Oh, blunders! And a bonfire, too!

Learning a new language has opened up a whole new realm of laughing at myself! I knew it would be a humbling experience, feeling like a toddler trying to express wants, needs, and thoughts. However, I'm really enjoying seeing it as a process, reviewing my growth, speed, and vocabulary in relation to when I first got here. I know I still have a long way to go, but now I at least feel like I've "aged" a few more years, speaking more like a 6 year old! I thought I would highlight some of the funnier mess-ups I've made here.

Another volunteer and I were at the grocery store, trying to find ingredients to make cookies. We were looking for the flour, which I didn't know how to say in Spanish. The other volunteer told me the word which I thought I pronounced correctly until the grocery attendant gave me a funny look. The word, harina, sounded a lot like the word arena, which is sand. I had asked if they had sand to make cookies with.

The other day we were organizing the rancho, the other building where groups stay when they come to volunteer. I was happy to report to the director and another worker at the orphanage that the ranch was organized, except instead, I guess I said that the ranch was peed on! The worker, who was in fits of laughter, was asking about the giant who peed on the ranch and has not let me forget that.

Last week, I was helping to tutor 2 of the older girls. Since they didn't have school or homework all week, I decided to try to work on their English with the help of a few different apps on my iPad. They had to click on the right animal after the name of the animal was said in English. Some of them were more difficult (anteater, yak), so I was giving them clues in Spanish. For yak, I said "tiene hornos", thinking I said "it has horns." The looks and the laughter from the girls suggested otherwise. I thought, "shoot. Did I just say it's horny or something?" No worries -I just said it has ovens.

The highlight of my past week was having a bonfire for all the kids one night. We roasted marshmallows, made s'mores for them all and sang songs around the campfire. My favorite part was seeing Jorge fall asleep in his chair with a marshmallow still in his mouth!! I swear, that kid can fall asleep anywhere!



Poor lil' booger!


















Oscar's first s'more ever!