la alegría compartida ~ shared joy: Language School in Copán

I have officially been in Honduras for 11 days, and my time here has been wonderful so far. After Claire and I arrived last Friday, we spent the weekend in San Pedro Sula with Rick and Lura before we all headed to Copán for language school. We attended Ixbalanque Spanish School for 4 hours each afternoon, Monday through Friday. We each had a private tutor, which was awesome. My teacher, Mildia, was amazing! By the end of the week she had me rolling a die with the verb tenses, picking a card with the subject and a card with the verb and making up a sentence. I also got to read and summarize Spanish childrens’ stories. I stayed with a very nice family: Manuel and Delmi, and their sons Diego and Leo. They were great hosts and helped me to practice my new Spanish skills in real life conversations.

Since we had the mornings and evenings free (besides homework time) we had a chance to explore a lot of really interesting parts of Copán. We visited the “aguas termales”, natural hot springs where you can swim; Macaw Mountain, a bird sanctuary with tons of scarlet macaws (the national bird of Honduras); and the Mayan Ruins. We were also able to see a lot of Copán on a kayaking trip down the Río Copán, and visit Guatemala for a few hours. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see so much in such a short period of time.

We met some really great people; in particular, Concepción, the lay leader of El Espíritu Santo Episcopal Church in Santa Rita (just outside of Copán). Concepción is currently awaiting ordination to the priesthood and is a marvelous human being. We were able to attend a prayer and worship service at his church on Wednesday evening, and again for church on Sunday. It was wonderful to share this time with this beautiful church family. Concepción graciously laid hands on each of us and prayed for our time in Honduras. I also had the honor of doing to Old Testament reading (in Spanish!) during yesterday’s service.

We made it back to San Pedro Sula yesterday afternoon. We got Claire settled into her new apartment this afternoon, and we’ll be heading to Tela tomorrow. I am really looking forward to seeing my new home, meeting the Director of the school, and getting settled into a routine. Please pray for safe travel for Rick, Lura, Claire and me as we travel. Thanks to all of you for making this a reality. More to come soon!