First Days in Language School

Well these days are wonderful. I have been in Copan (town of many ancient Mayan ruins) for three days now staying with a wonderful family here. My host family has been here for a long time and my fellow volunteer (Sarah) is living with the sister of my host mother, Doña Tina. She is very patient in teaching me all the different words for different expressions and the names of various vegetables. Speaking of food, I did get a little sick last week after eating some warm salad but it was only for a few days and nothing Pepto Bismol couldnt take care of. Also talking about food, one thing to note is that lunch almuerzo, is the more important and more formal meal here where everyone takes off to eat and rest and is not rushed. But then dinner is whenever you feel like or get the chance to eat and many of my cenas have been eaten alone with my host mother, struggling to communicate in Español.
I am working on my spanish as well. Its coming very slow but today was my first day in language school and I can already sense the beginning of a wonderful relationship. My teacher is a really nice and patient local, not originally from Copan. He is married and lives here now. Almost the entire lesson was in Spanish but there was some times it was almost impossible so he would help me understand in English. We are taking horses on a trip tomorrow but i have no idea where to, but its for free with the school. So things are really looking great and the weather here is much more tranqillo than in the rest of the country. The Mayans really knew what they were doing!

Orientation and First Week in Country

Greetings from Honduras! Already things are going much better than anticipated. God is good. To fill you all in a little about what my orientation was like, I will start by saying that it was an experience in itself. It was perfect preparation for what was to come. It was also a great introduction to other cultures and languages, as my awesome roomate, Jorge, was from Columbia. If you look above, the picture of the 2 girls (in white and pink) are from Honduras. As of now, I´ve met both of their families. The friendships I made there were so unique and I hope to keep in touch with some of those from other countries that we grew so close to in such a short amount of time.

The understanding that our perception of what we will be doing is probably much less than what we will receive was the thing that stuck with me the most from that week. But the oportunity to be with so many young adults of like minds, hearts and lives is something not taken lightly.

There are two of us from MCC´s SALT program in Honduras. Sarah is the other and for the last week (which I might say has seemed like a month already) we have been traveling and getting some in-country orientation. It has been kinda crazy cuz we´ve been traveling all over the northern part of the country and been doing a lot. We went to visit both of our sites that we will be working at and the families we´ll be living with. Mine in a bit more rural than Sarah´s but both are very nice and very different. We were able to meet the people we will be living with and share a meal with them both (in opposite sides of the country, almost) and meet the people we will be working with on a day to day basis. It has been a little crazy just traveling so much and has also been amazingly beauiful and educational.
Now as we find ourselves in Copan for 2 weeks of language school, it will be strange to be settled for more than a week somewhere. I must admit that speaking is very difficult and understanding almost as hard. When people speak slow it´s much easier but it still takes a couple of times for me to really get it. While we are here we are staying with 2 different host families on the same block so it is kinda convienient for us to do things together. I must admit it would be harder for me without another SALTer but, regardless God would\will provide. I could use prayers that my language education goes well enough that I could at least not continually struggle to understand anything. I´ll probably write more this week and maybe find out how to get pictures on here. Take care all and be in touch.