Profesional Spanish Student

Learning a second language is difficult. It can be frustratingly slow, and as I've said before, my confidence level comes and goes in waves, depending on the hour or day or who I'm talking to.

When we arrived to Guatemala last year, we took 2 months of intensive Spanish study. We had the disadvantage of not being able to live with a host family. The best way to learn a language is to truly be immersed. This wasn't feasible with two little ones, so we spent our afternoons studying, doing homework, and speaking to each other in English.

In our context, MCC will provide up to three months of language study. After our initial two months we had two weeks of orientation in Pennsylvania, followed by three weeks of orientation with the outgoing reps, and then we started working. I definitely could have used another month of Spanish.

I arrived with a very basic level of Spanish. I had taken 2 1/2 years of Spanish in high school, and even did well on the National Spanish Exam (for geeky Spanish students). But, more than ten years after high school, there was a whole lot I didn't know and more that I couldn't understand.

Fortunately, I've had the opportunity to take more Spanish classes throughout the last year. I took some classes last September. Then I took some more a few months later, followed by more in the Spring. After our first-year work evaluation with our bosses, it came to all of our attention that I needed more Spanish. It was humbling (even humiliating?) to admit that I needed to take even more classes. Finally, I took another chunk again over this summer, in between visitors and travelers and work schedules.

One of my biggest hindrances has been that I can go days without speaking Spanish. I do a good amount of reading and writing in Spanish, however. I need to continue to seek out places to practice my Spanish. Each round of classes over the last year has helped me focus on different aspects. I think I can finally say I'm done taking formal classes. I'm not sure I can afford any more time away from work, and I think my Spanish is at a level where I can continue to read and push myself on my own.

I'm ever so grateful for the flexibility and opportunities I've had to continue pushing through the frustrations and slow learning that I've had throughout the year.

4 out of the 5 teachers I've had throughout the year.

I have joked with the teachers at the school where I took classes that I've been an "estudiante profesional" (professional student). The staff and teachers there have been so supportive and lately have repeatedly told me how much they've seen an improvement compared to a year ago. I'm even considered an "advanced" student, something that makes me proud. I recently read another novel in Spanish, which I couldn't have imagined reading several months ago. I was even more proud of the fact that I could read several pages in between needing to look up a word in the dictionary.

I still have a lot to work on, but I have to remind myself that considering how little I sometimes hear and speak Spanish in my daily routine, I've come a loooooong way. I understand the majority of what most people say, and that improves daily. I feel more comfortable with different tenses and forms that don't translate in English.

And, the highest complement and note of progress came just the other day. A woman who we work with on banking stuff, and who I haven't seen or spoken to in several months, just paused in the middle of our conversation to tell me how good my pronunciation is. WOW! Big progress made here. I still pronounce things funny and need to keep working, but it made me feel like it's been worth the hard work.

I have a few Spanish novels sitting on my table, which I'm excited to read. Michael and I joined a young married persons' Bible study/discussion group, and of course, the book we are reading and the discussions we have are in Spanish. I think this means I'm advancing...

I'll end with some recent Spanish blunders. I know I have more, but I can't remember them at the moment:

-I meant to say "Donde pagamos?" (Where do we pay?), but I said, "Donde pegamos?, (Where do we glue?)

-"Necesito un mente," (I need a mind), when I wanted to say, "Necesito una menta" (I need a mint.)

-My teacher told me I need to be careful when I pronounce "pagina," (PA-hee-nah...page) because if I don't pronounce it correctly with the accent, it sounds like I'm saying (va-HEE-nah...vagina).

Big Week

A few really random and unrelated highlights from our week:

Hazel had an especially big week. She switched from her pack 'n play to a toddler bed (which, for the moment, is a mattress on the floor). With Ellie it was a crazy disaster for months because she was always trying to get out of bed once she had freedom, but we've been really lucky with Hazel. She pretty much just stays in her bed. It also means I don't have to hold her at nap time, something that had been increasingly difficult with my growing belly.

Hazel also stopped wearing diapers. We potty trained her at the end of June but then did a lot of traveling for a few weeks and had to revert to diapers for a while. Now that we're home again we dropped them for good (except naps and bedtime), and we sent her to school for the first time this week without diapers. I have to admit, it's kind of nice to have teachers at the school who can help with this "learning" stage when there are still accidents in between successes.

In summary: my Hazel baby is a big 2-year old.

Michael made homemade yogurt this week. Twice. It's delicious and economical. We've calculated that it's less than half the price of buying it, plus we were going through so much yogurt that we have a zillion plastic containers, which we no longer need to accrue. It's also kind of great (for me) that he's made this his "thing," at least for now. I finally got an amazing homemade granola recipe from my friend Kelsey, so we have been eating yogurt and granola every single day. It's Ellie's new favorite.

Today we found out the gender of our baby. Totally not on purpose, Michael and I both wore blue shirts to the appointment. And ate a blueberry muffin afterwards.

But, in the end, is it blue or more pink in our future? Ellie has been saying it's a boy for months, and then all of a sudden today, she told us she thinks it's a sister. Find out. (If the video doesn't work, try this link).

One reason it's awesome to live in Guatemala City while pregnant, and one reason it's not

How many pregnant women, at one point in their pregnancy, have said something like this:

"I really wish ____________(insert favorite restaurant or cafe or fast food chain) would make home deliveries."

Here in Guatemala, this is a reality. Use your imagination. Just about everything you can think of delivers, not just pizza or expensive flower shops.

Burger King

Wendy's

McDonalds

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Steak houses

Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Japanese restaurants

Fruits and vegetables delivered to your door

Hot dogs

Local dairies

Sushi

Bakeries

Sandwiches

And it's not just limited to food:

Dog groomers

Pharmacies (we once had our antibiotics delivered to our home, a free service)

Flowers

Car radios

(to name a few)

There's this really great system where every business who offers this service has one phone number. When I call, they figure out what neighborhood I live in, take my order, and inform the closest restaurant to us to send us the delivery. On motorcycles. 

The food gets packed in these boxes loaded on the back of motos. You see these driving all over the city.

There are two things that are lacking from this list, in my opinion: espresso drinks (for example, I doubt Starbucks will whip up a latte and send it in a moto), and ice cream (mainly, Dairy Queen blizzards would be awesome). It's possible that many of the above food places deliver ice cream, but sometimes what they can deliver is limited, and my guess is ice cream might be one of those exceptions. But, I haven't actually tried yet, so I could be totally wrong.

I found a website called tengohambre.gt (translation: I'm hungry). You enter your location, look at the list of restaurants available for home delivery in your area, call and place an order. Presto!

Recently I saw an advertisement for a local cheesecake shop. And of course, the magic words, a domicilio, which signifies they will deliver to your home.  Seriously, hasn't every pregnant woman, at some point said, "I really wish someone could bring me a cheesecake. I need cheesecake. RIGHT. NOW."

This brings me to one reason I've discovered that it's not awesome to have a baby here: no one here seems to have picked up on the amazing, life-giving, miraculous American tradition of providing meals to families with newborns. With both of our girls, friends set up a schedule and every other night for several weeks we received meals already cooked and ready to eat. This was such a huge blessing that at times I thought it was worth having a baby just to get so many people to cook for us! But alas, here in Guatemala, this doesn't happen. Usually the grandmother of the newborn shows up for a couple months and does all the cooking and cleaning for the house. That isn't going to happen here as neither of our moms can come take over our house for 2 months! Fortunately, I have a whole list of places I can call to bring me meals when I'm too overwhelmed with a newborn to make anything more than cold cereal. Or, when I just feel like a piece of cheesecake and want to blame it on a "craving."

On Netflix and Muffins and Not Moping

A few weeks ago I finished a 5-season television series on Netflix. I won't admit to when I started the series, but suffice it to say that it didn't take 5 seasons to finish it.

I'll go ahead and blame it on being tired and nauseous all the time (which hasn't changed, despite being 17 weeks pregnant. Whoever said nausea ends in the first trimester was telling LIES). Or maybe it's my need for conclusion to any book or movie or program I start. Also, it was a pretty good series with great acting.

But the point is, I didn't do much else. It sort of took over all my free moments of the day. By the last season I was just marathoning it just to get it over with so I could get back to life.

I often come home from work, put Hazel down for a nap, let Ellie watch a bit of TV, and I veg out for a little while on the computer, usually watching some show. But I'm tired of that routine and feel like there are a million other things I could do instead. And more importantly, there are a million things Ellie could be doing instead. Too many times I feel like I wasted my afternoon, but justify it because I feel so little energy.

Today felt different. After putting Hazel down for a nap, I ignored my computer and went straight to the kitchen. I made starter dough for bread out of my leftover breakfast oatmeal (my favorite bread recipe ever), washed dishes, made cranberry orange muffins with Ellie, helped Ellie with her homework, made a grocery list and planned out our meals for the next two weeks-something I haven't done in weeks, worked on a count-down chain to Ellie's birthday (it's in October, which means there are 66 circles to our chain, but she's been insisting on a chain), and now I'm sitting down to blog.

5 of 66. We've got a ways to go.

Sometimes I get into a rut about life here. Or maybe a self-pity party. Namely, I focus on the things I feel like I or my girls are missing out on by not living in the States. Moms groups through my church, playdates, enrolling the girls in sports or music or dance classes, going to the library (it makes me sad that I can't throw the girls in the stroller and jog or walk to the library, something I did with Ellie weekly in Fresno)...things I perceive I'm missing.

But today, as I was grating orange zest for our muffins, I realized that I can mope about things I think I'm missing, or I can miss opportunities to make memories that are right in front of me. I made muffins and spent time with my daughters. That's not missing out on anything. I'd say it's quite the opposite.

A Caribbean Culture in Guatemala: Livingston

We traveled to Livingston with our MCC team for a relaxing team retreat. It's a town on the Caribbean Sea that we could only reach by boat, so we took a boat up the Rio Dulce to get there.

It was a beautiful 80-minute boat ride.

 On our first full day, we took a boat to visit 7 Altars, a set of secluded waterfalls that we trekked up a river to find.

 Michael and some of the staff decided to jump into the pools below.

 The girls enjoyed watching.

 Then we took the boat to "Playa Blanca" (White Beach) to relax and enjoy the sand and water.

 Hazel and Ellie loved every second of it. 

Ellie swam and swam. And swam.

And swam some more.

Our team seemed to enjoy the setting too.

 The next day we went to a local Garifuna organization to learn a bit about their food and culture. We took a cooking class to make a traditional Garifuna meal.

Quick history lesson: The Garifuna people are descended from West Africa but live primarily in Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras) with a huge population that has resettled in New York City and other major US cities. They have a distinct culture, language, and history, and are well-known for their music and dance.

 Freshly caught Red Snapper fish, ready to be filleted. 

 A couple of our staff preparing the fish. 

 Ellie helped shred the coconuts, while Hazel entertained us with some drums made from turtle shells.

 A lesson in how to cut open a coconut, using a gigantic machete. 

 Deliciosa!

 Though Michael isn't a huge fan of seafood, especially shrimp, he spent the afternoon peeling shrimp.

 Ellie found a friend, of course. 

The final product: a delicious coconut milk-based soup with shrimp-based dumplings...

...and coconut milk rice with fried red snapper. It was a fantastic meal.

The rest of our retreat we spent enjoying each other's company.

 Ellie played Minnie Mouse dominoes with three of our male staff.
Have I mentioned how blessed we are that our staff are so sweet with our girls? It's pretty awesome.

We swam. A lot.

We had a great trip, relaxing and bonding as a team. We also said farewell to two of our 1-year workers who left last week to return to their homes in Canada. 

On the way home from Livingston, we stopped as some Mayan ruins.

I'm impressed with the diversity that can be found within Guatemala. A diversity of cultures, climates, beaches, mountains, indigenous groups, languages, and food. It's a beautiful place to live and explore. Who wants to come visit? 

Honduras and Hazel's 2nd Birthday

It's been a whirlwind month full of travel and activities.

We traveled to Nebaj, in the highlands, to visit a partner and two of our workers. It's about a 7 hour drive.

A few days later we traveled 9 hours by bus to Honduras for a week of meetings with our bosses and reps from Nicaragua and Honduras. It was a good week to connect, and the girls always have a blast with the kids of the reps from Nicaragua. We are very sad that this was our last meeting with them before them move back to the States. I don't know what Ellie will do without them in future meetings.
During our trip, the girls had their first sleepover. Michael was "dad of the year," and facilitated the sleepover with 4 girls. They had a blast, and now Ellie wants to have all her friends over for sleepovers.

After Honduras we celebrated Hazel's 2nd birthday with a little party at our house.

The kids decorated sugar cookies. I think it was a first for many of her friends.

There may have been licking involved.

We played "cake walk," unintentionally introducing it to our Guatemalan friends. 

It's practically unheard of to have a birthday part without a piñata. In fact, birthday parties are often just called, "piñatas."
This was Hazel's first time willing to hit the piñata alone, or at all. Normally she has a lot of fear. Actually, when it came around to her turn again, she changed her mind and preferred to watch.

The scramble for the candy!

Hazel's amiga wanted to help her blow out her candles.

My happy birthday girl.

Two days later, a quick 3-day trip to El Salvador to pick up one of our one-year workers who ended her time with us. Then Michael went to Lake Atitlan to pick up our other one-year worker. Let's just say Michael has put a lot of hours behind the wheel over the last month.

A few days later, we went on a team retreat to Livingstone, on the Caribbean Sea, near Belize (next blog will be pictures of our awesome trip). We are happy to be home and back into somewhat of a routine for the next few weeks. Deep breath.

Big Sister Hazel

The thought to write a blogpost has fluttered across my mind over the last several weeks. I've been absent.

But then I decide I'm too tired. Or uninspired. Or nauseous. Or hungry.

I think they are good excuses. I'm 14 weeks pregnant today, which means I'm officially entering the 2nd trimester. The nausea is supposed to stop. With Ellie, it did stop around now. With Hazel, it lingered a few more weeks.

Either way, this pregnancy has felt a bit different. The nausea seems stronger and more constant than it did with the girls. I feel more tired (although my husband doesn't think I "seem" more tired than I did with the other two pregnancies, so maybe it's my imagination.)

There are always a variety of emotions that come along with a pregnancy. Obviously, gratitude, because I'm acutely aware of the difficulty for so many of my family and friends to get pregnant. It's a downright miracle just to get a positive pregnancy test. Then of course, due to our own experience miscarrying at 10 weeks several years ago, getting through the first trimester is a momentous hurdle. And then the rest of the pregnancy remains.

There have been thoughts like, "we are going to be outnumbered!" and "can you imagine if we have another girl? 3 girls equals a lot of drama!" and "I can't remember what it's like to have a newborn."

We are thrilled to be having a baby. We will have a chapin or chapina (guatemalan) baby, which is fun. Both of the girls were born in the same hospital and delivered by the same doctor in Fresno, so this entire pregnancy and birth process will be different. I'm curious about the differences between American culture and here. I've already had two ultrasounds and this baby is healthy, and from the mouth of my doctor, "perfect." We are blessed and thankful. And I'm hungry.