Fish and Chicken

We thought we'd share some interesting quotes from our local church here in Managua. Here's just a sampling:

"We all have fish, and the only way to receive salvation is to ask the Lord to forgive our fish."

"This afternoon we will have a talent show to benefit the youth. They need a chicken for trips and other activities."

Oh, the joys of learning a language. You can imagine our confusion as we tried to figure out the great theological meaning of fish. Turns out that the Spanish word for fish, 'pescado,' is quite close to the Spanish word for sin, 'pecado.' We're glad the the Lord is forgiving our sins, rather than forgiving our fish.

And why do the youth need a chicken?

'Necesitan a pollo para excursiones y otras actividades,' is what we heard.

'Necesitan apoyo para excursiones y otras actividades,' is what the pastor actually said. The two underlined portions are pronounced the same, at least to our ears, but the second one means 'support.' The kids don't need a chicken to travel; they need money so they can go places.

Our days are filled with moments like these. Food vendors ask which we would like: chicken, pork, or cheese, and we answer 'Yes.' Our teachers ask us, 'How was your weekend?' and we answer 'Oh, not too much.' Someone gives us directions, and we look at each other to see if the other one understood. Then we say in broken Spanish, 'Sorry, I did no understands. Cans you tell another time?' Lauren says we're not quite as bad as that, but Mitch thinks it feels like an accurate representation of our interactions.

Regardless of the mistakes, we truly enjoy learning another language. It's difficult, and it can be frustrating if you aren't willing to laugh it off. It takes time, 4 hours of classes each day and a fair bit of homework each evening. And once you learn a topic, you can't speak it fluently until you've practiced, practiced, practiced. It's been said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a professional. Don't know if that's accurate, but it feels right :) Yet we're finding joy in it.

Where's the joy in all that time and difficulty? When we can understand the simplest things outside of our house. We took Emre on a walk and a man who met us said 'Qué bonito pastor alemán!' And without asking him to repeat himself, we knew he was saying Emre was a 'pretty German Shepherd!' That's a big deal for us. We get off the buses and can understand what the vendors are selling, without looking at their wares! That's pretty big, too. When people use a word we don't know, they can explain what it means in Spanish, and we understand!

Today was the most exciting. We sat through church and actually understood the bulk of the message! Definitely not all the words, but the main points. Afterward, one of the children asked if we understood the message, and we give an outline! First time for that, no question! So we know we're making progress.

Plus, the children and staff at CINAFE are incredibly gracious and patient. That doesn't mean they always refrain from laughing at us, but we all have fun with it together. And it seems like we're developing strong bonds with everyone there, which is the primary reason we decided to move here. God has it all under control.

He has been providing us with great ways of interacting with CINAFE outside of teaching English. It's nice to be a part of the daily life, and not just guest teachers from the U.S. On Friday, one of the girls cut Mitch's hair. It was her first time doing it, and it didn't go perfectly! So we stopped by and made her fix it on Saturday! We showed up and left as we liked, and we felt like it was natural to simply drop by for something we needed. It was fun to do something like that which didn't involve teaching or anything aside from being together. 

Also, last Sunday there was a talent show [which did not involve chickens], and the kids wanted to do a play for it. They needed someone to play God, so they asked Mitch. And they won the drama category! They were pretty excited, and we were happy they thought of us when they needed extra people. Plus, Elmer [house parent of CINAFE] wanted to rap a little in Spanish, so Mitch said he would accompany him with the guitar. Then Elmer asked him to sing the chorus, so Mitch had to perform a song in Spanish at the talent show! It wasn't the easiest thing, but Elmer rocked the mic, and they ended up winning the song category! So we all went back to CINAFE and celebrated with chips and pop. Just another time when we were extremely grateful for the way God has placed opportunities in front of us to connect with the people.

That's the news from down south. May the Lord always forgive us our fishes, as we forgive those who fish against us. Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

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Here's a link to part of the Spanish rapping extravaganza. Start watching around 20 seconds; the mic wasn't on at the beginning.

https://vimeo.com/112646459