Advances in Language...

Random update (for those of you not on facebook)...I finally got my official residency ID card yesterday.  I've officially been a resident since December 1, but now I have the ID card to prove it so I don't have to carry my passport around for official purposes (going to the bank, etc.).

One of my goals coming down here was to become, if not fluent in Spanish, at least a lot more proficient.  The difficulty with that goal and living on the Ranch is that most people on the Ranch speak English, and the nearest translator is never more than a phone call away (and is sometimes right next to you).  I could probably make it through my entire time down here without having to speak more than a dozen words of Spanish (to order food in a restaurant and to buy groceries at the store). 

The first month or two that's basically what I did.  I heard Spanish everywhere, but I definitely relied on students to translate for me, or other adults to translate for me.  When people from the States spoke Spanish, I could usually understand it, but when the Hondurans spoke it, much of it went over my head. 

By the end of September or beginning of October I was starting to understand the Hondurans when they would speak.  I was at the point where I could recognize that I didn't know words they were using, but could identify (and maybe even look up) the word being used.  And for me, that is one of the most difficult parts of speaking with them is identifying individual words, because initially they all seemed to run together.

In November I started taking Spanish classes with one of the teachers here, and that was very encouraging.  It forced me to speak more Spanish.  I was at the point where I could understand much of what was being said to me, but I never forced myself to speak it unless the person I was speaking with didn't know English.  So actually taking a class did force me to speak a little bit more, and think more in Spanish. 

Going home to the States showed me that I was functioning a bit more in the language, because it took a while for my automatic responses (thank you, excuse me, good morning, goodbye) to transfer back to English.  Coming back to Honduras, on my first flight I was seated next to an elderly hispanic couple.  He spoke some English, but she didn't speak any as far as I could tell.  She was on the plane first, looking for her seat, and looking very confused.  I saw her boarding pass as she was turning around and realized that she was sitting in my row.  She was talking to herself in Spanish, so I asked her in Spanish if she was supposed to be sitting by me.  She looked a little surprised initially (probably to hear me speaking in Spanish, because I had been conversing before with someone else in English), but realized that she was, but then she didn't know which seat, so she asked me which seat F was, and I understood the question and was able to answer it.  A little thing, but it felt good.  And when her husband showed up, she had him thank me for her in English...evidently she understood my Spanish, could see that I understood hers, but living in the States, was very accustomed to talking with strangers through her husband. 

Now I'm in the second half of my year here.  Yesterday my principal passed along the message that my spanish teacher had told her I was doing well in the language, which always makes me feel good.  I had a conversation with my housekeeper today in which I understood most of what she said, and I'm pretty sure she understood what I was saying.  I'm not taking translation at church anymore, and I'm usually understanding what's being taught.  So while I would not yet say I'm proficient (and definitely not fluent), I may say that I'm functional in the language.  I can have conversations about more than "Hi, how are you?  What's your name? Pleased to meet you."  The key for me is I need to keep pushing myself to practice and be willing to use the language.  I also need to expand my vocabulary a bit...then again, I can be creative in getting my idea across, even when I don't know all the words...sometimes all it takes is a little bit of thought. 

Allergies? Really?

Since I've returned to Honduras I've had what I thought initially was a cold.  I was coughing, sneezing, sinus problems, runny nose, whatever.  But when I was inside certain buildings it was better, and when I was outside it was worse, and it didn't make any sense for any cold I've ever had...which leads me to believe that it's not a cold.

Growing up, the only allergy I've had to deal with is to a medication.  I haven't had plant induced allergies, I don't dread the changing seasons.  But i'm pretty sure there is some plant down here that is pollenating or whatever that I am allergic to...something I don't encounter back in the States.  Because I'm not used to dealing with allergies, it took me until Monday to come to the conclusion that I might be dealing with allergies.  Yesterday I took some 24 hour allergy medicine (one of the advantages to having keys to the clinic...I didn't have to wait for someone to get it for me), and I took another one today.  I have noticed a difference.  The symptoms aren't completely gone, but they're not as severe.  On one hand, I'll take that as a win...on the other, I don't want to have to deal with this for however many months.  The plus side is there are meds, the down side is I need them.

Hopefully the meds do what they're supposed to do, I'll get used to taking them, and I can get through this.  It does beat feeling miserable and going through a box of Kleenex a day (not too much of an exaggeration).

Happy New Year! :-)

It's very hard to believe that 2012 is here.  Fortunately, my time home was enough to make me feel that at least it was winter.  But waking up the first day of the year to birds tweeting outside my room...a little strange. 

In the last year a lot of changes have gone on in my life, and I've definitely learned a lot more about trusting God and stepping out on faith.  I started this blog a little over a year ago, and re-reading some of the entries makes me remember the ways, large and small, God has shown me that He is there, and this is where I'm supposed to be.

My time at home was definitely good.  I'm glad I was there.  But now I need to recover.  Being here feels in many ways like coming home.  I've been down to the school, seen people, spoken in Spanish...it all feels familiar.  It's strange that this time last year I had just been asked to come down and teach, I still didn't know it was really happening, I was waiting on the official word from my school to see whether or not I was going to get a leave of absence.  Four months later I had a ticket, and less than three months later I was here. 

I know I have an interesting year ahead of me.  I'm here (in Honduras) for 5+ more months.  My time home definitely showed me that I'm supposed to go back to the States and teach there for at least one more year.  After that, I really don't know what God has in store for me.  I may be there, I may be here, I may be somewhere else entirely.  It will be interesting in this coming year to see how I've changed teaching here, living here, and seeing how God has worked in my life and the lives of those around me.  I know in many ways my perspective is different.  I'm less busy here, and I like that.  I'm not afraid of down time anymore, I know I'm not done working through some of my issues and stuff from my past, but I've definitely made strides in that, and I know that God can carry me through that and heal me.  I'm probably going to try to back off of some of what I was involved in before I came down.  School and Campus Life most likely won't change...but I don't know about a lot of the rest of it. 

I'm sure there are a million stories and things I could say about the year, some of them rehashing what I've already written about, others are things I never wrote about, but this late at night nothing is really coming to mind.  I'll blame part of it on tiredness, as I haven't completely recovered from traveling here, but a lot of it is looking back on the year, I'm more seeing it as one connected whole rather than individual stories.  I'm looking forward to what God's going to be teaching me and how He's going to be using me this year.  I hope I learn quickly...it tends to be easier that way. :-)