Today marks "hump day" of my first week of Spanish lessons. Although I feel like I've been here longer than a week (we arrived in Antigua one week ago today), I also feel like it is already going by rather quickly. It can be hard sometimes, living with people who aren't as familiar with a culture as I am. Having traveled to Guatemala, I can learn to adapt and cope a little bit easier...or so it seems. I am learning to be patient with those around me when they continuously need my help translating or when they aren't used to seeing/doing certain things. It's all a learning process.
Spanish lessons were rather challenging the first two days. I would get so frustrated when my teacher would write down and correct every little mistake I made. I was especially frustrated yesterday because we were covering really simple and basic concepts that I should have mastered by now, and I continuously struggled with certain pronunciations. By the end of the first half (before our 30 minute break), I was crying with some of my friends from SAU because I was so frustrated with myself and the program at SAU. These are things that should come natural to me, and THEY DON'T! By the end of our lesson yesterday, I was able to tell Sabina that I was frustrated about continuously messing up the pronunciation. She was very encouraging (which seemed to be a first), by telling me that we have twelve weeks to practice and it will all come, "poco a poco"...or little by little.
They say, "third time's a charm," and I think that was true today. Today was better. I think I had a little more confidence (which is challenging when they're always correcting you) and I was able to work on pronunciation with a little more "umph." It is so interesting being able to talk with a native speaker and learn all about their culture. Sabina and I have already talked about so much and compared various things about the United States with Guatemala. Today's main subject was the importance of family. I was telling her that in the U.S. there is not the same emphasis on family as there is here in Guatemala. She was so shocked about the lack of respect and love for parents...here in Guatemala, la familia es numero uno.
I can tell that God answered my prayers about getting a good teacher. Sabina is strict and wants her students to work hard. Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged; however, I know that I will truly learn the Spanish language. Mejoraré, I will improve. It will be amazing to see the difference between now and December 16th :)
Hasta luego...
-J
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