Tragedies of a Spanish Student

Well.   I kid you not when I say that I just spent all morning studying Spanish while house sitting for a missionary family on furlough and said "hola" to the house keeper as she left.   Hola.   Really Rachel????

Basic Spanish!!!   Even non-Spanish speakers know "hola" is hello and "adios" or "ciao" is goodbye. Yet I, who have been living in a Spanish speaking country for two months and taking Spanish for 6 weeks...said the wrong thing. Humbling.

I was accurately warned that learning a language is indeed a very humbling experience, I just felt that first hand. As I am learning more complex Spanish, those simple things that I once knew so well are just slipping from my mind. Sigh.

But, overall, Spanish has been going well. This weekend I am traveling to Las Terrenas to spend time with Lourdes, Bruce and Ellen (my dear friends and founders of the Christian non profit organization Sowers of the Kingdom....or en Espanol, Sombredores del Reino). Las Terrenas is where I first got a taste of the DR...and where a huge part of my heart resides. It will be amazing to see how much I truly am able to communicate with all those Dominicans that I have served beside for the past couple of years but have only been able to communicate via body language.

I know I still have a long way to go with language...but I can't believe how far I am compared to when I started! Can't wait to see how much I know by christmas time! Soon the day will come when I can't think of a word in English but only Spanish....and how sweet that day will be...

Adios mis amigos!! Bendiciones!!