Spanish!

So I have decided to paint a little picture for you. I am sitting on the middle of my bed and I have surrounded myself with tools for learning Spanish. This is how I have past my last few hours of free time. Me, in the middle of the bed, with a notebook on one side and a pen ready to write all I am learning. I have a Spanish to English dictionary open and it is being used vigorously. I also have an idiots guide to Spanish open and I read it from time to time. Different stacks of flash cards are lying around - they vary from verbs, vocab, questions. All the while my computer is humming Spanish music softly in the back ground. This is how I am learning Spanish when I have a few hours to myself. So far, it is going better than expected. Advice... know the language before you decide to move someplace new. I think it would have helped me. Well, that is a glimpse into today.

As for this week it has been great - we started an English conversation class and people actually showed up and they enjoyed it. We just did introductions but I think it is going to be great for all of us. It never occurred to me that teaching an ESL class would help me learn Spanish.

On Saturday I got to work with Peru's Awana program.  For those of you who may not know what the Awana program is, it is a way to develop spiritual growth in kids through the use of games and memorizing the scriptures.  After I was introduced I was left alone to help the Peruvians run the class. I was taught how to play one of the games but on the first round I forgot to do one of the  steps.  They decided to let me watch one round and then I did the second one with them. After a rough start I would say that I did pretty good in the end. It was a lot of fun running around with the youth. This made me excited for next week when I will begin to work with the after school program.

At night I have been reading books set in Jane Austin's time - the 1800's. As I am reading I kind of feel like some of the characters. If you have ever read Austin or an author from that genre you know one thing that people used to do that we no longer do. They would travel to relatives or friends houses for weeks or months at a time. I was always shocked by that, it felt like an intrusion to have whole families living with you all of a sudden.  I just finished a book of that nature and all of a sudden it hit me. That is what I am doing! Don't get me wrong, I love it here in my Tacna home with my new family. I feel welcome and it is a blessing. I don't believe that they find me an intrusion. But, that changed my idea of this custom from Austin's books.  Instead of thinking of this as an intrusion I'm beginning to think of it as a fun idea. Who wouldn't want the people they love to hang out with them for several weeks if that was the only time of the year that you were able to see each other? I know I would like to have them with me for long periods of time. So I guess Austin had something going when her characters traveled to other places.

Okay, so to sum up the week I am still on an up hill trek to learn Spanish. The English class is going good. I will start working with the children's after school program next week. Awanas was scary at first but turned out to be really fun. Lastly, living with friends for long periods of time is good for the soul.