Three Weeks In!

Hola! It’s Hannah again. We have had some difficulty in uploading pictures thanks to lack of compatibility between my iPhone and our Google blog. I found a solution but limited wifi and having to download all 300 pictures from my phone to a Google app is taking a while. We will get pictures up as soon as possible. We have completed two weeks of language school. We have learned so much in just two weeks. While it has been great to learn more Spanish, there are days that we come home from class completely drained and/or frustrated over a difficult topic. We attend class Monday-Friday from 8:00am-12:00pm. We are continuing this schedule for two more weeks. After the four weeks we think we are going to drop down to just three times a week. We have individual tutors which has been great for learning at our own speed. My tutor, Frank, has never traveled to an English speaking country but his English is phenomenal! He has studied English for 5 years at a university. There are times when I teach him some English words because he does not understand what I said. I also teach him some Texas slang like ‘fixin to.’

A few days ago we watched a documentary about immigration. Living in the U.S., it is easy to assume that immigrants want to come to the U.S. for the sole purpose of wanting a better life/to make more money. Since arriving in El Salvador, we have heard many different reasons for why people flee to the U.S. We heard a story about a teenage boy who refused to be in a gang so the gang wanted to kill him. He was forced to leave his country for the safety of his life. There was another story about a teenage girl who refused to marry a gang member. They were threatening to kill her so she had to flee her country. The documentary also talked about when a parent is deported, sometimes the children are not allowed to leave with their parents. This often leaves children in foster care and sometimes they never reunite with their parents. I wish there was an easy solution to solve some of these issues, but I know it is very complicated.

It has been so interesting to hear about the different churches in the area and learn how each church began. We have talked with many pastors and have participated in a few home visits. We are so lucky to be here for 10 weeks and truly get to know the people in Ahauchapan and see some of their struggles first-hand. We thank you for your continued prayers while we are in El Salvador and ask that you join us in praying for rain for El Salvador. It is their wet season but they have not received as much rain as they normally do. Last year they experienced this same issue and many farming families struggled with their crops. (Texas people, send the rain this way, please!) We enjoy when it rains also because it cools it down a little bit! J