often have no idea what’s going on.  After the whole thing is over I try to chat with a couple people, and by this time it’s dark so I have to find someone to walk me home. 

I’m really thankful to be a part of a church that is so loving and welcoming, and one that stretches me.  I could have chosen to go to one that is closer to what I am used to, but what’s the fun in that?  I’m not sure that I could go to this church for the rest of my life, but for this year I think it’s perfect. 

Teguc Transportation

Something I have been working on lately is being more independent.   I like the idea of being able to get around by myself, and one way I can have the freedom to do that is to learn the public transportation system in Teguc.   I still have a lot to learn but I want to share some things that I have learned.  

There are basically four types of public transportation in this city.  The first is the bus.  These are old, yellow school buses sent here from the States.  For me, these are frustrating to ride because they’re extremely slow.  When they go up the slightest hill I’m pretty sure I could jog faster than it is going, and they often seem like they are about to break down.  I’ve been on several that have broken down.  They also have an unlimited capacity for passengers.  They squeeze as many people as possible, and then somehow they still fit more.  As a result, they are not the safest option.  It’s pretty easy to get robbed in this kind of situation.  For me it’s also too close for comfort at times.  The upside to taking a bus, and reason most people use them, is that it’s the cheapest type of transportation— only 3 lempiras (there are about 20 lmps in a US dollar). 

The second type, and my favorite, is the rapidito.  They were introduced to Suyapa only about a year ago, and I’m so glad they were.   I know I sound like an American, but they are so much faster and more efficient than buses and I love it.  They also have a limited number of passengers they’re allowed to hold, so when the seats are full they’re not supposed to pick up anyone else.  That means it’s also safer.  Because of all these luxuries, it’s 10 lmps but for me it’s usually worth it.  Luckily,  my house is right by the bus/rapidito terminal.  By “terminal”, I mean the place where the buses line up on the side of the road.  If I want a rapidito, I hop on the one closest to the front and they leave every 5 minutes.  If I want a bus I get on the one with its tires turned out toward the street the most, or the one that looks least likely to break down.   If I am in a different part of town and want to catch a bus or rapidito back home, I wait in a designated area which is not marked or obvious at all… you just have to memorize where they are and make sure to get on the right one.  Rapiditos all have certain routes, so depending where you go you also have to remember which rapidito to get on (same goes for buses). 

The third type of transportation is the colectivo taxi.  These are taxis stationed at different places around the city that have set routes.  They always will try to fill up the car before leaving.  It is also a set rate at 12 lmps.  I think colectivos are great, the tough thing is that you have to figure out where “yours” are (for me, the ones going to Nueva Suyapa) so that you don’t end up going to the wrong place.  Again, there is no way to figure this out except to ask people and then memorize. 

The last type is the taxis directo.  These are basically like taxis in the States, where you flag one down on the street and set a price with the driver before leaving.  These are a lot more expensive— depending where you’re going they can be around 100 lmps.  If you’re trying to get back to Nueva Suyapa at night, it’s probably more expensive because the colonia has a reputation for being so dangerous.  Sometimes drivers won’t even drive to Suyapa at night, and if they do they often won’t go past a certain point.  This is a problem because it’s not safe to walk around outside at night, so it’s important to get a driver who will take you right to your door.  Luckily, I have some phone numbers of drivers who are trustworthy and who I can call if I need to be picked up.  This hasn’t really been an issue for me yet though because I never really go out at night. 

Unfortunately, my independence is being limited because of the situation in Honduras, and specifically in Suyapa.  My host mom, Doña Juanita, has been more protective of me than usual lately because crime has been increasing.  I am frustrated with the violence in the colonia because it gives us even more of a reputation than we already had.  This is a topic for another time though. 

I’m still learning so much every day, and public transportation is just one of those things.  The school year is coming to a close (school ends this Friday, and starts back up in February), so I am busy planning for my vacation reading programs.  I’ll talk more about that when I have more answers.  I’m getting excited about it though! 

You may know that the Bolivian government is not extending the visas of MCC workers in Bolivia… that means that six SALTers are getting kicked out of the country within a couple weeks, after just getting settled with families and jobs.  I don’t know where all they will be going, but pray that the transition goes smoothly.  I can’t imagine that would be easy. 

Thanks to everyone for reading!

Trabajo

I am writing this in high spirits, mainly because outside my window Feliz Navidad is playing somewhere at full volume.  Christmas in October… I’m ok with that.

Well since the majority of my life here is spent working, I figured that I should talk a little bit about what I do here.  I work in a building called Genesis (pronounced “henesis”) with an organization called MCM, or Ministerios Christiana Mayordomia.  This translates to Stewardship of Christian Ministries, or SCM (this gets confusing when you consider that I am also here with the organization MCC, which in Spanish is CCM).  MCM has a few big projects like community gardens for single moms, a banking/loan problem to help people (mostly single moms) start small businesses, and day cares.  The biggest of their programs, though, is the elementary and high school called El Verbo.  The elementary school is preschool through 6^th grade, and the high school is a short walk up the hill.  This school is connected to the Sala Evangelica, where my family and I go to church.  Almost all of the Genesis staff attend this church as well, which is helpful for getting to know people in both places.  The school is Christ-centered, which means there are devotions Monday and Friday mornings, Bible classes, and LOTS of Bible songs.  .  It is a private school, but it is still very poor and just about all of the students are living in some degree of poverty. Although it has its problems, like all schools do, I have come to love this place and the people in it.  

As many of you know, I am working in the elementary school library… mostly.  Upon arriving here I learned that this would be my main responsibility, but I will most likely also be helping in some classrooms, working in the colegio (high school) library, and leading a teacher training later in the year.  The first few weeks that I was here, I spent almost all day every day observing in different classrooms in order to get to know the teachers, students, and the various methods of teaching/discipline.  I won’t lie—these first couple weeks were a shocker to say the least.  I had just finished my student teaching in May, where I had learned and practiced how to maintain a very organized, orderly classroom.  I’m struggling with how to put into words how different my experience was here.  Expectations for behavior seem to be very different here, as are procedures for discipline.  Basically what I’m saying is, there aren’t many… or sometimes any.  Of course, every teacher has different methods and expectations and I honestly felt like I learned from each one.  I don’t believe these differences are wrong, they are just different from what I was taught.  Here is a typical scenario of what one of these observations looked like:  I walk into a classroom, and explain to the teacher in my broken Spanish that I will be observing in their classroom.  I take a seat; 5 minutes later, the teacher leaves.  They might come back half way through the class period (which is 45 minutes long), or not.  Meanwhile, the kids go nuts.  They start yelling, running/jumping over things, fighting.  At first I was completely stressed out trying to calm the kids down and break up the fights.  After talking to my supervisor about this, I was told that I was not expected to actually do anything in these situations; the teacher probably just thought that since I was an adult sitting in the room, this would be a good opportunity to do other things.  Many times, even when the teacher is there, the kids are doing their own thing.  And many times, the teacher seems to be ok with it.  Although I struggled with this, I eventually stopped getting so overwhelmed when it happened.  I took the opportunity to get to know the kids and practice my Spanish.  I sometimes read books to small groups of kids.  It’s amazing how hungry for attention and love these kids are.  I feel like I get a million hugs a day, which I can’t complain about.  I also found some teaching methods that I really like here, some that I had never been taught in the U.S.   I actually wrote a report for the principal about some positive and negative teaching methods that I observed… if you’d like to read it please let me know I’ll be happy to send it to you.  It is in Spanish though.  :) 

 

Now that my orientation/observation period is over I am spending almost all day, every day, in the library.  I love it!  Yesterday I finally finished organizing all of the English books (there are over 600 of them… doesn’t that seem a little silly in a school where kids only speak Spanish?).  They are now color-coded by level and sorted by subject and alphabetized.  That feels like a huge accomplishment for me, and I just hope they get some use at some point.  Now I’m on to organizing the Spanish cuentos, and when I finish that I’ll work on the teacher resources and textbooks. I don’t have a lot of resources to work with, but I’m learning to be creative with what I do have.  Last month, I started an after-school reading program for 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders.  Every day I read with kids during their recess time, for about an hour and a half total.  November is the end of the school year, so lately I have been planning summer vacation reading programs for the kids.  I’m also hoping to start up an English club for some older kids.  Some of my other responsibilities this year will be to host each class in the library twice a week, visit and read to kids in the day cares, paint and decorate the library, create a simple card catalog system, create a check-out system for teachers (kids are not allowed to check out books), and work in the high school library.  

When I write it out, it sounds like a lot.  So far I am not overwhelmed (ok, sometimes I am)… mostly I am just excited.  I am gradually feeling a little bit more a part of the school, and I am (I hope!) making the library a more fun place to be.  Something I have been thinking about lately is that, in one year, I am not going to do much to improve students’ reading skills.  I probably will not make much of a direct impact on their lives at all.  So even though my title is “Reading program coordinator” I think there are other things that I need to focus on.  I want to emphasize respect and sharing in my classes.  I want them to know that the library can be a fun place and more importantly, a safe place to be.  And I want the library to be arranged in a way that makes sense and is easy to use, so that after I leave it can continue to be used by students and teachers.   Those are my goals.

One benefit of working here is that every night I bring home 3 or 4 books to read to my brothers, Paolo (6) and Hector (3).  They love this.  The second I walk in the door they attack me and ask, “Trajo mas libros?  Libros de dinosaurios?”  They are obsessed with dinosaurs. When I say yes, they scream and flail around uncontrollably.  Did I mention that they are the cutest little kids ever?   On a side note, last night I taught them how to do the Macarena.  It was maybe the funniest thing I have ever seen.  

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read these.  I love getting emails from you, and it’s nice to know that people are thinking of me.  I’m thinking of you too.  :)

Spanish

I haven’t written in a while, and I wanted to talk a little about one of the biggest parts of my life here—the language.  I’ve been in Honduras for almost 2 months, and in Nueva Suyapa for half of that time.  At this point I think it’s safe to say that this is the hardest thing I have ever done.  Spanish is a language that I have always loved and wanted to learn, and now it is the cause of most of my discomfort, frustration, fear, confusion, and random tears.  It also keeps me humble 100% of the time.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a language that I love and want to learn, I just never knew that getting there would be this tough.   When I step back and really look at things, I’m pretty sure that I am improving and understanding more than I did a couple months ago.  I’m probably also getting braver, in that I attempt to start conversations or join in conversations more than I used to.  And I’ve decided to not be so afraid of sounding dumb, because that is unavoidable.  Sometimes I feel like I am making no (or very very slow) progress, and that is frustrating for me.  

One of the hardest parts about being immersed in a Spanish-speaking culture is that I often feel like I have no personality in Spanish.  For one thing, I don’t understand when people make jokes, and I definitely can’t make jokes.  So I’m not a funny person in Spanish.  I smile and nod my head a lot, which I’m trying to stop doing when I don’t actually understand what’s going on because that has gotten me in trouble in the past (ask me about it if you want to know).  It’s hard for me to express pretty basic emotions such as joy, sadness, or excitement when I can only use facial expressions and my limited vocabulary.  I’m hoping that as the year goes along, my Spanish personality comes out a little more so that I can be a real person.  

I also really enjoy getting to know people and having more than surface-level conversations.  The only people I have been able to do this with have been my MCC team and volunteer coordinators, all of whom are gringos.  This has really limited my ability to get to know my family, which is hard because I want to.  As time goes on, I am trying to find ways of asking more personal questions in order to get closer to them, and I think they are becoming more comfortable with me as a result.  It’s just hard when, for example, I don’t understand why they are taking the baby to the doctor again… and even if I find the words to ask I often don’t understand the answer.  I didn’t expect to miss having conversations with people, but it has turned out to be one of the things I miss the most about being home.  

I may have mentioned this before, but I often have no idea what’s going on.  I’m getting used to this and it doesn’t make me as uncomfortable as it used to, but sometimes it is a little overwhelming.  For example, I have gone to the church’s youth group a couple of times.  For the record, youth group is different here than in the US—it’s pretty much for any unmarried person, so I am definitely not the oldest person there.  Anyway, it’s always a challenge in itself to follow the songs and the message, but the interactive game time afterwards is almost impossible.  I often find myself sitting alone since everyone else knows each other already, except when someone is bold enough to sit by the new gringa—which happens once in a while and I am so grateful for it!  These games usually involve two teams and often consist of racing to do something Bible-related.  Racing to do anything in Spanish is not my forte.  I like the energy of it though, and the people seem really nice so I will keep going and hopefully make some friends as a result.   

At work I use the language the most.  I am gradually being given less help with translating.  For example, at my weekly meeting with the school principal this week I will be expected to bring up all the things that need to be discussed with her (instead of my volunteer coordinator bringing up these subjects, and me chiming in once in awhile).  These meetings are usually the most overwhelming part of my work week.  Although they only last an hour or so, I am always so exhausted afterwards and usually uncertain about exactly what all was decided on.  I have also found that I am braver with trying to engage kids in conversation, rather than adults.  They are less intimidating to me, maybe because they are generally more patient and forgiving.  Kids don’t avoid talking to you when they find out you don’t speak Spanish very well, unlike many adults.  

It’s funny… in high school and college Spanish classes I always felt like it came pretty easily to me.  The material tended to be easier for me than many other students in the class, which was a confidence boost for sure.  That boost has gone out the window.   I also realize that those classes mainly focused on reading and writing in Spanish, and not so much on understanding or speaking the language… which seems to be the most practical part, especially if I am living a place like this.  I am thankful, though, to at least have a pretty solid base of grammar and vocabulary to build on.  I can’t imagine starting from scratch!   Last week I also started taking private Spanish lessons twice a week from a guy living in Nueva Suyapa.  He seems to be good at working on conversational Spanish, which I’m hoping will be good for me. 

Well there is my venting session for the week.  Thank you to anyone who read through all of it… I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m complaining too much, these are just things I think about on a daily basis.  On a more positive note, I know that this whole experience is good for me.  It is stretching me more than I have ever been stretched.  Hopefully someday I will look back on this and be thankful for the whole experience.  If I can handle this challenge, after this year I’m pretty sure I should be able to handle any other challenge I come across.   There is so much more I could talk about, but for now just know that I think of my family and friends at home often and I hope and pray that you are all doing well!