Small Victories

This past week has been a week of "small victories" these are the moments when I have completed something, or achieved something all by myself, or have overcome a fear in trying something for the first time. Meredith and I have this little joke that each time I am frustrated about my complete dependency upon my roommates, that I am learning to live life here "poco a poco" or, little by little. It is true, yet for having lived fairly independently in Costa Rica, I have felt as though I've regressed back to elementary school. But as I said, this week has been overly encouraging as I am finally starting to "expand my territory", as my roommate Elsa described it, and do things on my own. For example this week I have:
-Taken both a bus and a taxi by myself to various destinations
-I have purchased items at an electronics store by myself
-I have gone to a Home Depot of sorts and asked a nice man to cut me a piece of wood 56cm deep and 82cm wide for a shelf that I want to put in my closet
-I have sat through a Sunday sermon in Spanish and understood the entire thing!
-I made coffee for my roommates this morning for the first time - in a french press coffee maker.
Small victories completed by the grace of God, who is ever looking out for me as I live in a strange place with a language I'm still learning. It is good for me to look back upon these little things and remember that God is with me even when I feel very much alone and inadequate here. I'm falling into His grace as He gives it. I'm also making goals to help with this progression. Learn one new bus route each week. Learn how to get to all of the ADIEL churches before we leave for Tarma. Figure out how to get to and from the airport - this one is handy for when people want to come visit me!
I have come to really appreciate my roommates who have all helped me in turn, and in a way, it has allowed me to get to know them in different ways. Raquel is a teacher/counselor at one of the high schools here, so she is very instructive in showing me things. Elsa has been great about pointing out different places of town, explaining a little of her history as we pass by barrios where she used to live. I'm enjoying this learning process, even though I get frustrated at times. I am blessed to have been able to jump right in and live with three fantastic women. There is a lot that I can learn from each of them, so I hope to take advantage of that fact daily!