Week 5: On the 50-yard line -- half way there

John writes: The process of learning Spanish is definitely not a sprinter's race; it's more like a marathon. One of the first things teachers here drum into students is "poco a poco." In English it means "little by little."

     Lisa and I are excited the race we are running in Antigua is half over; five weeks complete, five to go. We are both doing well, even though there is much hard work ahead accompanied by a great deal of memorization.

     Still, we can't stress enough that we are also having much fun. Today, for instance, we went for a walk, drank coffees and ate croissants, and then sat in "Parque Central" for some people watching (see Lisa's new best friend in photo below).

      As we were relaxing, several young and innocent children came running up to us. They were part of possibly 100 other children learning to speak English.

      Usually Lisa and I practice Spanish, not only in school, but also in public with Spanish-only speakers. But now the tables were turned. These delightful kids wanted to practice English with us.

     They would ask: "What is name ... How old you ... You like Guatemala ... What is favorite color ... How many years are you?"

     My answer to the last question was "no sé" (I don't know).

     They laughed.

     As others saw we were fair game, about 10 additional groups of 4-6 kids stopped to engage in rapid-fire question-and-answer sessions.

     The hour-plus conversations were great fun; memories were made and photos were snapped.

     Upon reflection I was reminded of three things: First, the difficulty we are experiencing in learning Spanish is probably very similar to the difficulty those young children are experiencing while leaning English. Second, when we speak Spanglish it must sound like those children trying to speak English. And third, while things are much different in Central America than in the United States, many things are really just about the same. 

   Finally, acting like innocent children can be a lot of fun -- and extremely rewarding (Matthew 18:3 -- "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven." 

Students in the park

Home sweet home for 5 more weeks