Today was a good day. Greg sent Ramiro over to pick me up and we went on a quest to find a good printer for the office. I learned a lot today. I learned where I live - en el Alto Braje - and some streets like Calle 10 y Hernando Silas. The corner (esquina) of Calle 13 y Hernando Silas is Plaza Lobo. Calle 10 goes from Braje to Alto Braje. Ramiro also gave me a list of trufy numbers that I'll need to know to get around. A trufy (public transportation) costs a flat rate of 1.5 Bs. Seven Bs is the equivalent to one dollar, so it's a great way to get around if you don't mind sharing a small van with 18 other people.
I'm going to start language classes here very soon. We've decided that one month of intensive studying will be the most effective way for me to learn Spanish, given my budget. Five days a week, two hours a day with a private teacher. I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready to dive right in. I'm craving vocabulary and grammar right now. I've been filling out a notebook of different words I've picked up. Talking with Ramiro today was great because he just started his English classes this morning. He had a bunch of questions for me and we figured out a lot of verbs together as well as how to put some sentences together. It helped a lot. He was really struck by the fact that we say "I have no food" instead of "I no have food". I also taught him about the difference when saying "ser" in English (to be). I never thought about how confusing it is that we say "I AM; he IS; they ARE" but he got it down pretty good.
Oh, by the way, nobody probably even knows this but Bolivia is playing Uruguay today. All radios are tuned to the game and people are crowding around t.v.s in the city to watch. Imagine the most die-hard Cubs fan you know, now mulitiply that enthusiasm by three and then make the entire population just as passionate and you'll get a faint idea of how big of a deal this is.
Monday could be a big day for Bolivia. Thousands of people are going to march in La Paz to pass a referendum which could lead to a new constitution that gives more power to the indigenous people of Bolivia. It is supposed to be a peaceful march, but there is some skepticism about the intentions of the marchers. It's actually not considered a huge demonstration for Bolivia, but lately things here have been getting pretty heated.Here's a news link about what's going on. I'm sure there will be plenty more news on Monday.
Grace and peace,
Clay
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
what's up clay!! looks like you're having a great time. we're praying for you and can't wait to see more pictures. more pictures!! :)
we miss you around here man. we just had the fall retreat last weekend and it was awesome. God really touched most all the students there. alright man. have a good day!
Post a Comment