I realized this week that I am about 4 months away from spending 4 months in Nicaragua. I think these next 4 months are going to go very fast. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and December seems to just be a mad dash until Christmas, and then it will be January, and the end of March will be getting closer and closer!
It has been decided that I will go to Nicaragua sometime the week of March 25. Easter is April 8 in 2012 and celebrating Holy Week (the entire week) is a big deal in Central America. Nearly everyone also basically has paid holiday for that entire week, so Keri and I can't expect to have any assistance from our country coordinator that week. So we decided to go the week before to start getting settled in, doing some work, and then experiencing Holy Week in Nicaragua, which should be an interesting experience. We should be able to do some work on our own during Holy Week, and then continue in earnest after Easter. If we would have waited to arrive until after Easter we would have only arrived 2 1/2 weeks before the students, which I don't think it long enough to get everything done before they arrive!
I continue to work on Spanish, but it still pretty slow going and I don't feel very confident in my speaking or my ability to communicate. I am auditing a college level Spanish class (Spanish 102), and will continue on to Spanish 201 next semester. I also am doing Rosetta Stone (self teaching through a computer program). I have all 5 levels but am still on Level 1. My goal is to be done with Level 1 by the end of November, then do another level each month until I leave. That should get me to Level 5 by the end of March, but will also mean I have to work much faster than I have been.
The unit I am leading is full with 23 students. About 2/3 women, and 1/3 men, which is not unusual. Please pray for these students as they prepare for this potentially life-changing experience.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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