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