Feeling stupid

I'm getting tired of feeling stupid.  I spend 3 hours in Spanish class, cram as much Spanish as I can into my head, then am not able to carry on an ordinary conversation.... ugh.  I know I'm here to learn, but yuck.  I've decided that the difference between coming to Latin America with a missions team and coming to learn Spanish is that with the latter you feel stupid all the time....

OK, it's not all frustration, just sometimes..... Went out for ice cream with the Webb family a few days ago, and David had just returned from a trip to SE Costa Rica, where there is an indigenous people numbering 23,000.  When the road ended, they had to walk for an hour and a half to get to the village they were seeking, fording 2 rivers on the way.  The group they met with had been started by some other denomination several years ago, but has had no contact with them for awhile.  David and the others served communion to them for the first time, and performed weddings -- very cool stuff!

Sunday I went to a church nearby with a retired missionary (Allan Wilson) -- he had started the church 37 years ago and they had asked him to come for their anniversary.  It was very special - an 85 year old lady was also celebrating her birthday, and her family was the first one to attend that church -- she was so moved to see Rev. Wilson, was wonderful to listen to their reminiscing, and during the service they showed pictures from years ago.......

Anyhow, I guess humility and perseverance are the English words for the day.....

Missionary moment

Had a 'missionary moment' today.  I've been looking for a way to gather my curtains during the day so that breeze can come through the window, but the string I had planned to bring got left behind.  I've been using twist ties -- don't work that great, and look ugly (feo).  I put on a skirt today that I had bought just before I left -- clearance rack at Walmart!  It had those little ribbon loops on so that you can hang it on a regular hanger -- I always cut them off, so I did, and eureka, they make great tiebacks for my curtains!!

It's all good.  :-)

Week One

Week one is over - on one hand, it feels like I've been here 2 months, and the other hand, like I just got here.  Language study is going OK.  It's wonderful to be able to focus on it, with not a lot else I need to do, but my brain so often feels stretched beyond its limits. And, of course, I just want to improve faster than I am!!
Pretty settled in to mi apartamento and with my companera de cuarto, Esther.  We try to speak only in Spanish, but she speaks very fast, with a Mexican accent... hmmm.. we're still using a lot of hand signals.....
Went to the grocery store by myself on Fri, and was very proud ! 
I've discovered since I got here that my guidebook was mistaken -- the rainy season does NOT end by late Oct!  It's hard to believe how much it rains, yet everyone tells me they are concerned because they have not had as much rain as usual, and they are concerned about the water supply...guess I'm not going to have to worry about getting a sunburn...

 

Estoy aqui!

Arrived yesterday afternoon.  Flights were long and late, but not bad.  Had to get up at 3:30 am, though, and got lost on the way to the airport, in downtown Nashville.... Shelley, David, and Kayla Webb met me at the airport, and I got to visit a grocery store before they brought me to the apt.  It's one that's owned by WalMart.... lots of variety, has both food and health/beauty items and a pharmacy.  Prices actually seemed similiar to the states, so it's clear that many people can't afford a lot of the products I was seeing.  I can use American dollars (they look at them very carefully, and they have to be nice and crisp and new looking), and then receive change in colones.   So now I am officially bi-financial, though not bi-lingual yet....
Today I had some orientation in the am, met a lot of the staff at the MAC Regional Office, the South Area Office, and the Seminary, (all housed here on a 15 acre campus), went to the grocery store, and had my first Spanish lesson!  Esta bien!
Weather here is in the 70's but very humid, so feels warmer.  Pretty cloudy -- we are at the end of the rainy season -- thunder and lightning a couple of times, and once it rained pretty hard for 20 minutes or so.  We are at an elevation of about 3,000 feet, and there are high mountains all around us, and it is quite breezy sometimes.  Of course, I'm still wishing for a nice ceiling fan....

Nashville

Well, finally flew out of Logan at 7:30 this am... can't believe how difficult it was to get packed -- I must have packed and repacked 6 times!!  Because I will be in an apt, I needed all my linens, including a blanket, and then some kitchen stuff -- my suitcases were both over 50 pounds before I even packed any clothes!  So I kept shifting stuff around and taking stuff out, and when I finally got to the airport they said they were both 1 pound over -- but they didn't give me any hassle about it....
Am at Trevecca Nazarene University today and tomorrow participating in Cross Cultural Orientation.  I love listening to why people are here -- but I'm having trouble staying awake!  Going to bed early tonight, so hopefully that won't be a problem tomorrow.  Staying with my good friends Heather and Brad Daugherty and their little girl -- spent most of the evening reading books.....
My new apt mate sent me a video of the apt -- it seems very cute, and I am getting very excited about being there...leave Nashville at 6:30 am on Sunday, and get there about noon time.
I sent out an em update Wed, and heard back from so many people before I left -- was very cool, and I've felt really strengthened by all the people who prayed with me before I left.
On the plane today, I suddenly felt very rootless and panicky -- like, what in the world am I doing? Hold me up, Lord....

Getting ready

I finished my job at ENC this week, very bittersweet...so many details to take care of before I leave, and every once in awhile this panic hits me -- what in the world am I doing?!  What am I thinking?  and then I'm paralyzed for a bit... until I remember who God is and what he has already done in and through me... and, then I move on.... there really is an advantage to being on the other side of 50 -- there are so many evidences of God's love, grace and leading to look back to.... and they give me energy and faith for what's ahead....
buying, packing... do I need to take this with me?..... learning new technology - blogging, skype, webcam, camcorder.... what do I need to do before I go - mow the lawn, pay bills, spend time with family, remember to tell David this or that.....
can I really do this?  this isn't just for a week, it's for 2 months - surrounded by Spanish, studying grammar -- will I have a constant headache?!  no English-speaking husband or roomies to talk to at night.....
how will things go at home when I'm gone? homesickness... missing the grandchildren....
and then what will this partnership stuff look like when I return? 
guess I need to focus.....