Well, I decided that this part of his mission is a trial and part of his experience there, so I'm posting about it. Justin has had a serious problem eating the food there. He told of one morning in particular that when he just couldn't get the food down. He especially has trouble with the jello that he says they just love down there. He has always strongly disliked jello his whole life. To put it lightly, he hates it. ( We discourage the word "hate" in our home) In Justin's words, "Every time I try to eat it I start gagging and can't get it down. My companion told me I need to try harder to eat the food and get it down because the people get mad. And this was after he sat across the table from me and watched me gag while eating for half an hour. I can't wait to get back to America and reject and refuse to eat anything I don't like. It's going to be like heaven."
Justin has also been throwing up with diarrhea a couple of times a week. He still is expected to eat even when he is sick. So, our family has been concerned about his health a bit. We have been praying that he will be able to better tolerate the food and feel better. Our prayers were answered right away as the next email told. "We started eating dinner at our pension's house this week instead of breakfast. It is amazinggggg. My companion and I couldn't describe in words how happy we were after our first meal there. It was this Alfredo pasta thing with chicken on the side. We walked out of there probably the happiest we have ever been. It gave us a completely new outlook on Bolivia, this place has hope now. We now know that it is possible to cook good food here, the people just don't know how. We told our lunch pension, whose food you couldn't get me to eat in the states if you paid me, how incredible dinner was. Luckily she didn't take it the wrong way and asked our dinner pension for the recipes and cooking lessons. Hopefully she gives them to her, that would be a life saver. Dinner has been a blessing if I have ever seen one."
Now the aha moment. In Justin's words," I definitely have a new outlook on people learning a new language now that I am doing it. It is tough. I think a lot of the time we look at foreign people, especially when they are trying to talk English, and we think, consciously or unconsciously, that they are a little dumber than us. But really I realized, that they are actually probably smarter because they are speaking their second language. It is tough, so just always have patience when you are talking to someone trying to learn English. I am grateful for all the people who are patient with me here. I wonder all the time what I sound like to them, how bad my accent is and how broken my Spanish is. Sometimes when I talk to little kids it is frustrating to think that they can understand and can speak this language better than I can. I am sure it will improve though." What a great and true realization that is!
Justin said he should have a baptism this Saturday. A 21 year old guy that used to be a drug addict, has tattoos everywhere, and a child. Justin says he has made a huge change in his life and really, really wants to get baptized. They are excited for him. They also had their first baptism last week. He was the nine year old nephew of the taxi driver Justin spoke of. Pretty exciting!
Justin has also been throwing up with diarrhea a couple of times a week. He still is expected to eat even when he is sick. So, our family has been concerned about his health a bit. We have been praying that he will be able to better tolerate the food and feel better. Our prayers were answered right away as the next email told. "We started eating dinner at our pension's house this week instead of breakfast. It is amazinggggg. My companion and I couldn't describe in words how happy we were after our first meal there. It was this Alfredo pasta thing with chicken on the side. We walked out of there probably the happiest we have ever been. It gave us a completely new outlook on Bolivia, this place has hope now. We now know that it is possible to cook good food here, the people just don't know how. We told our lunch pension, whose food you couldn't get me to eat in the states if you paid me, how incredible dinner was. Luckily she didn't take it the wrong way and asked our dinner pension for the recipes and cooking lessons. Hopefully she gives them to her, that would be a life saver. Dinner has been a blessing if I have ever seen one."
Now the aha moment. In Justin's words," I definitely have a new outlook on people learning a new language now that I am doing it. It is tough. I think a lot of the time we look at foreign people, especially when they are trying to talk English, and we think, consciously or unconsciously, that they are a little dumber than us. But really I realized, that they are actually probably smarter because they are speaking their second language. It is tough, so just always have patience when you are talking to someone trying to learn English. I am grateful for all the people who are patient with me here. I wonder all the time what I sound like to them, how bad my accent is and how broken my Spanish is. Sometimes when I talk to little kids it is frustrating to think that they can understand and can speak this language better than I can. I am sure it will improve though." What a great and true realization that is!
Justin said he should have a baptism this Saturday. A 21 year old guy that used to be a drug addict, has tattoos everywhere, and a child. Justin says he has made a huge change in his life and really, really wants to get baptized. They are excited for him. They also had their first baptism last week. He was the nine year old nephew of the taxi driver Justin spoke of. Pretty exciting!
Justin also said," I hit my three month mark a couple of days ago. See you all in 21 months."
I love that boy!
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