I keep wondering how much the people we deal with on a daily basis must be laughing as they recount our coming into their stores to order things. The other day we visited the brand new mall in town. Though it's only about a tenth of the size of a regular stateside mall and about half a Super Wal Mart, it's great!
There is a grocery store attached to the mall which we've already visited a couple times. Our friends, the Baltzersens, wanted some goodies from the bakery. Trying to get a price was near to impossible; we knew how to ask the price of things but, they spoke so quickly and I'm not so good yet with numbers higher than 19. The girls finally put the prices up on their scale. We all got a good laugh about that one.
Culture shock is already hitting. It's hard to get used to standing in line for everything. In the grocery store you must visit the deli counter, the meat counter and the bakery counter - separately. The fruit and veggies also must be weighed and ticketed right there in that section. A visit to the paint store takes at least 30 minutes, never mind that what we needed we just took off the shelf.
Perhaps when our Spanish gets better things will move more rapidly. I was able to recognize many things that Pastor Archie had preached on during the Sunday services. So for that I'm thankful. My goal is to, very soon, be able to have a meaningful conversation with some of the ladies here. Right now my communication is extremely limited and consists mostly of smiles.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for this immersion way of language learning. The longer we are here the more I realize I wouldn't learn half of what I'm learning now in a classroom. I'm a hands on learner and I'm very goal oriented. Motivation is a major factor here. I'm motivated to be able to share the Gospel...clearly.
Yesterday, we took our friends, the Baltzersens, to the airport. Boy, will we miss them considerably. It was a blessing to have this transition time with them. Thanks Bill and Judy for serving the Lord, though briefly, here with us in Uruguay. We are looking forward to your next family vacation down here. :-)
1 comment:
It was great to hear how things are going. We are praying for you. We know by exprience what you are going through. I will say though, that I have to visit 4 different stores in four different neighborhoods to do my shopping! It's funny, I just posted a blog a few days ago called Language Barriers! :) Great minds think alike. Let us know when your phone line is up. It's free call! Take things one day at a time. Someone told me those words before we left and I rehearse them to myself everyday. It helps to slow me down and put things in perspective. We love you guys.
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