Panama… the ESL version

This week is Spiritual Emphasis week at school.  We have speakers here from Peru who are missionaries who have been on the field about a year and a half.  I’m really excited to have chapel twice a day and worship and fellowship IN ENGLISH with the other students!  Today we talked about suffering, but one point he brought out was about how language learning forces humility.  You just keep wanting to say… “I’m smarter than this… I can have a real thought… I promise!”  And its true… it really is humbling to be brought to the vocabulary of a 2 year old and unable to express yourself.

To that end, I want to give you a picture of my recent Spanish acquisition as well as my weekend trip to Panama.  However, I’m going to describe my weekend to you the way I described it to my host parents and use only English words that I know in Spanish… get ready.  At least I’ll have pictures and that helps :)

The weekend was good.  The time on the bus is long and it is hot in Panama.  More hot than Costa Rica.  Panama is very beautiful.  The line was long in the place where you go from Costa Rica to Panama.  Two long lines at two windows.  The place where I give them my  passport.  There is a place where you cross over water… right… a bridge.  It is very old and small.  The bus is going over.  But all the people get out.  We walk across because the bus with people is too much.  I am scared for the bus.  I know many new people after the weekend.  There is a family who is from the place that I am from in NC.  There is a guy from my church who works with this man.  He is… I don’t know.  When  a house has lots of smoke they come with water.  Right… firefighter.   They work together as firefighters.  This man is here with his family.  They will move to Honduras too.  It is a small world.  In Panama we take a boat to the hotel.  The hotel is nice and has cold air in the rooms.  Saturday we go on a boat and see dolphins.  I have a picture.  I don’t have a picture  when the water is here and the dolphin is higher.  I am not fast enough.  After the dolphins we go to a restaurant near the the water.  We swim and snorkel.  I see many fish.  I love to snorkel.  I want to snorkel in Costa Rica.  This is my first time.  It is very beautiful.  We eat lunch then we go to a beach.  The beach has many… I don’t know.  The word for the things in the sky with  the moon?  Stars.  Stars that are fish.  Ahh… starfish.  The beach is called starfish.  There are many starfish here.  You can put them in your hand.  The kids loved them.  They are not soft, but not hurting you.  They are very pretty.  After the beach we go to dinner.  I take lots of pictures.  I also buy “jewelry” (no word here, just motioning to what I am wearing).  It is a good weekend.  I need to practice Spanish. :)