We have been home from Guatemala for approximately one and a half months. The newness of being home has worn off and we are now well into our autumn routine.

I have noticed a small change in Charles and Daniel. They are more open to Spanish than they were previous to the month in Guatemala. By "open" I mean they, at times, speak in Spanish, study it from a book (Charles), or play around with Spanish words (Daniel). They also don't mind us speaking in Spanish to them, like they used to. I've been trying to pinpoint exactly what could have caused this change, but am left only guessing. Clearly, they did not consciously decide to like Spanish. Perhaps the feeling of being in the minority, not being able to speak Spanish, gave them a sense of motivation to learn. Whatever it was, this change in mindset is delightful and appears to be long-term.

I am thrilled with Charles' and Daniel's new openness to learn Spanish. At the same time, I am noticing a lack of openness in myself. I have realized that being in Guatemala was really difficult! At the time, we made the best of it and laughed a lot. What was hard was living in a place where we didn't understand what was going on around us and often didn't have enough language skills to ask. We never knew what was expected of us, we were never certain about anything! How comfortable it is to be home (not physically, but socially) and know what our roles are, in every aspect of life.

FORTUNATELY, the desire to stick close to home and remain comfortable is not too strong. We know this because we have just decided to accept an invitation to go to Mexico in January. A couple from Spanish church is going to an orphanage and invited us to accompany them. Since visiting an orphanage has been in the back of our minds for a couple years now, we couldn't pass up the opportunity!