Wednesday, May 27, 2009

"Tengo Hombre"

Well, we got our first group of visiting MET students up here in Chichi without any snags. Yesterday we took them out to Paxot II to move in with their host families. It's a real hoot, because it's become a tradition that we start at the first house then make our way to the next, carrying along a few family members from the each house we get until a huge group ends up at the final house. Everyone wants to see the students and the host families' reactions. It's kind of like a Posada procession at Christmas! Anyway, we ended up at Manuel Sut's house and we got to see his sister-in-law and her newborn (her third and only living baby). They seem fine and she told me she was very happy.

Today, all the students got their first taste of complete frustration as they tried out their limited but useful Spanish vocabulary on host families and patients who only speak K'iche'. One student (name withheld to protect the innocent), told the brothers at the church "tengo hombre" (I have a man) instead of tengo hambre (I'm hungry). That'll learn ya fast!

Here is a hilarious video to check out if you have ever endured the frustration of wanting to express yourself with limited Spanish skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw

Good stuff!

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