First Week of Classes

Wow what a week. Today I am finishing my first week of classes here at the Institute. It has been a very intense and busy week of classes and other activities. While I am pretty well adjusted to life here, the classes are still very challenging. Having four consecutive tutorials a day is tough and the pace of learning is very fast. There is no time to relax as I am constantly being engaged with the material. It is however an incredible way of learning the language and I am making good progress everyday. I have never studied so much in my life as I am putting in about 3 hours a day of individual study and more time practicing with the kids.

The days are often filled with peaks and valleys as often the classes are tough and sometimes discouraging, but then the experiences with the kids at Villa Amistad or the interaction with the other students here are very uplifting. I am very thankful to be surrounded by such an eclectic yet focused group of people here.

Here is a typical day this week:

6:00 wake up / reading + prayer
7:30 breakfast in one of the houses w/ the kids
8:30 worship service at the Villa
9:15 journey to school
10:00 study at school
11:45 1st class
12:45 lunch
1:15 2nd class
3:45 end of days classes
4:00 Mass
5:00 Head back to the villa / study
6:30 dinner with the kids
8:00 sports with the kids / study
10:30 shut it down

So the days are pretty busy, I am looking forward to the weekend when I can have some unstructured time with the kids. Tonight I am going out to dinner with a few friends from the institute and two of the Irish priests which should be a good time.

Here is a picture of Casa Amanecer where I had dinner last night (the food here is pretty good if you are not picky and very flexible with what you are willing to eat). I really enjoyed spending time with these kids and experienced one of my most joyful times of my trip so far last night. It may seem like a small feat, but being able to interact and engage the kids in Spanish on a coherent level last night was a very fulfilling experience.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to email me or post a comment below.
Gray

Dawn breaking over Cochabamba The mountains behind Villa Amistad

The kids of Casa Amanecer

Greetings from Cochabamba

Good morning from Cochabamba. I arrived safely on Thursday morning with no problems. My bike made it as well which was a relief. Unfortunately three small key parts were lost in transit, the presta valve adapter, the rear derailleur hanger bolt, and the steer tube bolt. I have not idea where these could have gotten off too, maybe a baggage handler was short a few parts, oh well i hope to have it running in a few days. In the meantime i have been walking to the language school with is a trip of about 4-5 km. I have made the journey three times and gotten lost each time, however my times have been declining, 2 hours the first time, 1.5 the second, and today it was only a 1.25 hour fast paced walk. I only made one bad detour today and should be able to make the return trip in under an hour. My sense of direction has been compromised by the lack of traditional navigational tools such as street signs and maps.

Today I am at the language school about to start my first classes. Today I will have four 1 on 1 tutorials of an hour each. I am very excited to begin and have been very impressed by the institute and the staff. They are incredibly accommodating and tailor each student's program to their individual needs. I will write more about how the classes are going later in the week.

There are about 25-30 students at the institute right now of all different ages and ability levels. There are three young Irish priests, three people from China, one from India and several from all over the US. Right now there are about 5 young people here and the rest are of all different ages and backgrounds. It is really a nice group of very interesting people from all over the world with a common purpose of learning Spanish in order to better serve in a variety of environments. Many of the students are going directly in missions after their language study is complete.

I am living at the Villa Amistad which is an orphanage in NW Cochabamba. I am living with about 75 kids ages 2-14 and several tias or house mothers. My first few days at the Villa have been challenging but also very rewarding. My lack of Spanish at present has presented some difficulties, but I am improving everyday and yesterday felt as if I was able to effectively communicate a little. Spending time with the kids this weekend was very fun and challenging. It is truly a unique experience for me to me completely relaxed since the pace of life is much slower at the Villa than I am used to, but at the same time to be continuously under cognitive stress as I struggle with the language. I have had much time for reflection since I have been here and that has really been how I have kept my spirits up in spite of the endless challenges. One text i have been challenged by is Philipians 2. I hope that this call to humility and service can been the anchoring theme of my trip as well as my life.

I have had some great time for exercise as well and yesterday I climbed the mountain behind the Villa and had a great view from there. I tried to run a bit, but here at 9000 feet, I didn’t last too long and had to walk frequently. Hopefully that will improve in the coming weeks.

The last few days have been filled with incrediblly stimulating new experiences and have forced me to find new personal strength to face my new and radically different environment. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I am absolutely loving it here and would not want to be anywhere else.

Thanks for reading,
Gray

Welcome

Dear Friends and family-

Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog. Many of you requested to receive email updates of how things were going in Bolivia this spring, so i created a blog to keep anyone who is interested up to date. Feel free to share this site with anyone that might be interested. I leave for Cochabamba on Wednesday January 17th. I will be staying there until the end of April. I will try and post weekly so check back next week for my first entry from Bolivia. Thank you all for your support and prayers during this exciting and challenging time in my life.

Here a brief synopsis of what I will be doing in Bolivia. I am attending intermediate Spanish classes at the Maryknoll Language Institute. This school is run by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and is world renowned Spanish language school that also teaches Quechua and Aymara, two native dialects. I will be taking classes four hours a day, Mondays- Fridays. The rest of the time I will be at the Villa Amistad. This is the orphanage in Cochabamba run by the Amistad Mission. I will post more about living at the Villa next week when i am settled in.

If any of you follow South American news, you might have seen that there has been some unrest in Bolivia the last few days. This is a fascinating time to be in a country that is undergoing siginificant political changes. In the coming weeks I hope to write some about what is going on with the political and social situation. I have been informed that all is safe for travel and that the disorder is limited to the downtown area of the city.

Thank you for reading. Check back in the next week for another post.

Gray