Calle 5 #14-32
La Mesa, Colombia
aaronlaurak@gmail.com
A Few More "Firsts"
Dear family and friends,
The last couple of weeks have been busy and satisfying. We enjoyed the two weeks of celebration at Colegio Americano Menno, commemorating the 50th anniversary, but it was also tiring! We’ve been thankful for a few days of rest after such a major event.
During the celebration and in the days since, we’ve had the privilege of experiencing a few more “firsts.” We’d like to share a few those with you in this letter.
1) First time hosting guests. The La Mesa Mennonite Church has a sister church relationship with Wood River Mennonite Church in Nebraska. During the 50-year celebration, we had the opportunity to host a family from this church. It was a delight to hang out with Al, Rhonda and their teenage daughter Abigail and introduce them to La Mesa. It was their first time in Latin America, so we enjoyed sharing with them what we’ve learned about the culture. They were great guests, willing to try new food and very tolerant of Colombian idiosyncrasies like the loud concert across the street until 1:00 am one night! It was nice to fill up our spare rooms with visitors. So, who’s coming next?
2) First time translating. While our guests from Nebraska were here, we had the chance to try translating for them, since they knew very little Spanish. Sometimes it was informally between them and members of the church. Other times it was during the sermon or other more formal events of the celebration. Aaron even got to try to translate their greetings and words of appreciation at the Sunday evening church service. It wasn’t perfect, but he was able to get across the gist of what they said.
3) First conversations with people specifically to improve Spanish. Just this week we have initiated some more formal arrangements for language study. Aaron is having some language exchange with Arturo, Ruth Daza’s (almost) husband. They spend some of the time talking or reading in English, and the rest in Spanish. Laura will be working with Sara Daza, Ruth’s younger sister, who is bilingual. It works out well because she doesn’t have a job right now, and we have some money in our budget allocated for language study, so it is mutually beneficial. Keep us in your prayers as we strive to become more proficient in Spanish so that we will be able to better serve in our respective ministries.
4) First time someone didn’t automatically assume Aaron was North American. For weeks the rumor has been going around that Laura is Colombian because she looks like she has some Latin American traits. Just recently a few people have been asking Aaron where he is from, sometimes suggesting other South American countries like Argentina. Perhaps this is because his Spanish accent is not as anglicized as they would expect. While most of the time he is not ashamed to be North American, it feels good to be mistaken for an Argentinean. Maybe he’ll actually fit in here in Colombia like he never could in Ethiopia!
5) First time we had someone “mow” the lawn. We’d had the “growing” awareness that we needed to do something about our back yard. Grass and weeds had been sprouting up profusely with the recent rains. A few people had warned us that tall grass makes a good hiding place for snakes and scorpions. So we finally found someone to trim the lawn through our church connections, and after four hours of work with a weed-whacker, it looks much better and feels a lot safer.
6) First steps for Abby. While the 1st official step was Sept. 24th, she really started to take off on Oct. 27th. We were in Pastor Martin’s house and she started toddling with stiff, jerky, fast steps from one person to the next. She had a big disbelieving smile on her face the whole time. Fortunately we caught the moment on video. We’re happy that the diapers seem to provide a nice cushion for every time she lands with a thud. Thus begins a new era of parenting!
7) First two teeth in Colombia. We’re learning that nothing stays the same very long with babies. Now Abigail’s smile is changing slightly with the addition of two more teeth on the top, making a grand total of six. Of course, we still think she’s incredibly cute.
8) First bout with diarrhea. The day after helping take the Roth family of Nebraska to the airport, Aaron came down with some mild diarrhea. Thankfully it was nothing more than a slight bother. We spent most of the day working on an article about the 50th anniversary of the school for Mennonite Mission Network. Pastor Martín and his wife, Elsy, upon learning of Aaron’s condition, brought fresh guava to make juice with. It’s supposed to be a natural treatment. It didn’t seem to hurt, anyway, and it tasted pretty good. We’re very grateful that we’ve had excellent health nearly our entire first 8 weeks here, and invite your prayers that it will continue.
9) First news article to be published in North America about the Colegio’s celebration. The article we worked so hard on last week is going to be published soon in some of the Mennonite media, including Mennonite Weekly Review and The Mennonite. Keep your eyes open for this exclusive, firsthand account!
10) First visit to classes at the Colegio. Aaron was able to sit in on some classes at the school, giving him some more insight into the way they run them, and how the students behave. It can be a challenge to handle 47 students, like in the eighth grade class, but he’s determined to come up with creative ways to work with them. Ruth and Aaron are talking about dividing all of the English classes from grades 6-11 next year, which should improve productivity and decrease behavior problems. Another item to keep in your prayers.
We remember you all often, and we love getting e-mails from you, so keep them coming!
Blessings and peace,
The Kauffmans