Day 9

Today was our first day of PILOT. What a full day it was! Here is Coen, waiting for class to begin. His naps coincided with the session times so I was able to keep him with me and he slept either in the stroller or in his pack n play and I used a monitor to listen to him. Him and Cael even took their naps at their regular times in the room while we were in the afternoon session. I'm thankful the boys schedules are working out so nicely with the programs.

And here is Gus waiting for class to start. He is such a trooper going through the classes even though right now he doesn't need to learn a language and has already learned two (Wait I think more than that because of what he learned in seminary!)

So today began phonetics training. Honestly I'm not sure I even knew what that stuff was before today. I take for granted all the 44 sounds in the English language that we pronounce without even thinking about it. Do you think about how to say what you say before you say it? Of course not. That's the goal when I learn Spanish and this training is helping me learn other sounds outside our normal English box of 44 sounds so that Spanish will one day be as easy for me to pronounce as English. Here I am using a mirror they give us to see my mouth and the sounds I make and other sounds I'm not used to making. What a great experience to broaden my mouth, literally!

Here is our whiteboard from today's lesson. Learning what parts of the mouth we use to pronounce sounds. Fascinating! I don't think about how I put my lips together when I make the "b" sound. Or that the "f" sound makes a hissing sound that lets air escape through the lips. So interesting! This training helps me form a base from which I'll be able to pronounce Spanish easier. And in fact there has already been a few tips specifically related to Spanish pronunciation, which I've already picked up and am so thankful for! All of this training makes me even more excited for language school when I get to Spain and get to really learn Spanish!!

Itty bitty Coen and me in class right before his afternoon nap :)

Here is a bigger view of the cafeteria, with Cael at the table we always sit at. It's a nice area with big windows and a great view!

So during the afternoon session, we were engaged in a very serious exercise about glottal and consonant stops and I look out the window and see this guy walking around the cars...

Here's a closer picture in case you didn't realize. Yes, that's a bear. The whole class ran to the windows and the exercise was finished for the day. Ha! Exciting stuff!!

Here is the couple that founded MTI and PILOT. They are a couple in their late sixties or seventies who were missionaries in Asia and had to learn a very difficult glottal, tonal language. I just had to take a picture of them because they are soso cute! Gus and I can't help but giggle from time to time as they are just the cutest couple. It's kind of like watching your grandparents up there. They interrupt and interact with each other and are just so cute!

After dinner we went on a walk. Sandro and Cael have become quite friends, as you can see from them holding hands.

We came across a real live tractor and Cael enjoyed looking at and touching it.

The boys saw these lightposts and Cael asked me to take a picture then posed for it. I like this new phase of picture taking!

What a great view!

Here is our building, where we're staying, from the outside. It's quite a large facility and very nice.

We ended the walk with a train that rode past, much to the boys delight!

Thanks for all of your prayers! Coen's cold is almost completely gone. Cael's is also starting to go away too. I'm glad both of them are on the mend and not getting worse. I'm also feeling better and even the altitude didn't affect me as much today! Thanks so much for praying!