Never a dull moment

Third Sunday at church today, and believe it or not, I'm starting to understand things better. What is that you ask?

I was talking with my cousin Alice in China last night. She is learning some Chinese right now, but also knows Spanish as she was raised by a Spanish nanny.

Learning one language is one thing. Adding a third, it starts messing with your head. When I was in the MTC and started learning Hungarian, it was if the foreign language part of my brain turned on, and all these Spanish words flooded my head when I wanted to speak Hungarian. After awhile that died down. By the end of my mission when I was proficient in Hungarian, my Spanish had dwindled a little. It was bad enough to the point when I tried to speak Spanish at home this combo of Spanish and Hungarian mixture came out and no one understood me. Alice says she's having the same problem with Chinese.

I'm finding though with my brain, one language has to dominate the other, so Hungarian is learning it has to go on the back burner for right now. But there really is a point, as your switching one language to another, where you go through a process of regression. Last week I felt like I was getting dumber as I seem to struggle with Spanish and all these Hungarian words were flooding to my head. I think that point is passing now and Spanish is learning to take over.

Of course I've paid attention the past two Sundays I've gone, but the talks and the lessons still just seemed to be gibberish and garbled.

This Sunday I felt like I was understanding more of the lessons and talks. And then I got another surprise.

Six years ago in Indiana I met my dear friend Kristine Pratt. Despite the fact she only lived in there for four months, we have remained life long friends since. Back in May when I told Kristine I was moving to Lima, she said she knew some friends from her ward in Atlanta that were moving there also.

This Sunday a new couple appeared. I didn't know if they were American or not, but when the Sunday School teacher announced they had just moved here and were going to be here for several years, I figured they were foreigners. I sat in the back of the room during Sunday School and thought, "Why am I getting this nagging feeling...................." Sure enough, it was Kristine's friends from Atlanta.

Course when I introduced myself they were like, "Hey Kristine was telling us about you!"

Casey and Erin are here through the Embassy. Here's the interesting part. Erin doesn't speak a word of Spanish. Casey said he "tested out" which means he knows some. Casey wants to come to our branch because it would be an opportunity to learn Spanish. Erin was telling me as she left they still aren't sure if they are coming here or the English ward.

English Ward? There's an English Ward in Lima?

Now granted, I was kind of surprised to not hear of there being one considering how big Lima is. But only this week do I find out it exists and that's where people go who work for the embassy. One of the bishopric counselors was telling me about it later and he asked if I was interested. My answer was simple. No.

The branch meets in Las Molinas, where the Lima MTC is (yup, they have one here). It is a half hour drive, so you can imagine what it would be like to get there with public transportation. Versus my current ward building is 5 blocks, ten minute walk. Not to mention have members close by. Nah, I'll take a language barrier over convenience. Besides, what is the worse that can happen? I learn more Spanish?

From the brief moment I talked with Erin though it was pretty interesting. First, their house won't be ready for a month. So where are they staying? The Marriott. I was telling her I'd be happy to show her around the city a little, especially downtown Lima. Then she tells me they are not allowed to take public transportation because of the nature of her husband's job. What?

If there is one thing I learned from my mission that I keep reminding myself over and over again, you want to learn a language, you have to be out there with the people. I won't deny I wish I could have had a Dept of State job because they take care of everything. But people who work for the military and for embassies do not learn the language. It's almost more like you're a long term tourist.

How can you know how life is for people in a country if you're not out there living as they live, shopping where they shop, and traveling as they travel?

I look at where I'm at now. I know how to get a nursing license and have proceeded on working on that. I'm volunteering in a Peruvian hospital. I know how to get around the city. Who do I associate with day in and day out? Peruvians.

I'm not saying one way is better than the other. I guess it all depends on what you want. For me, coming to learn Spanish was the main goal, and so is working in a Peruvian hospital.

I won't accomplish that if I am stuck in an embassy.