Yo necesito practicar hablar en español mucho...
Oh the Spanish language. I love it! And I am excited to get to learn more of it this summer while I am in Peru. I am really excited because I know that I am going to get to learn alot because I am living with one of the national families from the church. One of the daughters is a part of the Project New Hope team and is around my age. I am excited to meet her and her family. I know it is going to be a major challenge. But I am up for it (I think) and can't wait to get there and learn as much as I can. As a part of trying to refresh my memory from high school Spanish, I have begun listening to the Spanish Pandora music station on line, as well as using my Spanish-English Bible regularly. It's so different and takes a lot of getting used to. There are so many words that I don't know. And usually I can figure out how to pronounce them, but some have me completely lost. I laugh at myself because I was so set against taking and learning Greek. And I realized that if I can learn to read the Scriptures in Spanish, I probably could have learned to do so in Greek. But oh well. No going back now. I've been trying to get a hold of some people in the cities with colleges around in hopes of maybe finding an international student from Peru who would be willing to tutor me. But so far, I haven't had much luck. And so stick to reading my Spanish childrens books (I have fairy tales and Dr. Seuss!), Spanish Bible and listening to Spanish music.
The last few days I have woken up early, early in the morning to dreams about Ecuador. I watched (and cried as usual) the End of the Spear and then looked at pictures from my trip in 2004 and my friend Nico's trip in 2010. Nico was on the Chilean team I met while there and got to return last summer. I can't really remember what my dreams have been other than the fact that they were in Ecuador. It makes me miss that place. And my heart longs to see those places, faces again. And even though I know I will see those faces in heaven... it's not quite the same and doesn't quite settle that longing.
As I thought about my trip to Ecuador, I thought about one of the funniest stories from that trip. While we were in Florida for our staging camp (i.e. pre-trip training) our team leader, David, told us over and over again how when we got to the airport in Guayaquil men would come out from the crowd and try to take our bags for us. And that we were NOT supposed to let them because either a. they would steal our bags or b. charge us a lot of money for their service. So, we get on our flight and get through customs. As soon as we walk through the doors a group of young men (all of them about our age) come towards us offering to help us with our bags. We all say no like we were told and continue to follow David to the bus. Well, we get there and Diego (the missionary from Chile we were going to be working with for the 2 weeks) whistles and here comes that whole crowd of young men. They were the guys from the Chilean team we were going to be living and working with for 2 1/2 weeks! We were all soooo embarrassed and unsure of what to do or say. But the guys greeted us and hugged us with smiles and laughter. By the time we got to the church we were all laughing at the silliness of the "gringos" and our introduction to the team.
Those 2 1/2 weeks in Ecuador were some of the best weeks in my life. I can honestly say that. And even though I have loved all of my other trips and experiences... Ecuador is the place that will always hold my heart and will always be the place that first captured my love for missions and people. I miss it with everything in me. There are days when I pray for that nation, those people, and I just cry because I miss it so much. But I know that if I am supposed to go back one day, God will get me there. But if not... I will see them in heaven and my heart will always be tied to that nation in a special way. Ecuador is my heart. I've said before that if people were to look at my heart it's probably shaped like South America... but even more probable is that it is shaped like the nation of Ecuador.
The last few days I have woken up early, early in the morning to dreams about Ecuador. I watched (and cried as usual) the End of the Spear and then looked at pictures from my trip in 2004 and my friend Nico's trip in 2010. Nico was on the Chilean team I met while there and got to return last summer. I can't really remember what my dreams have been other than the fact that they were in Ecuador. It makes me miss that place. And my heart longs to see those places, faces again. And even though I know I will see those faces in heaven... it's not quite the same and doesn't quite settle that longing.
As I thought about my trip to Ecuador, I thought about one of the funniest stories from that trip. While we were in Florida for our staging camp (i.e. pre-trip training) our team leader, David, told us over and over again how when we got to the airport in Guayaquil men would come out from the crowd and try to take our bags for us. And that we were NOT supposed to let them because either a. they would steal our bags or b. charge us a lot of money for their service. So, we get on our flight and get through customs. As soon as we walk through the doors a group of young men (all of them about our age) come towards us offering to help us with our bags. We all say no like we were told and continue to follow David to the bus. Well, we get there and Diego (the missionary from Chile we were going to be working with for the 2 weeks) whistles and here comes that whole crowd of young men. They were the guys from the Chilean team we were going to be living and working with for 2 1/2 weeks! We were all soooo embarrassed and unsure of what to do or say. But the guys greeted us and hugged us with smiles and laughter. By the time we got to the church we were all laughing at the silliness of the "gringos" and our introduction to the team.
Those 2 1/2 weeks in Ecuador were some of the best weeks in my life. I can honestly say that. And even though I have loved all of my other trips and experiences... Ecuador is the place that will always hold my heart and will always be the place that first captured my love for missions and people. I miss it with everything in me. There are days when I pray for that nation, those people, and I just cry because I miss it so much. But I know that if I am supposed to go back one day, God will get me there. But if not... I will see them in heaven and my heart will always be tied to that nation in a special way. Ecuador is my heart. I've said before that if people were to look at my heart it's probably shaped like South America... but even more probable is that it is shaped like the nation of Ecuador.
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