Each week here a new group comes in for their short term mission trip. Well actually, there's usually many groups heree but the interns typical stick with one group for the week. That allows us to connect with the group and get to know them a little bit by the end of the week. However, this week after 3 days I still felt like I hadn't connected much with the group. In the van, I mostly talked with the missionary/pastor/driver and during ministry times I was mostly with the Dominican youth that were working with us. That's great for practicing Spanish but it means I didn't spend as much time with my group. That being said I was quite surprised by the response I got from them on thier last night. Two of the girls made a bracelet for me and another team member gave me a hug and thanked me working with them this week.
That made me realize that sometimes I can't see the impact I make on people, but that doesn't mean no one's watching. All week I'd gone in and given my all to whatever ministry we were doing. The first two mornings were VBS with kids so it was pretty natural for me to jump in and start doing stuff. According to one group member, I was 'rocking out' to the worship songs with the kids. On Wednesday, we had a work project building a fence around a church. This mean cuting down trees and branches for posts and stringing barbed wire. Tools required: machetes, hammers, and several metal poles as post hole diggers. It was great hanging out with older people (over 9 years old) during the day; they'd even help correct my Spanish which was very helpful. One girl even taught me how to 'mow' with a machete. You use a hooked stick to hold the grass/weeds back and then swing the machete below that to cut the grass off near the ground. Throughout this week I was faithful to serve where I was needed each day, even though to me it seemed like I wasn't making much of a difference to the team. In return, God was faithful to me and allowed me to see that during those times I wasn't with the team they were still watching me; that made an impact on them without me knowing it.
PRAYER UPDATES
1. Spanish-I'm learning more everyday but I'm not sure if I'll be fluent before I leave. Pray that I'll be proactive in practicing Spanih and not give in to fear and shyness.
2. Financial-My goal is to raise $1,500 in support to cover airfare and other expenses. So far I've just over $500. Pray that the remaining money needed to cover my expenses would be provided.
3. Future Plans-As of now, I still don't have a job after my intership ends. Pray that I would know where the Lord wants me to be this fall (and afterward).
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
Translating
Well, by week 3 I'd missed writing a weekly blog post. If I'm keeping my dates right I just finished my fifth week as an intern here in the DR. My time is flying by and I'm already dreading how fast August 3rd is approaching. As you probably already know my primary goal over this summer and my time overseas is to focus on practicing my Spanish and to be able to serve as a translator. So after 5 weeks it's about time I give you all an update on how that's going.
I arrived knowing a decent amount of Spanish and would frequently help translate small conversations. For example, when we take groups out to a village I'd translate one-on-one converrsations between a kid and a group member. Some groups have member who know a fair amount of Spanish while others don't. One common request amoung the kids is "caballo", they're asking for a piggy-back ride. (That's actually the Spanish word for 'horse'. Makes a lot more sense to me. When have you seen someone rid a pig??) These small conversations/translations were fun and the longer I'm here the better I am at them. Still, the idea of tranlating to an entire group seemed to far beyond me.
However, that began to change about 10 days ago; I translated from Spanish to English for the entire group. I'd been with the group for the past few days and as they prepared the leave the village for the last time everyone--Americans and Dominicans--gathered for prayer. The group had spent the week doing ministry with Omar, a Dominican who works with one of the SCORE missionaries, but he doesn't speak English. Somehow (God's creativity, I presume) our official translator wasn't present at the moment, so I ended up translating for Omar. All in all, what I translated was rather short--"Thanks for coming. We're sad to see you leave. Have a safe flight." But the fact that I did it for a group of about 20 people amazed me. It was such an encouragement to have that experience and realize I really can translate.
Then this past week I was really put to the test. Another group had come in; the ladies and I were at a morning devotional with a group of Dominican women. The Dominican lady giving the devotional asked if I was translating. "No way." I said. However, the missionary said that I'm able to translate and kindly forced me to do it. I sort of tag teamed with a Dominican women who knew some English. I would translate from Spanish to English and she would translate from English to Spanish. I have to admit I pretty much hated translating during the entire devotional, but at the same time knew it was the best possible way to practice so I was also super thankful for the opportunity. Translating requires a lot more than simply knowing two languages. It's a constant cycle of listening to the Spanish, mentally translating it to English, remembering it while hearing the second part of the sentence, translating the second part to Spanish, and then speaking the entire sentence in English. It was such a stressful process but I'm so glad I'm able to say I did it. Obviously, as my Spanish get better the translating will get easier.
So far the best way to practice Spanish is with those who don't know English. Like Omar, who knows some English but not enough to make speaking English easier than Spanish. I'm also able to practice with the bus drivers. One of them, Nino, is especially helpful; he basically forces me to speak Spanish and when someone tries to translate for me he replies, "No, no, ella sabe. Ella sabe." "She knows. She knows." It's definately encouraging to have someone show so much confidence in me when I don't always feel that way. Granted there's times we don't alway understand each other the first time something is said but we're usually able to figure it out.
Besides translating, I am beging to understand more and more spoken Spanish. This past Sunday at church the entire sermon was in Spanish but I was able to understand the sermon nearly as well as one preached in English. I'm still learning everyday, and at times I get discouraged, but everytime I use my Spanish I'm encouraged that I can do this.
To end, here's a few Dominican Spanish words. Many of them are different than what I learned in school or have a different meaning. Do you know the meaning of any of these??
-Mame
-La guagua
-Guapo
-Mata
-Guineo
-Que lo que
-Un chin/ una bina
I arrived knowing a decent amount of Spanish and would frequently help translate small conversations. For example, when we take groups out to a village I'd translate one-on-one converrsations between a kid and a group member. Some groups have member who know a fair amount of Spanish while others don't. One common request amoung the kids is "caballo", they're asking for a piggy-back ride. (That's actually the Spanish word for 'horse'. Makes a lot more sense to me. When have you seen someone rid a pig??) These small conversations/translations were fun and the longer I'm here the better I am at them. Still, the idea of tranlating to an entire group seemed to far beyond me.
However, that began to change about 10 days ago; I translated from Spanish to English for the entire group. I'd been with the group for the past few days and as they prepared the leave the village for the last time everyone--Americans and Dominicans--gathered for prayer. The group had spent the week doing ministry with Omar, a Dominican who works with one of the SCORE missionaries, but he doesn't speak English. Somehow (God's creativity, I presume) our official translator wasn't present at the moment, so I ended up translating for Omar. All in all, what I translated was rather short--"Thanks for coming. We're sad to see you leave. Have a safe flight." But the fact that I did it for a group of about 20 people amazed me. It was such an encouragement to have that experience and realize I really can translate.
Then this past week I was really put to the test. Another group had come in; the ladies and I were at a morning devotional with a group of Dominican women. The Dominican lady giving the devotional asked if I was translating. "No way." I said. However, the missionary said that I'm able to translate and kindly forced me to do it. I sort of tag teamed with a Dominican women who knew some English. I would translate from Spanish to English and she would translate from English to Spanish. I have to admit I pretty much hated translating during the entire devotional, but at the same time knew it was the best possible way to practice so I was also super thankful for the opportunity. Translating requires a lot more than simply knowing two languages. It's a constant cycle of listening to the Spanish, mentally translating it to English, remembering it while hearing the second part of the sentence, translating the second part to Spanish, and then speaking the entire sentence in English. It was such a stressful process but I'm so glad I'm able to say I did it. Obviously, as my Spanish get better the translating will get easier.
So far the best way to practice Spanish is with those who don't know English. Like Omar, who knows some English but not enough to make speaking English easier than Spanish. I'm also able to practice with the bus drivers. One of them, Nino, is especially helpful; he basically forces me to speak Spanish and when someone tries to translate for me he replies, "No, no, ella sabe. Ella sabe." "She knows. She knows." It's definately encouraging to have someone show so much confidence in me when I don't always feel that way. Granted there's times we don't alway understand each other the first time something is said but we're usually able to figure it out.
Besides translating, I am beging to understand more and more spoken Spanish. This past Sunday at church the entire sermon was in Spanish but I was able to understand the sermon nearly as well as one preached in English. I'm still learning everyday, and at times I get discouraged, but everytime I use my Spanish I'm encouraged that I can do this.
To end, here's a few Dominican Spanish words. Many of them are different than what I learned in school or have a different meaning. Do you know the meaning of any of these??
-Mame
-La guagua
-Guapo
-Mata
-Guineo
-Que lo que
-Un chin/ una bina
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