Ojala hablemos perfecto Espanol

Hey everyone,

"We wish we spoke perfect Spanish"

All is going well for Caroline and I. We're currently sitting in Bagel Barn drinking a cup of coffee. As has been the case recently (because of Fantasy Football), I'm on the computer while I should be studying and Caroline is actually studying. It's hard to believe that we only have 2 more weeks here...

Our Spanish is coming along very well. We've covered everything in the School's grammar curriculum and will mostly be reviewing and doing un Monton (a mountain) of writing/reading excerises. On Friday I had a Spanish test and I realized something...this really is the most effective way to learn Spanish. The test I took was a lot like a test you'd see in a very advanced University class...and I did well on it. Caroline had the same experience too. So from an academic standpoint we've progressed un monton but from a fluency standpoint we still have a long way to go. Once we get to the DR and have to speak Spanish every day we'll really begin to move toward fluency. I think we'll plan on taking classes once or twice a week for the first few months we're there to make sure we don't learn things incorrectly.

As for traveling...Last weekend was our new friend Josh's last weekend here. It was awesome to hang out with him the 4 weeks he was here and for the last weekend we all went to Monterrico, which is a very small city on the Pacific Coast. There wasn't much to it really other then beach, cheap hotels and cheap restaurants but we had a blast (we were there Saturday and Sunday morning). Check out the pics below and you'll notice a few interesting things:

• The sand there is Black from the Volcanic soil
• The waves were huge...by VA Beach standards
• The water was extremely rough and no one really swims. Josh and I did though but by swimming I really mean going in the water and not drowning (funny Demetri Martin Sketch about this)

I need to stop typing because the longer the post the less it gets read. I will post again soon with updates about Finances and the last weeks of our trips.

Note: we'll be back in VA from 9/1-9/14

Prayer Requests:

1. Language...Studying is harder now because we're experiencing diminishing returns on our effort (a little econ for everyone)
2. DR Preperation...It's getting very close and it's easy to worry
3. Spiritual Discipline...I'm better about studying the Word/Praying/leading Bible studies with my wife when I have a specific schedule so some days it's easy for me to be undisciplined with my life
4. The people of the Dominican Republic whose lives we will soon be a big part of!

Caroline and I thought it was really funny to take pictures of me shaking my face really fast. It reminds me of that picture of Roy after he got in a drunk driving accident on The Office.


That's Josh watching me get swallowed by a wave. This picture does do justice to how big these waves were...They were 6-8 feet.


I think this shows a little better how big the waves were.


Josh, Caroline, Me, and Helga covered in black sand at the beach. You know how hot white sand is at the beach...Add black.