Done with language school

This past week I finished my Spanish language studies! After almost 9 months of classes, I am done! I do feel fairly comfortable talking with people and doing the things that I need to do with my Spanish, however there is always more vocabulary to learn.

For a while there, I was really worried about my Spanish level because it was not perfect. I finally realized that it would never be truly perfect and that for the type of job that I have, I do not need to be very articulate. It would be something different if I were a pastor or if my job was teaching at one of the SAM bible schools. So I am content and looking forward to begining my flight check out process in April.

On a sadder note, the day I was leaving Arequipa, the father of my host home mother died. He had been living on the first floor of the house along with his wife for a number of years and in the 9 months I lived with the family, he had been to the hospital 4 different times. Then, this past time he had been there for about 3 days but was doing OK. He could still talk, was making jokes, and had a very sharp mind. However, the years of smoking finally caught up with him leaving him bed ridden. As we were driving to the airport to catch my flight to Lima, we received a call that they were doing CPR and we should come quickly. I went on to the airport and the family went directly to the hospital.

The funeral was a day later on the 25th and I was not able to attend because I left for Lima and am still here presenting my paperwork to receive my Pilot license. Two months earlier we had celebrated his birthday. After blowing out the single candle, he announced to the family and friends gathered around that his one wish was that we would all see each other again in Heaven.