May 29th 2008

Today is the first day I can remember since I have been in Bolivia that I had to wake up with my alarm because my classes started at eight. I woke up with my alarm at seven and went directly downstairs to have breakfast. For breakfast, I had a piece of bread and a cup of water. Then I got ready to go to my classes. Since I had class the same time that Susana had to be there, I was able to get a ride so I did not have to take the bus. My first class with Angelica, I continued to work on using the past tense that I learned yesterday. She also helped me work on my pronunciation so that it was correct. This class was very frustrating because I felt like every sentence needed to be corrected. In my next class with Mauge, I continued to work on using past tense. This class was also frustrating for the same reason as the first class. After my class with Mauge, she asked me how I thought my classes were going and if I was having problems with anything since I have only about a week of classes left before I start really putting what I have learned into use. I told her that I was having trouble with direct and indirect objects and with past tense. So in my next two classes with Susana, we worked on direct and indirect objects and how to use them in a sentence. Before my second class with Susana, I talked with some of the other students and I was able to understand and respond well to the dialogue. In all of classes today, my teachers encouraged me to continue to practice which I have been doing with the book, but I have not had a lot of conversations in Spanish which is what I need. While I was taking the bus home, I decided to try and be respectful to the people here and so I let three people have a seat before I sat down in one. It was three mini conversations that I needed to have. When I was getting off the bus I forgot that I am taller than most Bolivians so for the second time I hit my head. In returning to the house, I did my noon time devotion and had lunch. For lunch, I had steak, rice, potato, and salad. After lunch, I celebrated the fact that I have been here for two weeks. In celebration, I decided to relax and take it easy for a while, but I know eventually I will have to hit the books again so I can get past this challenge and keep on improving my Spanish. I relaxed by taking a short nap and then getting up and checking email since I did not have the time or opportunity to check it on Tuesday. To review my Spanish before dinner, I typed up my notes and wrote a story using some of the new vocabulary words I received today. For dinner I had a piece of chicken and spaghetti with tomato sauce. This has been the closes to American food that I have had since I have been here. During dinner, one of Susana’s friends came over and I think I talked with him in Spanish for about forty-five minuets. It was a good experience because it helped me practice my Spanish outside the classroom. Also, since he did not speak any English I had to rephrase my statements and questions sometimes so that he could understand me. He had to do the same thing as well because sometimes I did not understand what he was asking or saying. After dinner, I did my evening devotion and some review exercises in the book because that is what the teachers say I need to do is keep on practicing. The review did not go so well because I only got a couple of the answers correct. Hopefully, I will ask my teachers for more help and this challenge will be overcome. Then I can work on the past tense challenge some more. As it was dark outside, I decided to call it a night and do my night time devotion, shower, and go to bed. One last thought is that I misunderstood Lucas did not have his surgery today, but I do know that he will have it while I am here.