So my last entry was pretty scattered, which really bothered
me. I had to do it quick because the coffee shop I was in was closing. I'm sorry it's a lot. My mother says "I have the gift of gab.' Not sure if that's a good or bad thing .Anyway, here’s a
more organized and detailed update…
The Center: I
spent every afternoon from Tuesday-Friday with the kids at The Center. The kids
start coming at 2:30, wash their hands, and then go straight to their
classrooms and work on their homework. Most have a lot of homework. There’s 1st, 2nd, two 3rd grades,
4th grade, and 5th and 6th grade are together. Like I said, I've been with the 4th grade class this week. At first I thought there was no way I could be in there. But come Friday, there were only 9 students and they didn't need much help at all. They got right to their work. They were working on drawing the human body and labeling the parts. Again, very helpful for my Spanish! One little girl in my class, Erika, I've bonded with quite a bit. She gets frustrated with me sometimes when I can't understand what she's saying to me. "Prooofe!" (said in more of a whiney or 'come on' way) She's very patient with me though and will repeat things and say them slower. Thanks Jesus for this little one with so much grace for me!
A journal entry from 6/12/13 (Wednesday)
“Though I’ve spent so much time working with kids, it’s a completely different world here. I mean, the language has a lot to do with that. Duh. I’ve been trying to observe the kids and learn their names. I noticed that most of them wore the same clothes as the day before. Some don’t smell too pleasant. The clothes they do wear are mostly too small or ripped or dirty. These kids seem to really love Profe Ruth. I wish I could give them everything they need, but like Joana said: We can help give them an education and give them love and that’s seriously so important. Give them the love of Christ! #GiveemJesus”
“Though I’ve spent so much time working with kids, it’s a completely different world here. I mean, the language has a lot to do with that. Duh. I’ve been trying to observe the kids and learn their names. I noticed that most of them wore the same clothes as the day before. Some don’t smell too pleasant. The clothes they do wear are mostly too small or ripped or dirty. These kids seem to really love Profe Ruth. I wish I could give them everything they need, but like Joana said: We can help give them an education and give them love and that’s seriously so important. Give them the love of Christ! #GiveemJesus”
"Give 'em Jesus" is a phrase I learned at Riverside last summer. It's great, always.
The language: I’m
really loving the language. I love the sound of the native speakers and how
they perfectly put the stress on the right parts of words. I especially love
the accents of the kids at The Center! But really, I enjoy speaking, though it
takes a lot of thinking on my end. I need to speak in Spanish at home and at
The Center with the kids. It’s good practice just talking with the Bolivians
and with the few workers at The Center that speak both. We had our first
Spanish lesson on Thursday morning. My teacher, Toni, is incredible. She has
taught at colleges and worked with many students. For the first few lessons, we
are reviewing what I learned in high school and my one semester in college.
The accident: I
really hate to even admit this, but I lost my debit card. I feel like I’m a
pretty put together person, though I still lose things and forget things. If
it’s possible to inherit such a trait, I’m pretty sure I inherited that from my
dad’s side. Thanks, Gorans. Anyway, I used my card Tuesday afternoon and when I
was going to use it Thursday night, it wasn’t in my little wallet. My Vera
Bradley mini zip pouch must have failed me since I’m pretty sure it fell out as
I was taking out money somewhere, like in a trufi. I took 5 on Tuesday, and
like 8 on Wednesday and I don’t know how many on Thursday, but there is no way
to retrace those since I don’t know which ones exactly I got in. I tore through
all my stuff. Pero, no tengo mi tarjeta. (But, I don’t have my card.) No
worries though. It’ll all work out. I’ll be getting a new one. It just added a
little stress to my evening. It was one of those situations I just had to laugh
at. Seriously :)
The coffee shop:
Cowork is the name. We discovered this place earlier this week. It’s really the
best. It’s clean and smoking isn’t allowed. There’s a back room where it’s
quiet. It’s pretty cheap. It’s only like a 7 minute walk from our house, if
that. And here’s what tops it off… the people there speak English! It’s so
fantastic. I discovered that when I went back there to see if my debit card was
there. I tried to explain my situation in Spanish and I struggled to the end of
what I was trying to say and the lady just looked and calmly stated, “We speak
English here.” We call it our little slice of America.
The words on my
heart: “Find you on my knees.” This song has been my theme song for my time here so far and I've been listening to this song over and over again.
A journal entry from 6/11/13 (Tuesday)
"Find you on my knees' : This is how I've been feeling about Christ lately. When things were tough on the flight, then with $ and my converter and the language barrier. Then when I was sick. Yes. I could just drop to my knees and cry out to Christ to help and guide me. God has been making me uncomfortable.. some in a good way, like the laguage. By trying and failing is how I learn more. Father I will find you on my knees. Gracias, Senor!"
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