Church and Project

I got up early and went to church. I went back to the one that I had gone two a few weeks ago. It was nice to see familiar faces from last time. Again, it was quite an experience because a lot of the service was in Catalan. The sermon was in Castellano (what I consider “real Spanish”), so I was able to understand what he was saying a little better. I still don’t have 100% comprehension, but I’m getting there. I’m probably at around 40% to be honest. I just really need to work on my vocabulary and tenses.

We had communion, which was something I have missed out on since I’ve been here. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to go to a Catholic mass in order to receive that sacrament, but I lucked out today. It was really nice. One thing that really stuck out to me as being different was that when we said the Lord’s Prayer, everyone was saying it in Spanish. I mean, duh, they won’t say it in English, but it just caught me off guard because I only know it in English. So I said it in English while everyone else said it in Spanish. It was cool...like speaking in tongues or something.

After the sermon, when I was waiting to talk to the pastor (whose name is Ralph...I had forgotten), I was approached by a few people. I stumbled through Spanish and they talked 100mph...it was all good. One guy talked to me for a long time and was introducing me to people and stuff. He would say something like “this is Adán, he’s from the United States...Texas...he speaks English and a little Castellano.” A few times it sounded like he said that I only spoke English and I was thinking “hello? I’m trying here!...” But it great. He didn’t speak any English at all (except for like “hello” and “goodbye”), so it really forced me to listen hard and try to understand what he was saying. A few times I understood most of what he was saying, but I still had to do the whole smile and nod thing. It was great. We exchanged contact information. His name is Guillermo and he’s probably in his late 30s or early 40s, I don’t know. I have no idea how I’ll be able to talk to him on the phone to meet up for coffee or something, but he said that I can text his phone, so that might be a possibility. I just think it’s cool to meet a native speaker that doesn’t speak any English. It will be a challenge, but I think it’s a good opportunity to learn more. Chances are, I probably won’t be able to talk to him again until next Sunday, but at least I have contact info.

After church, the rest of the afternoon was spent working on our project...literally. We’re just making it look really professional and the graphics are going to be great. It’s been another long day and I think I’ll be turning in “early.” We have a field trip in the morning if it’s not raining. It’s barely raining now, so I hope it stops for good by morning.