I have made it thru one full day successfully. With all the new things I had to learn, it was a VERY LONG day. It was productive though. I have had a constant Spanish lesson it would seem bby simply being in this home. If I were to recommend to someone quick way to learn a language, I would highly suggest this route. It can be somewhat frustrating, and definitely requries much patience, but it is a very effective means of language learning. Grin... Most of my first day consisted of catching up with myself in the morning, followed by a late lunch (for them it is normal) at 2:30pm, and then the rest of the day spent with the girls learning their schedule. Their Momma has them quite busy. After lunch they had music lessons, then from 4:30-6pm, I taught each one 30 minutes of English class... Now there's a challenge for me. I'm not joking either! I've never really thought of myself as a teacher and now suddenly I'm teaching 3 girls English. I'm not sure where to start, so yesterday I had each of them read a story to me! You can pray that I will know how to proceed from here.
After lessons in English, I eventually went on my first outing into the surrounding neighborhood! Our flat (apartment) is situated in the middle of the newer part of town. All that is required to "get to town" is either walk down 8 fligts of stairs or take the elevator and walk out the front door of the building. I walked the stairs down instead of the elevator! Grin... So, back to the first outing...I was accompanied by the middle daughter, Irene'. She turned out to be quite the guide as well as an excellent teacher in Spanish. She is eager to show me where things are, including her school, and tell me what things are called. We had a very nice walk. It was great for me after having been inside the whole day! Back at the house, Irene was preparing to leave for a meeting, so I got a simple dinner together for me and the girls. Dinner time is normally some time between 8:15 & 9:15pm. After a short dance time after dinner, the girls began to settle down and get ready for bed. I read a few books to the youngest, including a Dr. Seuss story that was a major tongue twister. I'm sure that she quite enjoyed hearing me go through those tongue twisting paragraphs as fast as my eyes could register to my brain & on to my mouth! It was fun!
Today, I decided to venture out on my own to find my way thru the city to the place that I will be having Spanish lessons beginning tomorrow. They tell me it should take about 15minutes to walk. Well, before I left the day maid came in and asked me to go to the store with her to purchase fish and milk... I readily agreed figuring I could learn where some things were and how to read the street signs before I headed out on my own. Needless to say, I didn't find a single street sign while we were out. So, finally heading out on my own I refused to leave a street until I had found the name of the next street that I was looking for. That way I knew that I could find my way back. There are so many roads and tall buldings or walls on either side that divide off into more roads! It took me about 2 hours to get to where I will go tomorrow for lessons and back! Ha! Yes, I walked slowly so I didn't miss any street signs & I stopped a few times to see the sights around me. I think I'll give myself at east 30 minutes tomorrow to find my way again, so I am not late to my first day of lessons.
Speaking of Spanish lessons, they should be quite interesting, because I learned just yesterday that the lady who will be teaching me speaks no English (as far as Irene knows). Hmmmm..... We will see if this works and if not, I'll begin looking for another language teacher.
I have been corresponding with a young lady from Oregon who was here as an Au Pair for the Doval family before me. She hasbeen most helpful in giving me informatin. Today, she emailed me with some contacts here in Santiago. I have already been in contact with one of these girls named Isabel. I will meet her Friday afternoon for a while. It will be nice to have someone to hang out with, practice Spanish with, and see the city with. I am thankful for this contact. Also, I had asked for prayers that I might find a fellowship here. Recently a friend of mie living in Finland emailed me saying he had friends who had recently returned from missionary work in Spain. He is going to contact those friends for me to learn if they know of any fellowships in the Santiago area. This could be an answer to my prayers already. The Lord is faithful to take care of me! Praise the Lord!
So, back to my adventures in the city today! I managed to find the place I was looking for and thenf ind my way back home with no problems.. As I walked the streets I tried to keep my facial expressions nuetral so as not to draw attention to myself as a foreigner. It is relatively easy to blend in with the Spanish people if you don't look and act like you have no idea where you are going or that you have never seen this place...grin...okay so not such an easy feat for me right now. I'd say for the first day, I was fairly successful!! Grin.. I tried not to smile too much, because smiling seems to be kept to a minimum. So basically, I was trying not to look like a country girl in NYC!! That is my analogy for trip out.
The rest of the day is still ahead of me. I'm hoping lunch is part of the plan soon because after 2 cups of coffee and a piece of very wonderful bread this morning, I'm quite hungry at 2:20pm... the girls should be home any moment now and then we will sit and eat! This evening, after more English lessons, we will take the younger two girls to music lessons and skating lessons. This should be quite an adventure. We will not get back until late. I think I might just lose weight on this trip if I keep up these light eating habits...grin...
Speaking of eating, so far the food has been fantastic...lots of soups, some pasta, fried mushrooms with garlic, breads for b-fast, coffee (yeah, they have coffee!!), pork ribs, and more...All in small portions and light, but plentiful. I am thankful that the family I live with enjoy eating healthy. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, which suits me just fine!
Well, lunch is served! More later....
After lessons in English, I eventually went on my first outing into the surrounding neighborhood! Our flat (apartment) is situated in the middle of the newer part of town. All that is required to "get to town" is either walk down 8 fligts of stairs or take the elevator and walk out the front door of the building. I walked the stairs down instead of the elevator! Grin... So, back to the first outing...I was accompanied by the middle daughter, Irene'. She turned out to be quite the guide as well as an excellent teacher in Spanish. She is eager to show me where things are, including her school, and tell me what things are called. We had a very nice walk. It was great for me after having been inside the whole day! Back at the house, Irene was preparing to leave for a meeting, so I got a simple dinner together for me and the girls. Dinner time is normally some time between 8:15 & 9:15pm. After a short dance time after dinner, the girls began to settle down and get ready for bed. I read a few books to the youngest, including a Dr. Seuss story that was a major tongue twister. I'm sure that she quite enjoyed hearing me go through those tongue twisting paragraphs as fast as my eyes could register to my brain & on to my mouth! It was fun!
Today, I decided to venture out on my own to find my way thru the city to the place that I will be having Spanish lessons beginning tomorrow. They tell me it should take about 15minutes to walk. Well, before I left the day maid came in and asked me to go to the store with her to purchase fish and milk... I readily agreed figuring I could learn where some things were and how to read the street signs before I headed out on my own. Needless to say, I didn't find a single street sign while we were out. So, finally heading out on my own I refused to leave a street until I had found the name of the next street that I was looking for. That way I knew that I could find my way back. There are so many roads and tall buldings or walls on either side that divide off into more roads! It took me about 2 hours to get to where I will go tomorrow for lessons and back! Ha! Yes, I walked slowly so I didn't miss any street signs & I stopped a few times to see the sights around me. I think I'll give myself at east 30 minutes tomorrow to find my way again, so I am not late to my first day of lessons.
Speaking of Spanish lessons, they should be quite interesting, because I learned just yesterday that the lady who will be teaching me speaks no English (as far as Irene knows). Hmmmm..... We will see if this works and if not, I'll begin looking for another language teacher.
I have been corresponding with a young lady from Oregon who was here as an Au Pair for the Doval family before me. She hasbeen most helpful in giving me informatin. Today, she emailed me with some contacts here in Santiago. I have already been in contact with one of these girls named Isabel. I will meet her Friday afternoon for a while. It will be nice to have someone to hang out with, practice Spanish with, and see the city with. I am thankful for this contact. Also, I had asked for prayers that I might find a fellowship here. Recently a friend of mie living in Finland emailed me saying he had friends who had recently returned from missionary work in Spain. He is going to contact those friends for me to learn if they know of any fellowships in the Santiago area. This could be an answer to my prayers already. The Lord is faithful to take care of me! Praise the Lord!
So, back to my adventures in the city today! I managed to find the place I was looking for and thenf ind my way back home with no problems.. As I walked the streets I tried to keep my facial expressions nuetral so as not to draw attention to myself as a foreigner. It is relatively easy to blend in with the Spanish people if you don't look and act like you have no idea where you are going or that you have never seen this place...grin...okay so not such an easy feat for me right now. I'd say for the first day, I was fairly successful!! Grin.. I tried not to smile too much, because smiling seems to be kept to a minimum. So basically, I was trying not to look like a country girl in NYC!! That is my analogy for trip out.
The rest of the day is still ahead of me. I'm hoping lunch is part of the plan soon because after 2 cups of coffee and a piece of very wonderful bread this morning, I'm quite hungry at 2:20pm... the girls should be home any moment now and then we will sit and eat! This evening, after more English lessons, we will take the younger two girls to music lessons and skating lessons. This should be quite an adventure. We will not get back until late. I think I might just lose weight on this trip if I keep up these light eating habits...grin...
Speaking of eating, so far the food has been fantastic...lots of soups, some pasta, fried mushrooms with garlic, breads for b-fast, coffee (yeah, they have coffee!!), pork ribs, and more...All in small portions and light, but plentiful. I am thankful that the family I live with enjoy eating healthy. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, which suits me just fine!
Well, lunch is served! More later....
1 comment:
Ok so I found it. I'm glad to hear all is well! Keep up the blog and at least I'll read and comment. I know from experience how encouraging comments are.;) Keep it up!
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