June 3rd 2008

Today I woke up with a little bit of stomach pains, but they were not nearly as bad as the past couple of days. When I got up at seven forty-five, I got ready to go to the language school. Then I went downstairs to have a piece of bread and a cup of water. Since, the water tank that I normally get my water from was empty; I took the water from a pitcher that I was told was safe for my consumption and I am praying that is correct. Then I made my way to the language school. This journey has become familiar and I kind of wish that my schedule would not change next week, but at least next week I will have a person showing me the way to where I need to go. In my first class with Karla, I went over past tense and the subjective tense. I talked about the differences I have noticed with the youth group here in Cochabamba and in the United States. I then had a break in which I went over the subjunctive tense by filling in a practice sheet that Mauge gave me. During my break I also had the opportunity to talk to other people at the language and what they were learning in their classes. My next class was with Maite in which I worked on using the subjunctive to express my emotions. For this class, there was role playing of me giving advice to a young child and a person who is sick. I also worked on expressing my hopes. This class was difficult because I felt that I did not understand the purpose or how to use the subjunctive. The next class I had was with Angelica in which I reviewed using the past tense by reading and correcting my homework. Then when Angelica reviewed the subjunctive with me I feel like I finally understood it. At the end of the class with Angelica, she asked me to close my books and just talk with her about anything as a review of everything that I have learned so far. During my class with Viviana, my books were kept closed once again and we just had a discussion about what my family does for Birthdays, what I will do when I return home, and what I might do with my Spanish in the future. In almost all of my classes today, I talked about events that are in the Bible and I had minimal difficulty when talking about the Bible. Also, when I was just having a discussion with the professors without using my books, it went really well. I understood everything that was said and I felt like something clicked in me that I was able to translate subconsciously. Another blessing was that I have almost perfect sentence structure with minimal mistakes of conjugation of verbs and misplacement of words in the sentence. As I was returning home from language school, I started to feel that my body is adjusting to the dry environment and the altitude difference. I feel this way because my nose no longer has blood in it, my stomach is starting to feel better, and when walking up the hill back to the house I do not get out of breathe like I used to. When I returned home from language school, I took some time to relax. Before dinner I did my evening devotion and said an extra prayer for Lucas and Susana because his surgery was in progress. I made sure that I said a prayer that Larry and Betty would have a safe return as they return to Cochabamba today. For dinner I had steak, a potato, and rice with tomatoes and onions. My stomach seems to be better; I am praying that there will be no problems and that my stomach has adjusted to the food. After dinner I did my Spanish homework and typed up my notes from my classes today. I ended my day by doing my night time devotional, showering and going to bed early than normal because I have had two kind of early days in a row. While I was getting ready for bed I had a good discussion with Luigi about getting change and he told me just to act like I have lived here my whole life and I should not have a problem.