It Must Get Harder Before It Can Get Easier (ps. I wrote this on Wednesday)

One word: tired.

It amazes me that, living in a place where you constantly have to think about what other people are saying and 89% of the time you don’t even understand, really wears you out.  I was so exhausted today after school that I just wanted to sleep for a very long time, but of course I had homework to do.  And not just your typical homework, but Spanish homework.  The professors here said that you might be tired when you first get here, but after the first week you will be exhausted and they were right.  I wish learning a language could just magically come to you, but that’s definitely not the way it happens.  Thankfully, my verse of the day, from my medicine bottle of verses (Which Kelsey made me :) ) was Psalm 16:8 I have set the Lord always before me.  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  I thought it fit very nicely with my feeling of the day.  Plus, don’t get me wrong, I really do love it down here!! The food is great, the people are so nice, and it is gorgeous!  I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be in.

So side note on food: Tonight I officially tried the first thing that I didn’t like.  Although I can’t remember the name now, I know it was a vegetable because Sandra kept saying, “oh you don’t like vegetables much, do you?”  I think she is beginning to know my style of eating :)

So yesterday(Tuesday) was Sandra’s birthday.

She turned 43 years old and we had a party at our house.  It was awesome to get to experience a Latin American family gathering and I really enjoyed myself.  The first family to show up was a good friend of Sandra’s I don’t know her name, but she had a daughter named Fabi who is 19.  We were able to go back into one of the rooms and talk in English and Spanish so that was nice.  She is trying to practice her English so we decided we will go out to coffee multiple times to help each other out.  On Friday I am going with her and her mom to walk around and shop; mostly just to learn more about the city and hang out with them.  At the party I also got to meet Sandra’s brother and his family.  They have three kids, the youngest being Matias who is 20.  Matias is an engineer as well so he is going to take me to his school next week, which I am looking forward to. 

So, the one thing that was the most difficult about the party was that everyone would be talking and I wouldn’t understand even when I knew they were talking about me.  Fabi reassured me that they weren’t laughing at me though, just at the situation.  Sandra was worried about Matias taking me to his school because I will be the only girl because it is Mechanical Engineering.  Everyone else found this super funny, so I know I missed something.

It was fun conversing the rest of the night because all the younger people tried to practice their English with me.  Of course, I need to practice Spanish, but I’ll survive.

Here are some of the questions that I was asked:

Do you like the Simpsons?

Do you like Obama?

Do you watch the show Friends or Family Guy?

What is your favorite NBA team?

And do we really eat dinner as early as 5:30?

I thought it as rather interesting what they wanted to know the most about the United States, but it was surely entertaining.

Here are some pictures from the party:

Me, Fabi, Sandra, Sofia, Sandra's Friend

Mi Familia :)

This is officially my favorite picture with Sofia!! 

PS: 1) My phone was able to last 4 days only being charged once and it could have lasted longer.  Crazy, I know! One, because it’s new, and two, because I think I have used it to send and receive a total of 10 text messages, maybe.  Very different than my style of texting when I am back home.

2) I have officially had a full glass of wine.  Shared with some other friends at a very classy bar where we played a round of cards. It was very fun and I’m sure rather entertaining for the other people I was with!

3) My burn is getting better for those of you who might have been worried.  I thought it was getting infected, but it’s definitely not!

4) Lastly, one of my favorite memories with Sofia so far was singing, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in Spanish and English :) (She loves to sing and dance for me, it’s precious!)

Estoy en las manos de Dios. :)