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the daily grind

On any given Monday through Friday, you can find me, from 8am until 12 noon, sitting at this table studying Malagasy. Lately, I have been able to go through each class without my head hurting or my eyes filling with tears. Let me be the first to tell you that learning a language is NOT easy. Not to mention when you found out you are actually almost blind. Yeah...glasses happened too.

Some days it feels like I will never learn the language. But there have been small victories of being able to read and write properly. There has also been the understanding of being spoken to. Speaking back is a different story. By the time I formulate my sentence in Malagasy, the person I'm speaking with is already 3 steps ahead of me and onto a different topic. I wish Malagasy had a "southern" region...maybe then they would talk slow enough for me to fully understand and participate in conversation.

In an effort to step out of our usual routine, Sunday afternoon, Megan and I decided (well...she decided) we should go for a nice 30 minute walk. I like to walk with purpose...so on our way we decided to make a purpose. We decided that we would greet at least 10 people during the course of us walking. Well, we are still new in town, and most people in the immediate area of our home think we are French. Every time I hear a  delightful "bonjour!" I just want to yell "I AM AN AMERICAN!!!!!" But that is neither here nor there....

Anyways, on our walk we met a lot of people. When I say met, I really mean that we were stared at a lot and talked to even less. We attempted to say "Salama!" (hello) or "Manahoana!" (hello) when we were spoken to. Sometimes we would get the "Bonjour Vazaha!" (hello, foreigner) and then the shocked face when I responded in Malagasy.

Sometimes, well most of the time, it is hard for me to not be able to communicate. I want to badly to just dive into the entire reason I'm here. I forget that moving into another culture is a process and it isn't a quick process by any means. Days are long, language is frustrating, people don't understand you...but there are always glimmers of hope.

They can be rays of sun shining through the clouds. Or a sweet little bird perched high on a tree in your backyard. Or even roars of laughter from lit up faces. They make the hard days worth it. The encouraging words from your language teacher that tell you how proud he is of you or even your national friends that get so excited when you tell them you can read better than you can speak.

Times are hard, but isn't it always true that God remains good? It doesn't matter what your day looks like, there are always things to be thankful for. We are not always the best at looking for them, but if you do, you will find them. Guaranteed. So, I press on through learning language. It isn't easy, but my God is good and He will bring me through.

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