Here we are at evaluation time, again. Tomorrow, both of us will be having giving Oral Proficiency Interviews to see how far we have advanced in the last 3 months. Kaylee's is at 9am (6am MST) and Nathan's is at noon (9am MST).
While we both feel like we have progressed very well, we have both been sick in the past couple weeks and we feel like we've been struggling a lot in our conversations the last few days. We both hope to cross critical steps in the ladder of progress (for more information about it, see this post). Please pray that we will sleep well, wake up refreshed and ready, and perform to our best ability in HIS strength.
We hope to be posting good news soon regarding our results!!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Día de Acción de Gracias
Yep, that's what they call Thanksgiving Day here. Except it's not a holiday. Many of our friends are aware of its existence, but they know nothing of the significance or traditions associated with it. We have enjoyed the opportunity to share about some of our culture with them!
For me, this has really been the first holiday "away from home" that has had an impact on me. At Easter, we were still too new in the country and preoccupied with other things (esp. the weekend retreat we were at) to notice. The 4th of July, while historically important, has never been a huge day for me, other than the opportunity to blow stuff up (and we can do that anytime, here).
But Thanksgiving??? For me it has always been one of the biggest days of the year. The food. The family time. The historical and spiritual significance of the day. A 4-day weekend. Not only is it a holiday in its own right, but for me it has always been the beginning of the Christmas season.
And yet, I was surrounded by people that were going about their business as usual, oblivious to anything other than daily life. For whatever reason, this first impacted me when I realized that I could call up our favorite taxi driver without messing up a special day with his family.
What a blessing it is to have family here! :) We spent the whole afternoon and evening with my brother's family and another couple, friends of theirs. Thanks to the internet, we have been able to be in contact with our family in the US and other parts of the world as well.
Of course, we are able to maintain some of our traditions as well. A couple years ago, we started to do a Thankful Tree in November. Each night after supper, we each say something we are thankful for and write it down on a cut-out of our hand. The hands then become the "leaves" of the "tree." This year, we did it in Spanish:
One of our favorite T-day treats is Cherry Coke Jello: cherry jello with cherry pie filling and a can of Coca Cola. Kaylee went to the US-style supermarkets to see if she could find cherry pie filling, but a can of pie cherries in juice was the closest she found. So she pitted cherries, thickened them up, and made her jello anyhow. And it was fantastic.
The girls enjoyed helping her make her famous dinner rolls too:
While turkeys are available here, they are not common, and very expensive. So we had chicken. And stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, pickles, cider, and three kinds of pie, including "pumpkin" made from zapallo, a large squash that is the closest we get here.
And of course, on Friday we decorated the house for Christmas. As usual, you can see those pictures and the rest of our Random Adventures in November here:
Picasa Web Albums: Sirviendo a Cristo
For me, this has really been the first holiday "away from home" that has had an impact on me. At Easter, we were still too new in the country and preoccupied with other things (esp. the weekend retreat we were at) to notice. The 4th of July, while historically important, has never been a huge day for me, other than the opportunity to blow stuff up (and we can do that anytime, here).
But Thanksgiving??? For me it has always been one of the biggest days of the year. The food. The family time. The historical and spiritual significance of the day. A 4-day weekend. Not only is it a holiday in its own right, but for me it has always been the beginning of the Christmas season.
And yet, I was surrounded by people that were going about their business as usual, oblivious to anything other than daily life. For whatever reason, this first impacted me when I realized that I could call up our favorite taxi driver without messing up a special day with his family.
What a blessing it is to have family here! :) We spent the whole afternoon and evening with my brother's family and another couple, friends of theirs. Thanks to the internet, we have been able to be in contact with our family in the US and other parts of the world as well.
Of course, we are able to maintain some of our traditions as well. A couple years ago, we started to do a Thankful Tree in November. Each night after supper, we each say something we are thankful for and write it down on a cut-out of our hand. The hands then become the "leaves" of the "tree." This year, we did it in Spanish:
One of our favorite T-day treats is Cherry Coke Jello: cherry jello with cherry pie filling and a can of Coca Cola. Kaylee went to the US-style supermarkets to see if she could find cherry pie filling, but a can of pie cherries in juice was the closest she found. So she pitted cherries, thickened them up, and made her jello anyhow. And it was fantastic.
The girls enjoyed helping her make her famous dinner rolls too:
While turkeys are available here, they are not common, and very expensive. So we had chicken. And stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, pickles, cider, and three kinds of pie, including "pumpkin" made from zapallo, a large squash that is the closest we get here.
And of course, on Friday we decorated the house for Christmas. As usual, you can see those pictures and the rest of our Random Adventures in November here:
Picasa Web Albums: Sirviendo a Cristo
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Vehicle Project: Update
Five weeks ago, I wrote a post about our search for a vehicle. Since then, we have received some very generous gifts and currently have $7700 saved up! Thank you for praying! We're about halfway to what we need to purchase a vehicle like this Toyota Hilux:
On a completely unrelated note, I made this video last night:
On a completely unrelated note, I made this video last night:
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Un Dia en el Campo
In Bolivia Day of the Dead is a national holiday associated with animistic beliefs. Our understanding of all the details is a little sketchy because no one in our church participates in these events and although Nathan almost had an opportunity to participate, it fell through at the last minute. But I'll give you what we do know:
On the first of November, All Saints Day, a table is prepared in the house of the deceased person. This table is adorned with favorite foods of the deceased, breads molded into different shapes, etc. That night people are welcomed into the home to honor the soul of the deceased and it is during the night the soul of the person returns. If the person has died in the last year the presentation is much grander.
Then on the second of November, Day of the Dead, the food and offerings to the deceased person are gathered up and taken to the grave site. Many gather at the graves and linger throughout the day. We passed a couple of cemeteries on our way home and many were gathered. We would love to have a photo to share of one cemetery in particular but the distance wouldn't allow it. Not another person could have crowded inside the "walls."
Due to the animistic beliefs behind this holiday, our church likes to take the day off as an opportunity to get together and get away. So instead of investigating the details of the huge cultural event happening we spent the day in the country. We all met up at a house at the edge of a reservoir about 30 minutes from the city, the "chocolate" lake. We played games, spent time with friends, ate together (of course), enjoyed a nice rainstorm during lunch and witnessed three baptisms. Overall it was a great day with the people of our church and we were thankful for the opportunity. The girls loved a day playing in the dirt and throwing rocks in the very muddy lake (therefore no swimming!). We were thankful to our friends, Emerson and Suellen, for offering us a place in her parents' Land Cruiser so we didn't have to ride in the back of the dump truck with the girls!
You can see a lot more pictures from our day here! Or check out a video of the Human Tug-O-War here!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Big changes for little girls
A few days ago, Anne turned 5. In another month, Addi will be 3. But today is extra special for Lydia. We flew into Bolivia the day before she turned 9 months. Today she is 18 months old. As of today, she has lived in Bolivia longer than she lived in the US.
She's also a little talker. Check this out:
She's also a little talker. Check this out:
Monday, October 31, 2011
Language Learning: Why is it taking so long?
As we approach the 9-month mark here in Bolivia, the question we get asked the most right now is, "When are you going to be done studying Spanish?"
You've probably seen programs that advertise "Fluent in 6 weeks or your money back" and the like. Well, like most things, it just isn't that easy. The big question is how to define fluency.
Our language progress is measured using a system similar to the ACTFL standard for proficiency testing. Essentially, we have regular proficiency evaluations that very accurately place us on the ladder of progress. Basically, it's 4 levels, broken into 10 sub-levels, as in this very boring chart I made just now:
Where are you right now?
Our evaluations establish our "floor" of language use. That is, when we reach a particular level, it means that we never speak below that level. Our last evaluation, at the end of August placed me between levels 5 & 6 and Kaylee right on the high end of level 3, reaching for 4. We will be having another evaluation in another month and both hope to break into the next BIG level!
What is your goal?
Obviously, we want to speak as well as possible. Our organization has established a standard that we do not teach publicly until we have reached at least Advanced: Low (level 7). I am shooting to reach Advanced:High (level 9).The reasoning behind this is simply explained by a mistake I made in class recently:
I was talking about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and got to the part about Lot's wife turning to the city and becoming a pillar of salt. I said:
Ella dio una vuelta a la ciudad. (She walked around the city). . .nope. . .um:
Ella dio la vuelta a la ciudad. (She turned the city over). . .nope. . .er:
Ella se dio la vuelta a la ciudad. (She turned toward the city). . .Whew!
How would you like to sit under a teacher/preacher that made mistakes like that? The only reason I changed my statement is that my instructor corrected me. If I had been teaching a Bible class, I would have just kept on going after the first statement, without realizing that I had led everyone astray. Not a big deal, right? But what if I made a similar mistake when teaching about the life of Christ, or the nature of salvation?
Unimaginable harm has been done here because of people teaching at low-level "fluency."
But isn't Spanish just a trade language? Why learn it so well?
Yes, that's true to a point. We do plan to do the bulk of our ministry in the Guarayú language (an indigenous language completely unrelated to Spanish). However, Spanish is the most widely-spoken language in the country, and anytime we are out of the tribal area, we will need it! Also, we are building relationships now with the local church here in the city. For them to share in our future ministry, we need to be able to accurately share with them.
However, the most important reason is that we work with Bolivian nationals! At this point, it looks as though we will not have any expat missionaries on our tribal missionary team. The other families that are getting involved in this tribe are Bolivians that have gone (or are going) through our organization's national training program, similar to what we did in the US. For us to work and fellowship together, we must be able to communicate with them at a high level.
When will you finish and move into the tribe?
That's a complicated question! If we continue to progress as we have, I hope to finish my Spanish study next spring. Kaylee will hopefully finish around the end of the year or early 2013. A lot of that depends on what I get involved in after I finish Spanish and how much I can take over at home to give Kaylee more study time.
You've probably seen programs that advertise "Fluent in 6 weeks or your money back" and the like. Well, like most things, it just isn't that easy. The big question is how to define fluency.
Our language progress is measured using a system similar to the ACTFL standard for proficiency testing. Essentially, we have regular proficiency evaluations that very accurately place us on the ladder of progress. Basically, it's 4 levels, broken into 10 sub-levels, as in this very boring chart I made just now:
Where are you right now?
Our evaluations establish our "floor" of language use. That is, when we reach a particular level, it means that we never speak below that level. Our last evaluation, at the end of August placed me between levels 5 & 6 and Kaylee right on the high end of level 3, reaching for 4. We will be having another evaluation in another month and both hope to break into the next BIG level!
What is your goal?
Obviously, we want to speak as well as possible. Our organization has established a standard that we do not teach publicly until we have reached at least Advanced: Low (level 7). I am shooting to reach Advanced:High (level 9).The reasoning behind this is simply explained by a mistake I made in class recently:
I was talking about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and got to the part about Lot's wife turning to the city and becoming a pillar of salt. I said:
Ella dio una vuelta a la ciudad. (She walked around the city). . .nope. . .um:
Ella dio la vuelta a la ciudad. (She turned the city over). . .nope. . .er:
Ella se dio la vuelta a la ciudad. (She turned toward the city). . .Whew!
How would you like to sit under a teacher/preacher that made mistakes like that? The only reason I changed my statement is that my instructor corrected me. If I had been teaching a Bible class, I would have just kept on going after the first statement, without realizing that I had led everyone astray. Not a big deal, right? But what if I made a similar mistake when teaching about the life of Christ, or the nature of salvation?
Unimaginable harm has been done here because of people teaching at low-level "fluency."
But isn't Spanish just a trade language? Why learn it so well?
Yes, that's true to a point. We do plan to do the bulk of our ministry in the Guarayú language (an indigenous language completely unrelated to Spanish). However, Spanish is the most widely-spoken language in the country, and anytime we are out of the tribal area, we will need it! Also, we are building relationships now with the local church here in the city. For them to share in our future ministry, we need to be able to accurately share with them.
However, the most important reason is that we work with Bolivian nationals! At this point, it looks as though we will not have any expat missionaries on our tribal missionary team. The other families that are getting involved in this tribe are Bolivians that have gone (or are going) through our organization's national training program, similar to what we did in the US. For us to work and fellowship together, we must be able to communicate with them at a high level.
When will you finish and move into the tribe?
That's a complicated question! If we continue to progress as we have, I hope to finish my Spanish study next spring. Kaylee will hopefully finish around the end of the year or early 2013. A lot of that depends on what I get involved in after I finish Spanish and how much I can take over at home to give Kaylee more study time.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
What is it?
Vote in the poll below, or take a stab at it in the comments and let us know what you think!
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