As I walk out the door, I am met with a strong cold breeze. I zip up my jacket and head to the little restaurant where I usually get some stuffed bread for breakfast. This place is also a shortcut out of the complex, which cuts the time to get the bus by half. Now I have to cross the street. There really aren’t crosswalks here; some exist, but they don’t really mean any thing unless there is a light, so I wait for the traffic to stop and then start walking across. After I cross the road, I go to the bus stop where the number 88 bus starts. I am in luck today! There is a bus waiting to start its route. I pay the 1 dollar and then find an open seat. I look at my I-touch, and it is 7:10. This means I will have some time to prep for my writing quiz before class, which is always nice.
Once I arrive at the university campus, I sit in the lobby and use the program on my I-Touch to quiz my self on writing the words for the morning vocabulary quiz. I also say hello to my cohorts when they come in and chat for a bit in the local language, as we usually only speak English for about an hour or so around dinner time and on Sundays- and even then we only use it with each other or to accomplish very important things like getting our visa in order. Soon I head to class and am in class for the next 4 hours till lunch. Then I usually eat lunch with some classmates or my cohorts and then go home. Rest and then do my home work / study for several hours and be in bed by 10 to wake up by 6 the next morning.
This is my usual daily schedule. During the past few weeks classes, getting the apartment set up, and getting my visa in order took all my time. However, now that I am adjusting to class, it’s becoming easier to read the language, the visa and apartment stuff have been taken care of, I have a little free time for other things during the week.
Also there was a holiday here for the last few days, which has been a refreshing break. Our group took the opportunity to visit some of the top campuses in the area. We plan to have teams working on them in the next year or two; I plan to write more about these next time. We also have taken some time to visit the local sites and relax and have fun together.
Overall things are going well, and I am learning a lot. Over the next week or two I hope to make some local friends to practice speaking and to share dad with them. This year because of my focus on the language, I haven’t done much hanging out with local friends, but I am excited to start and to practice / learn the words to share about Dad with people here. Please ask Dad to provide people I can practice with who have good, the standard local language, are willing to help me learn, and are also open to hearing about Dad.
With love in Him,
-Rocky J