DAY 7 Wednesday May 20:

Beth…

We started today off well after a restful night in beautiful Santa Rosa. School, as I mentioned, is at 7:30, so we had to high tail it out of there to be on time. We finished up our last exercises with the questions words, which actually take a while because we go around to each pair of students and make sure they are pronouncing the question and answer correctly. I wanted to make note of the students who were really trying, so I took out a piece of paper to mark down the standouts on the half of the classroom that I cover. Boy did that have an effect! All of the kids started looking at each other and trying to see what I was writing down, but I folded it, mainly to make them sweat it out a little. Wha ha ha ha. All of a sudden, the students who weren’t so interested in trying made a pretty strong effort to improve did. I would like to give myself a little pat on the back for that clever teaching tool. Muy bien yo.

We had lunch with a very kind lady named Anamarcia, who went on and on about how it was a pleasure to have Julie’s daughter and her friend over for breakfast. She made us tortillas, and beans with a side of sour cream. We also had some kind of milk or fruit juice (it was hard to tell) that was very sweet with a hint of nutmeg. I loved it, but it was too sweet for Kate. She had the most adorable puppies that chased her chickens around. It was pretty funny.

For the afternoon class, we decided to start covering basic vocabulary because we already taught them how to ask all the general questions they would need. Only three students came today, but it ended up being quite entertaining anyways because it was more personal and we were able to play some games that just take too long with a large group. We would say something in Spanish and ask them to translate it into English, and they would tease each other while they tried. Good times good times.

We ate lunch with Anamarcia, who was again as nice as she could be. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about her chickens. Let’s just say they are a little on the wild side. While we were eating, one particularly aggressive one was scoping us out, deciding how to go in for our food. I could see the look in its eyes that whole four feet away, and I knew what it wanted. That chicken thinks it’s gonna get some food, that’s funny. For most of you that know me, you know it’s a difficult thing for me to share a bite of sandwich to a hungry friend, much less a butt-ugly chicken. Puh-leeze. Anyway, it came around closer and closer, and with a giant leap jumped onto our table. Being the stunningly brave people we are, Kate and I screamed in unison like little girls. Wow. We quickly shooed the chicken away, but the shame of having been scared of what normally is our food remained.

After class we managed to sleep, yet once again, in our most wonderful hammocks. I can’t decide if those are a blessing or a curse because, even if you aren’t tired at all, as soon as you sit in one, its pretty much guaranteed that you will fall asleep. No joke, it has been tested and proven. Unfortunately, I caught a little something and was rather sick for most of the day, but being able to take a nap was very helpful.

After the nap, we prepared rather quickly for our bible study. We decided to talk about God’s love and just how profound it is, as well as how his commandments for us are not just a list of rules or restrictions as they might seem to be, but rather a way of living that sets us free and gives us the strength to have a more fulfilling life. Now try saying that in Spanish, I dare you. No really, go ahead, because I probably could have used the information to sound a little smoother than I did. Not to worry though, it ended up going well anyway.

Once we got there, we first sang several songs and read a few verses. I was a little nervous that I would have to leave because I was feeling ill, but by the grace of God I felt quite well the entire time. After about 20 minutes, it was our turn to go for the gold. Needless to say, our Spanish was a little rough, because it is rather difficult to put across emotional messages rather than basic ideas. It began quite slowly and was a bit awkward, but after a little while I think we were able to get the message across. The people helped us with words we struggled with and couldn’t have been nicer. After our study, we decided to give our brief testimonies. For whatever reason, it was much easier for both of us to talk about our testimonies, or at least I felt like I was able to speak more smoothly. Gracias a Dios, we were able to finish without making fools of ourselves!!

We then decided to play a game that is something like “the great wind blows for” or “never have I” where everyone sits in chairs in a circle, except there is one chair too few, so one person is left over, and has to stand up. The person standing says something along the lines of “the great wind blows for people wearing sandals”, and everyone wearing sandals must get up and find another chair. The person left over has to share something about his or herself, and start another round. Take a wild guess at who was left over first. Bet you never would have guess it was me, would you? Oh yes, you betcha. A girl once known for being one of the fastest on the soccer team could not beat some 10 year-old children to a chair. Oh boy. So I shared some basic info like where I am from, how many sisters I have, etc. Almost immediately, I was asked if I had a boyfriend. When I answered yes, one of the older women said “see muchachos, she is already taken, too bad”. Slightly embarrassing, to say the least. But not quite as embarrassing as the fact that I proceeded to lose the next three rounds. Oy yoy yoy!!! I decided to just stop changing chairs even if I should have J Oopsies!! When Kate went to the front, they also asked if she had a boyfriend, and from then on out, everyone had to answer whether or not he or she had a girlfriend or boyfriend.  For those who did not have boyfriends, the boys would always say, “Do you want one?”  It was pretty hilarious. We played for quite a long time and finished the game with a particularly funny occurrence. The previous person said that everyone had to get up and find a chair on the other side of the room. In a rush, a young (pretty fat) boy and several women collided in one corner, and the boy ate it. Oh man it was awesome. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any funnier, a lady who still needed a chair leapt up to grab the one the boy missed. She went at it with such vigor that she proceeded to snap the chair in two. Oh man I haven’t laughed that hard in a long, long time. I couldn’t breathe for about 5 minutes afterwards. It’s things like this that make you so excited to get up every morning. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor J

Later that night, we had dinner at Anamarcia’s. She made us beans, rice and an egg, a particularly common meal here. We went to bed pretty quickly after that in Santa Rosa because the lights were out. Nice J.

Must say that was an awesome day.