Thank you for being a friend...

"Traveled down the road and back again. Your heart is true.  You're a pal and a confidante." - Theme song, "Golden Girls" (Andrew Gold, 1978)

Courtesy: ReelFilm.com

Today, I was talking to B about my ultimate Spanish goal: being able to do a live news interview in Spanish during a disaster.  As we started talking, I realized that, despite the fact that language learning as an adult can often feel like slogging through mud with concrete shoes, I have made progress! God is so good when He reminds us of His faithfulness.   

As we continued talking, I remembered that I had also told my husband that my next goal was to be fluent enough to meet a friend for coffee here in San Jose and just chat.  It has been hard to meet friends here and even harder to feel confident enough to chat in Spanish (when many of them are quite fluent in English).  Then I met my new friend, Flor (Spanish for flower).  

Flor and I met at Bagelman's, the coffee shop that I love to go to on the weekends.  She works there; I go there for the worldsmostamazingchaitealattes. No exaggeration. They're amazing.  After several weeks of chit chat on Sunday mornings over my  te chai to go, I mentioned that it might be fun to hang out sometime and her face lit up with a smile. Success! I had just made my first friend here.

Two weekends ago, Flor and I met for te chais in Parque Nacional and spent nearly two hours talking about everything from our marriages to our families to our jobs and dreams for the future. Wow. Flor is nothing short of an answer to prayer, an encouragement, and a wonderful new friend! I'm so looking forward to hanging out with her again soon.  

"Thank you for being a friend..."