It's a little weird that she's so far away.. but she and my brother in law have been so blessed by a wonderful host family and I know that they will spoil her in the most/best El Salvadorian way today!!!! First of all, shout out to my brother in law, we got this picture this morning! He got her flowers!! Good job bro.
I thought it would be as best a day as ever to update you on their life in El Salvador. {original post here} With pictures included! :)
A couple weekends ago, I did something with Hannah that I had never done before. I facetimed with her during Joshua's wedding. I heard my phone buzzing as the ceremony was starting and thought who in the world is calling me right now! Well, it was Hannah.. facetiming me! She got to see all the boys walk to the front, the girls walk in, see our Joshua standing there waiting, and watch the bride walk down the aisle!! For not being able to be there, I thought it was pretty cool that worked out!
One of my original prayer requests was "They are in a host home. I pray that they are comfortable in their surroundings." It's safe to say this one was answered. They have an incredible host family including their host mom, Adela, host grandmother, Carolina, and host "little brother", Caleb!
We've even gotten a video of 4 year old Caleb playing the "air drums".. it was adorable. They said they're getting used to life with a 4 year old... and have watched the same movie over and over again. However, Hannah said watching the same movie has helped her with her Spanish!
Speaking of Spanish! That was another prayer request! Hannah has said Ben is picking it up a little more quickly.. but they have individual tutors that help a lot. Hannah's tutor name is Frank and she said she's been teaching him some English too.... with a little bit of Texan! Like "fixin to" ... and I felt proud. That's my sister. Bringing the Texas to El Salvador! Here's a little snippet of Hannah talking about the language barrier:
I have been very impressed with Ben’s ability to communicate with the family in Spanish. I’m normally more talkative than he is in these types of situations but his Spanish is better than mine so he is doing most of the talking. I told him the first day we were here I don’t think I’ve heard him talk this much in a long time. He is really enjoying learning Spanish and trying to communicate with the family. Our host’s mom is the main person we communicate with during the day. When we don’t understand something she does a great job of acting it out so we understand. She will also act things out for the fun of it. When we told her that Ben used to be shorter than me she stood on her tiptoes and said “Hannah, you,” and pretended to look down at Ben and wave. When you don’t speak the same language you do whatever you can to understand each other. One night Ben was trying to figure out the word for rooster but our host’s mom did not understand. So naturally Ben made the noise and asked what animal made that sound.My other main prayer request was Hannah's dietary issues. This has been answered in great part through such a wonderful host home. Hannah was able to go with Adela, the host mom, to the store and show her what she could and could not eat. We've gotten pictures of huge avocados and they even grilled hamburgers at the mission center the other night!!
This is from the town about 15 minutes away called Ataco. Hannah told me tomorrow, they are going to the beach!!!
As for continued prayer requests, I asked Hannah this morning.. this was her response:
"Yes, our neighbor and someone in our church (who we had lunch with last week) has Chikungunya, which is one of the bad mosquito diseases. You can get it from a mosquito biting someone who has the disease and then biting you. The disease causes horrible joint pains like arthritis that can last anywhere from 2 weeks to several years. So we are being really proactive about putting on repellent at home."
If you know me, you know mosquitos flock to me. Hannah is the same way. Mosquitos love her.. so if you have a second please continue to pray for protection from those little bugs!!
She walked out this morning to Caleb's kid songs DVD cued up to "happy birthday"! She said they all gave her hugs while saying "Feliz cumpleanos". I am sure grateful they are loving on her today.
Happy birthday Hannah! Have a magnificent day!!
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