I´m going to write some of what I already wrote to my mom-
I´m having a good time but I´m bummed that I didn´t study Spanish more
the past few months- it would have really helped me get more out of this
trip. My vocab is so small. :( But the Ruanos are so patient with me, repeating and repeating and...repeating. I don´t have an ear for the language yet, that´s for sure. It helps to see it written down, so sometime I´ll have them write down a word that I´m trying to understand in a little notebook I carry around.
Yesterday morning was pretty uneventful, I tried to study some Spanish while the kids did their schoolwork. I have my 501 Spanish Verbs
book, and I am borrowing a English Spanish dictionary.
At night we went to a concert at this huge church, Fraternidad
Cristiana de Guatemala (it´s not the Ruano´s church). Jose didn´t have a ticket, and neither did I, so
we had to find someone who was selling some outside the church (it´s
like at baseball games, except the people are selling them for
outrageous prices). It took a long time, but we finally paid 350 Q for
one ticket ($50!). I don´t know how much the other ticket was, but it probably was even more. The concert is for three days, kind of like Awakening
Fest. It´s called Explo Music Fest. There are speakers and many different bands. This church makes McLean Bible look like a strip mall...it´s pretty crazy. The parking garage is five or six levels high.
Something I really like about Guatemala is that many of the buildings and houses are open air...the climate is so mild. To me, it´s chilly, so I´m glad that I packed jeans and sweatshirts. During the concert, you are inside, but there is still a breeze coming through because of parts of the church that are open. It´s really cool. I didn´t understand most of the concert- I heard so much Spanish I was sure I would dream in Spanish that night.
We didn´t get home till late and I was sooo tired. I figured out
that it was because my brain had probably been working extra hard
because I was trying to understand the Spanish being spoken and sung. Rossanita can explain things to me in English when I don´t understand, so I´ve
been getting by.
I have to say that Ruanos are awesome! They are so accepting of me and I really do feel at home. I am so blessed!
Please keep praying for my safety and that I would understand the language better all the time. ¡Gracias!
