New family and new life :)

Well I’ve been in Leon for a little over a week now, which means in the past 3 weeks I’ve gone from working on a farm in the middle of the states to living in a small city in Central America going to school.  The past week has brought many changes for me being in a new place with a new family and speaking a new language.  Some of the changes I’ve experienced:

1.       Language: My Spanish has improved a ton since moving in with my host family, but it still has a ways to go.  I can now understand some of the conversations that happen around me and some of the music I hear and some of the TV I watch.  I don’t feel as lost when things are going on around me and I feel more able to have a personality since I can better communicate what I want, although this is still a struggle for me. 

2.       Sleeping hours: This may come as a shock for those of you who know I never go to bed before midnight, but I have yet to go to bed after midnight since being here.  This is due to several reasons.  A) It gets dark here really early, around 7 it is almost completely dark which means that the sun rises around 4 or 5 I think. B) Because of this sun schedule, many people are up around 4 and 5.  Since all the houses are connected, I can hear the neighbors music blaring at 5 AM, I can also hear the neighbors’ roosters crowing between 5 and 6, I can also hear venders in the street yelling “Verduras, verduras” (vegetables).  All of this means that I have yet to sleep til my alarm goes off at 7.  C) I am just plain tired after a day of trying to communicate in Spanish, dealing with the heat, and walking all over the city for school, wireless internet, and visiting the others in my group.  I usually get to the point in the night where I can’t comprehend Spanish anymore, so I head to my room and get ready for bed by 10 usually.  This is completely opposite of my normal sleeping schedule, but it’s how everyone else functions down here, so I’ve had to adapt.

3.       Food: Food here is based around rice and beans.  I’ve been pretty lucky and not had too many beans, which I am not a huge fan of.  However, there really is no concept of breakfast food here.  I’m not a huge breakfast eater, but many mornings here mi mama serves me leftovers from supper or something that could be a lunch or supper meal.  Occasionally I get just fruit or eggs which I like, but a chicken leg is not my idea of breakfast.  For the most part, I don’t mind the food here; it’s just different than at home.  I do love all the fresh fruit and fruit juices that I get!  My favorite new fruit is mamones.  I don’t even know if I could describe them if I tried but here is a picture.  The outside isn’t eaten, inside is a slimy ball that is delicious! 

4.       Activity: Other than eat, my family, like most families here, mostly watches TV and goes to church.  In one week, I have been to 3 or 4 church services and missed at least one.  This is their lifestyle though, most people don’t have hobbies, they just go to church for all their needs socially and spiritually.  Church has been an interesting experience for me since the services are very emotional and full of clapping (even if the clapping isn’t in rhythm).  I am looking forward to being able to understand more of what’s going on in the future.  I also mentioned TV as an activity.  Compared to other families, I don’t think mine watches a ton of TV, but I enjoy the programs.  There is everything from programs in English with Spanish subtitles to English shows with Spanish voiced over the mouths obviously speaking English to straight Spanish shows.  My papito likes to watch baseball, which makes me very happy and I love to join in on watching that.

Those are the big changes I have experienced this week and I’m looking forward to everything else that will happen in the next few months.  This week we have Spanish class every morning again and then we’re free in the afternoons, and I’m sure I will go to a few more church services.  Please continue to keep my group and our host families in your prayers as we adjust to family life here and are still trying to overcome the language barrier.  Thank you so much!