Language Study - Week 8

The main focus of our day here in Arequipa has been language study. Over these last few weeks we have felt that we have progressed a little more in our ability to communicate in Spanish. We recognise that we have a long way to go but we have begun to feel much more confident in speaking in Spanish and have been able to pick up quite a bit more than previously.


On Sunday we went to church as usual and as has been the case were going expecting not to understand much of the sermon. This had proved to be a little frustrating for us over the last number of weeks, however on Sunday past we recieved a real surprise. We were able to understand most of the sermon, we understood all the main points and many of the sub-points and anecdotes. What a blessing it was to us!


Recently we had also decided that in order to continue developing in our language study we would need to have more oportunities to converse with people outside of the language school and beyond our current visits to the supermarket and markets. On Sunday as we were leaving church we were invited to a small group Bible study (which of course is in Spanish). This was a real answer to prayer. Unfortunately we are both not able to go to this Bible Study together but we have decided that since the study is weekly we will take it week about. On Monday past Alicia went to the Bible Study for the first time. She really enjoyed the study and was able to understand most of the discussion on Romans 12:1-2. Most of the people who attend this study are a similar age to ourselves and so she found it really good to be able to mix with Peruvian's at the same stage as us in life.


I (Dave) have also been asked to play football with a number of Peruvians that I met through the language institute. Again this has provided an opportunity to make new Peruvian friends and to be able to use what we learn at the language school. It has also provided me with an opportunity to play football for the first time in 6 months since I broke my ankle. (Alicia would appreciate your prayers for my safety as I get back into football again!)


This weekend we hope to have two of our language teachers Julio and his wife, Miriam for lunch, either Saturday or Sunday. It should be good as they both speak English but we will probably end up speaking Spanish for most of time.

Thank You once again for praying for us!

We have really appreciated your prayers and the way so many of you have followed what we have been up to through this blog. We regularly thank God for you and for your faithfulness in remembering us. We know that God has answered many of your prayers and have had a deep sense of His presence since we arrived here three months ago now. Right now we would appreciate your prayers that God would keep us safe here in Arequipa, and again to continue praying for our increased understanding and ability to speak Spanish.

Life in Arequipa

Apologies to those who check this blog regularly that we have not updated the blog for a while. Our life in Arequipa is following a fairly routine pattern now. This is not to say that we are not enjoying our time here but generally our daily routine involves getting up, getting ready, taking Sarah to nursery, going to the Language Institute, picking Sarah up from nursery, going home and doing homework.

In between these routine items we sometimes find time to do something different like watch a movie, have our dinner out or visit a market for some shopping.

We sometimes find ourselves feeling we should be more advanced in our language study but then we have to remind ourselves that we have actually only done 6 weeks at the institute and will be here until at least September. When we look at it that way we realise how much we have been able to pack into a short space of time. Some days when we are out we have interactions with Peruvians which leaves us feeling satisfied that we could commmunicate well, while other times we come away completely disccouraged as we were unable to understand a word!

On the whole last week was a really positive week for both Alicia and myself at the Language Institute and we really seemed to be progressing well. We were taught a new tense last week and it opened up alot of new possibilities in our communication. However, Friday was an incredibly frustrating day for us both. For some reason neither of us were able to remember much in our practical classes and really struggled - even with the elementary stuff! I guess it just shows that there are good days and bad days and not to be too discouraged by the bad days. To be fair by the end of each day we are pretty tired from the studying but particularly by Friday we are exhausted and in need of the weekend.

When we returned from Lima we began potty training Sarah. Initially it seemed like an impossible task, but after a few days she began to get the hang of it. We have been so thankful for tiled floors - it has made a change from me flooding the floors!

Back in Arequipa

We arrived back in our apartment in Arequipa last night after a very productive week away. We left for Tacna last Tuesday and had a couple of days to relax, revise through some Spanish notes and do some homework.

On Wednesday we had to travel through from Tacna to Arica, Chile. Although Alicia and I both had our VISA Sarah was in Peru as a tourist as we could not apply for the VISA until we were in Peru, however in order to collect the VISA we had to leave the country! The closest and easiest way to do this was to make the one hour journey from Tacna through to Arica. Fortunately everything went well and we were only in Chile for a few hours. Having the VISA then cleared us to apply for Sarah's residency card which we would have to collect in Lima.

On Friday morning in Tacna we had a field meeting with the other missionaries, which was nice as it gave us an opportunity to see all the other missionaries. Unfortunately things took a little turn for the worse on Friday evening when I (Dave) had some pineapple juice that was off. I woke up with food poisoning in the middle of the night. Fortunately the effects only lasted about 24 hours and was back to myself by Sunday evening.

On Sunday evening we headed off to Lima to collect Sarah's residency card. Once again everything worked out well and we found we had a little extra time in Lima to relax and to look for things that we can't get in Arequipa.

Our time away was very productive, although it is always nice to be back home again and to get on with things. Obviously since we were away we were not able to attend language classes, however we will resume classes once again on Easter Monday.

We trust that all of you will have a peaceful Easter whatever you are doing and that you will have some time just to reflect on the wonderful gift of eternal life that we have because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

An Apology
It has been drawn to my attention that some of you may have received an strange email from us. I did not intentionally send any email but I believe that the email was sent as a result of me opening an email from a friend. I received an email from a friend inviting me to join an online forum. I read the invite but did not join the forum but it seems as a result email addresses were taken from my address book and invites were sent to you (and from what I believe some were in Spanish!). Please accept my apologies for this but don't worry either as it is NOT a virus! Hopefully I will not have anymore technological problems!