Everybody's in School! - By Becky

As of November 5th, we are all attending school! We found a Vacation School for the kids to attend for the month of November. The Guatemalan schools run mid-January to mid-October. "Mundo Sesamo" is a preschool run in a local church. In November they have a special vacation school for ages 2-8. Ben and Elena spend three hours each morning playing games, doing art projects, singing and learning a little bit of French. That's right, they are learning counting, colors, animals in French. Of course our goal for them is to learn Spanish. Each day they come home with a new phrase that they have learned and want to try out. Sometimes, the phrase they have learned doesn't make sense. For example they insist that people are saying "Chicky-ticky bada-boom bang." to the toddlers during open play time. They keep asking us what it means! Either it is just a nonsense phrase you say to babies, or the kids are not repeating it right. They are also making friends, which is great!

I am going to language school while the kids are in their school. My teacher, Veronica, is great! In the first couple of sessions, we got acquainted and analyzed my Spanish. Although I "know" all the grammar, it isn't all coming out of my mouth. So we are reviewing some of the advanced, yucky congegations. She is also correcting my bad habit of "eating" my "S"es. This is frowned upon in Guatemala, but a typical accent in some places (Colombia for example). I am already seeing improvement in my speech. She is also challenging me to read more in Spanish, so besides reading the newspaper, I am reading a college text on the culture and customs of various indigenous groups in Guatemala and a novel, En El Tiempo de Las Mariposas, by Julia Alverez.

For anyone interested in the D.R., Julia Alvarez is a dominican who was raised in New York. The novel, In the Time of Butterflies, is a fictionalized account of three sisters who were part of the plot to overthrow/assasinate President Trujillo. They were murdered by Trujillo's secret police and are national heroes. Trujillo was the dictator of the D.R. from the 30's until his assasination in 1961. He has been called "the Hitler of the Caribbean" because of the horrendous atrocities he executed during his years in power.

Rick continues to plow his way through level B in school. He hopes to start level C before Thanksgiving! He's doing great, but still praying for the "gift of tongues", in Spanish of course