Matt and I have enjoyed our spring break: a week without school to celebrate Semana Santa, or Holy Week. We began the week by working steadily on a paper for our Latin American literature class. The paper involves three Spanish authors and has taken a lot of time and patience. In fact, I’ve become a translation dictionary pro and can flip through and find the word in seconds, milliseconds really! Sometimes it’s a nice surprise to learn a word we really ought to know, like “Aha! So that’s how you say convince”!
Anyway, we took a long break and enjoyed time with our church family out in the countryside near Santiago. We met up at the church Thursday afternoon and traveled with a group for the hour and a half drive to the church retreat center. I was listening to a heated conversation between a woman from Argentina and a man from Brazil about which country’s soccer team is better, and of course each supports their native team. I wanted to show I was both listening and understanding so I asked if they like the team in Vigo. Unfortunately, I used the wrong word: equipaje instead of equipo, and so I asked if they like the team’s uniform, not the team itself. The poor man stopped and looked at me before saying hesitantly, “Yeah, I like blue and white,” before
carrying on with his debate. I had a terrific laugh that night when I came home and looked the word up in the dictionary! On Friday, we went with our Spanish friends Veronica (Vero) and Bruno to Vero’s family home in a small town in the mountains. Their home is truly beautiful; a peaceful little house situated near a river and within walking distance of other family. We went for walks by the river and sat in the sunshine and froze during the night because the temperature drops quickly when the sun sets. It felt really good to cuddle in fleece blankets! All weekend long we ate delicious meals that Vero prepared for us and we even sampled five different kinds of cheese. Our new favorite is Queso Manchego, which is made from sheep milk. It’s strong
but tasty. On Saturday evening we went to a Catholic mass and met the priest who was so kind to us and happy to have us experience the traditional service. We were back in Vigo on Sunday afternoon and so we had a quick rest before going to our church’s main service at 7 pm to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Our church is so delightful; the church service and songs were meaningful and heartfelt and we appreciated the comfort of an Easter message similar to ones we knew our families were hearing at home. Afterwards,
we had the opportunity to call our families and so the day, and the weekend, ended on happily. Tomorrow we are going back to school - ah carumba! We hope everyone had a blessed Easter and we still love and miss everyone with all our hearts.
Matt and I have enjoyed our spring break: a week without school to celebrate Semana Santa, or Holy Week. We began the week by working steadily on a paper for our Latin American literature class. The paper involves three Spanish authors and has taken a lot of time and patience. In fact, I’ve become a translation dictionary pro and can flip through and find the word in seconds, milliseconds really! Sometimes it’s a nice surprise to learn a word we really ought to know, like “Aha! So that’s how you say convince”! 
Anyway, we took a long break and enjoyed time with our church family out in the countryside near Santiago. We met up at the church Thursday afternoon and traveled with a group for the hour and a half drive to the church retreat center. I was listening to a heated conversation between a woman from Argentina and a man from Brazil about which country’s soccer team is better, and of course each supports their native team. I wanted to show I was both listening and understanding so I asked if they like the team in Vigo. Unfortunately, I used the wrong word: equipaje instead of equipo, and so I asked if they like the team’s uniform, not the team itself. The poor man stopped and looked at me before saying hesitantly, “Yeah, I like blue and white,” before 
carrying on with his debate. I had a terrific laugh that night when I came home and looked the word up in the dictionary! On Friday, we went with our Spanish friends Veronica (Vero) and Bruno to Vero’s family home in a small town in the mountains. Their home is truly beautiful; a peaceful little house situated near a river and within walking distance of other family. We went for walks by the river and sat in the sunshine and froze during the night because the temperature drops quickly when the sun sets. It felt really good to cuddle in fleece blankets! All weekend long we ate delicious meals that Vero prepared for us and we even sampled five different kinds of cheese. Our new favorite is Queso Manchego, which is made from sheep milk. It’s strong 
but tasty. On Saturday evening we went to a Catholic mass and met the priest who was so kind to us and happy to have us experience the traditional service. We were back in Vigo on Sunday afternoon and so we had a quick rest before going to our church’s main service at 7 pm to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Our church is so delightful; the church service and songs were meaningful and heartfelt and we appreciated the comfort of an Easter message similar to ones we knew our families were hearing at home. Afterwards, 
we had the opportunity to call our families and so the day, and the weekend, ended on happily. Tomorrow we are going back to school - ah carumba! We hope everyone had a blessed Easter and we still love and miss everyone with all our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment