Today I taught some of the group how to play spoons. I also happened to bring my Uno cards with me, which they were very happy about! The rules they play by are really different though. But playing games is really helpful for learning little bits of specific vocab, and for making friends easily.. We play quite a bit of volleyball between sessions / meals, and even though I'm awful at volleyball, after the first night, I realised I had to be less self-conscious and just join in with everything if I was going to get to know people! We're also playing a game throughout the week where you get given a name of a person and a object, and you have to 'kill' that person by giving them the object.. So far I am in the lead, having killed four people! They are calling me 'la asesina' (the assassin!) Haha :)
I feel like I'm doing pretty well at following conversation and understanding a fair amount of what's being said, which is very exciting!! It's such an encouraging feeling. And my list of vocabulary is growing a lot! But at the moment, my biggest frustration is that I can't necessarily join in the conversation even if I understand it because speaking is so much harder than listening... It's on a next level! So unless they ask me a question, its hard to join in. I am getting to talk though. They are very kind and ask me loads of questions (about family, food, travel, work, school, hobbies etc..)
A couple of things that I've noticed about the camp that are really exciting:
Firstly that there is an American couple here who have lived in Madrid for over 30 years now. They are leading the teaching and the music this week; Steven preaches and Nancy directs the choir and the band. They are so good (like, really amazing!) at giving as many people as possible, an opportunity to learn and lead. The band changes in every song so that everyone who is there to get better at their instrument, can do so, as they work with the professional band members. And there are also a handful of people who are being trained to direct the choir, which, for some reason, makes me really excited as they lead us through the songs and learn on the job how to change the dynamics of the song! It's great!
Secondly, in the concerts on Friday and Saturday, we are singing gospel songs and we are singing for freedom. In the History of Gospel Music session, Steven talked a lot about slaves, and how the music grew out of slavery and spirituality. Spain is very spiritually dry and people are generally uninterested in anything anyone has to say about religion, particularly Christianity. So we are singing for spiritual freedom. But Steven also touched on modern day slavery in his session - the 30 or so million slaves that are in the world today.. Not only are we singing for spiritual freedom, to share the gospel with people, we are singing for the slaves that are alive today. Singing to raise awareness. Singing for their freedom. What a privilege.
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