Monday, January 28
It was sad to walk into class and remember that Rysen would not be joining us. It is just Deidre and I, now (and... she is leaving in two weeks... tear tear... I might be back to being the only one in my class). During class today, we spent the morning reviewing commands
that we learned last week. It is
frustrating because we don’t use them everyday so we tend to forget how to use
them. There are so many verb
forms, and I feel like I am never going to remember them all or ever know how
to use them. I usually revert back
to the basics when I am in a conversation with someone. Eddie continues to remind me to give
myself a break… I have only been learning Spanish for 4 months now. I know… I just tend to drift back to that place of frustration. It is a weakness I am willing to
admit. My prayers are that I will
grow during this season of challenge after challenge.
We also spent time today trying to plan a beach trip with
the other students. It doesn’t
look like it will be happening this coming weekend as we had hoped, but we are
still working on it for some other weekend. How is it that we have lived in Costa Rica for 4 months and
not visited a beach yet?
We found our own “beach” today. Amanda and I traded a 5-hour
trip for a 5-step stroll, sand for grass, a view of the ocean
for a view of the mountains with horses
roaming on them and settled on soaking up some sun in our front yard. Not bad! Plus it was free.
After we laid out for about an hour, the clouds came and chilled us a
bit. We spent the rest of
the afternoon doing homework and studying. Eddie gave me a lesson on reflexive verbs, and I feel like I
understand them more now. The
problem is that learning to use them appropriately is difficult because it always
depends on the context of the conversation.
After a quick and simple dinner of salad and garlic noodles
and left-overs, Eddie and I decided to stop at the corner store, pick up the
ingredients for milkshakes, and make a visit to Samia and Freddy’s house. We were about 100 feet from their house
when Eddie got a surprise. Jaden,
who was riding on his shoulders, suddenly vomited. I am always prepared with diapers, wipes, a change of clothes
and a pacifier in the diaper bag… except today. Of course, the one
day I leave the house without the diaper bag, he vomits and has a dirty
diaper. What are the chances?
Since we were so close to their house, we decided to still
visit. They were very
understanding and helpful of course.
Freddy gave Eddie a clean shirt, and Samia ran next door to her sister’s
house to get clothes for Jaden. He
wasn’t really acting sick, so we are not sure what was going on, but we did
find humor in the fact that Jaden looked kinda silly in Ivoney’s girly clothes.
The first thing that Freddy told us when we got there was
that they were just talking about us at dinner. During dinner, José Pablo had something on his mind, and his
parents were advising him to talk about it with Eddie. Then, 30 minutes later, we showed up
unannounced. We all marveled in
the fact that God always seems to demonstrate perfect timing, even in the
little things in our lives. I love those little reminders. God doesn’t have to do that for us but He loves
to.
We spent sometime talking and laughing with our Costa Rican
family, and Jaden got to play and dance with Ivoney and wear her clothes.
Tuesday, January 29
We got a new dry erase board in my classroom today!
It is a good thing I like to make teachery things. Back
in November, I made a huge stack of flashcards to practice Spanish vocabulary
and verbs. Then, I really only studied them a handful of times. Today… they came in handy. We used the verbs to practice commands
in class today. Deidre and I seem
to be making the same mistakes and are equally confused. After the flashcard drills with Sonia
today, we are feeling 10 times better about the subject. Now, we just need to work on practicing
them in everyday conversation.
This afternoon was rather uneventful. Amanda went to Turrialba for milkshakes
with some of the other students.
Jaden and Eddie and I took naps, and later I went to Zumba. After that, Eddie and Jaden were
playing in the yard with all the neighborhood kids. He was teaching them how to play “Ultimate Frisbee,” of course. I needed a shower so I told one of the little girls I was
going inside. I correctly used my
first reflexive verb in the correct
context all by myself! That was a
small hurdle that many of you won’t understand, but I am thankful nonetheless.
Eddie and Josué were going over this evening’s Bible Study,
and they got on the topic of “dares.”
That led to Eddie daring Josué to the cinnamon challenge and Josué daring Eddie to the hot sauce challenge. Although slightly entertained,
they both were suffering in the end.
I hardly feel sorry for them, but poor Josué had to go play soccer after
swallowing… choking… and inhaling a spoonful of cinnamon.
Bible Study: Gatica issued homework to everyone at Bible
Study tonight. She challenged
everyone to bring someone new next week.
She invites new people every week, and she is an inspiration to us. We had another small crowd this week,
but it is good to see the faithful attendees 3 weeks and counting. Eddie led a game that involved drawing
and listening. After that, we
studied Romans 5:6-8. It was another
good discussion and I look forward to seeing new faces next week.
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