Hello to all my family and friends!
I am officially back in Fort Lauderdale for the next 2 weeks - SUPER excited to be back here!
It was quite a busy and stressful 2 weeks just getting up here though. Before I got here, I came down with some type of bug along with an infection in my back molar - ouch! Fortunately, the dental industry in Paraguay is really good. My friends gave me the name of a dentist and she is super sweet and very professional. She got me hooked up on antibiotics and then cleaned me up before I flew up here. She thinks it is only a really bad cavity and not my root, which is encouraging. But I will go back and get it all officially taken care of when I head back down there.
Thursday night (9/16) my friends were so sweet and threw me a surprise "going away/have a great trip" pizza party. It was so super sweet of them. They were all quick to tell me though that I had better come back down to Paraguay and not stay in Florida! haha
Friday night I flew out and got in at like 7am in the morning. I was exhausted to say the least. Nothing like eating dinner on a plane at 1am or having "snack time" at 4:30am - really? what's that about?? do we really need coke or juice at 4:30am???
Harmoni and her daughter were nice enough to drive down to Miami to pick me up. We even hit Waffle House for breakfast - luv me some pecan waffles!!!! That evening we went out for some yummy Mexican food. The food in Paraguay is good, but very simple and usually not spicy. So I have definitely been looking forward to eting some spicy food while I am up there! Afterwards, we headed to the beach to look at some turtle nests. Unfortunately, the eggs didn't hatch on our watch, but they should be popping soon!
Sunday I went to church and just had a fab time seeing everyone again. I even had the opportunity to share in front of everyone about my year in Paraguay. I was pretty nervous, but everyone said it didn't show (thank you God for that! haha).
The church leadership conference will be this thu-sunday. I will even be talking for one of the classes on Sat for people who are interested in coming down to live and serve one of the churches down in South America. Still working on what I will be saying - pray for me please! =)
got plans to hit the outlets, the beach and just try and visit with as many friends as possible. YAY!
hugs to you all!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
August update
Hello all!
Well I realize that it has been awhile since I have written a blog, although I have to say I don't think I have done anything super exciting since the last one! haha
In July, I did get a 3 week winter break from school, which was nice. The vacation is really only 2 weeks long. But with the cold we were having, the Ministry of Education decided to extend it for a week. The schools, offices, houses here are just not built for the cold at all. So it was decided it was better for the kids to keep them out another week. Ironically that third week was nice and sunny and fairly warm. But the week we went back it got cold and chilly again - too funny! I didn't do much on my vacation - aka didn't go anywhere. But it was nice to just chill, rent some movies, hang out with friends and not have to rush off to work!
July 17 was my one year anniversary for being down here and I am finally in a place where I feel comfortable here. I have made great friends, and I am working enough so I have a decent amount of $ to live on. Still lacking a lot on the Spanish front, but it has definitely gotten better. It was pretty chilly that specific day, so a few friends and I celebrated by watching a movie and chilling out together, it was really nice! =) It's hard to believe though that I have already been here for a year. I mean where the heck did the time go? weird!
I do have exciting news to share though - It's funny how much God has been working on my heart down here. As you all know, my original plan was to come down here for a year and then head back up in July. But as July got closer and closer, the more I realized I wasn't quite ready to head back to the US yet. So the fab news is that I will be staying down here another year and working part-time as an intern for the church! I will be working with the single/campus women in our church! I am SUPER excited and encouraged that God has made this possible. I totally believe that God has me down here for a reason (still working on what that is, but... haha). So I am definitely looking forward to another year here in PY. The original plan was for me to go ahead and quit teaching my third graders now. But with only 3 months left in the school year, everyone seemed to think it would better to finish the school year and end things well (i.e. don't burn the bridge!). can't say that I am super excited about it, to be honest. I am just sooo not an elem school teacher - it's weird I know, but middle schoolers are my fav age group! who knew? LOL But I also know that finishing the school year will be the best thing for everyone! =)
I am heading up to Fort Lauderdale in September though for the leadership conference. I will be there for 2 weeks and can't wait to try and hang out with everyone! I miss everyone so much! =)
I am also really glad that I get to head up to FL right now because I will be flying over to Portland, Oregon to spend Christmas with the fam and just wouldn't have time or the $ to head south. So, this works out perfectly!
I guess that is it for now!
hope you all are well!
Well I realize that it has been awhile since I have written a blog, although I have to say I don't think I have done anything super exciting since the last one! haha
In July, I did get a 3 week winter break from school, which was nice. The vacation is really only 2 weeks long. But with the cold we were having, the Ministry of Education decided to extend it for a week. The schools, offices, houses here are just not built for the cold at all. So it was decided it was better for the kids to keep them out another week. Ironically that third week was nice and sunny and fairly warm. But the week we went back it got cold and chilly again - too funny! I didn't do much on my vacation - aka didn't go anywhere. But it was nice to just chill, rent some movies, hang out with friends and not have to rush off to work!
July 17 was my one year anniversary for being down here and I am finally in a place where I feel comfortable here. I have made great friends, and I am working enough so I have a decent amount of $ to live on. Still lacking a lot on the Spanish front, but it has definitely gotten better. It was pretty chilly that specific day, so a few friends and I celebrated by watching a movie and chilling out together, it was really nice! =) It's hard to believe though that I have already been here for a year. I mean where the heck did the time go? weird!
I do have exciting news to share though - It's funny how much God has been working on my heart down here. As you all know, my original plan was to come down here for a year and then head back up in July. But as July got closer and closer, the more I realized I wasn't quite ready to head back to the US yet. So the fab news is that I will be staying down here another year and working part-time as an intern for the church! I will be working with the single/campus women in our church! I am SUPER excited and encouraged that God has made this possible. I totally believe that God has me down here for a reason (still working on what that is, but... haha). So I am definitely looking forward to another year here in PY. The original plan was for me to go ahead and quit teaching my third graders now. But with only 3 months left in the school year, everyone seemed to think it would better to finish the school year and end things well (i.e. don't burn the bridge!). can't say that I am super excited about it, to be honest. I am just sooo not an elem school teacher - it's weird I know, but middle schoolers are my fav age group! who knew? LOL But I also know that finishing the school year will be the best thing for everyone! =)
I am heading up to Fort Lauderdale in September though for the leadership conference. I will be there for 2 weeks and can't wait to try and hang out with everyone! I miss everyone so much! =)
I am also really glad that I get to head up to FL right now because I will be flying over to Portland, Oregon to spend Christmas with the fam and just wouldn't have time or the $ to head south. So, this works out perfectly!
I guess that is it for now!
hope you all are well!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
World Cup Fun - so much fun, so sad to see it over!
Although soccer is not very popular or interesting to many who live in the USA, it's a whole other story here in Paraguay and I am so glad that I was here to witness all the fun and excitement of the World Cup!
The very first game we played was on a Monday at 2:30pm. The president called it a national holiday - this meant for me that classes got canceled and I didn't have to go to work. SWEET! (other people still had to be a work, but no one worked once the game started!)
As Paraguay progressed further along, the fever got even stronger! On June 29th, we played Japan at 10am and boy was that an amazing game! I watched the game with my friend Eli and her son. But before that I hit the mall to take photos of all the fun festivities. This first picture is people starting to line up in the food court to watch the game. There were 2 HUGE screens and then like 3-4 other TVs for people to watch. I took this photo about 30-40min before the game, so the place only got fuller once the time got closer!
Outside the mall they put up this huge tent for more people to watch the game inside. It had bleachers and huge TV screens. There had to have been at least a couple hundred people inside there!
that's the TV screen in the back there by the HALLS and Trident posters.
I of course bought the PY jersey. Eli had the flag for me to use for the photo, although I prob should buy one of those too!
Eli, her son Walter and I.
What an exciting and nail-biting game it turned out to be. When the 90 minutes ended, the score was still 0-0. They then played for another 30 minutes and the score remained 0-0. So then it was time for the shootout. One Japanese guy missed a kick and so the final score was 5-3!! UNBELIEVABLE! The city went CRAZY!!! CRAZY CRAZY!!! This was the first time that PY had advanced into the quarterfinals and so everyone was SUPER excited! I had to race out of Eli's house though and get to work - I couldn't stick around to celebrate with them. But the cool part about this though was that I had to take a bus and cross the city to get to my school. Normally it would be like a 20-30 min bus ride. This day it took prob 45 minutes because of all the traffic. As you can see from the photos below, EVERYONE hit the streets. People poured out of their offices to wave flags and cheer. People loaded into cars and drove around, honking horns and waving flags. I just sat in the bus and took photos of it all (i.e. why some of the photos aren't the best quality b/c I was in the bus!). It was soooooooo fun to see all of that!
If you look closely below, you can see that all of these people are standing on the island in the middle of the busy street. There were just people EVERYWHERE!!
These are all my students - most of them wearing their PY jerseys!
I took the photo below 3 hours after the game ended! People were still honking and cheering, just hanging out and having a great time!
On Saturday July 3, we played Spain. Before the game, the city went crazy again! The malls were packed, people were honking their horns, fireworks... They opened up stadiums for people to go watch the game (it was like 90 degrees that day too!). Everyone was so excited! Unfortunately, due to a bad ref call (sound familiar US team?), we didn't get a goal that a player scored and so in the end Spain won 1-0. sooooo sad! Although everyone was clearly disappointed, I could tell that everyone was still super proud of the team for advancing as far as they had! They came back and received medals from the president. I know everyone still loves them! I sure was hoping we would win though. I wanted to see the city erupt in craziness again! haha.
DALE PARAGUAY!!
The very first game we played was on a Monday at 2:30pm. The president called it a national holiday - this meant for me that classes got canceled and I didn't have to go to work. SWEET! (other people still had to be a work, but no one worked once the game started!)
As Paraguay progressed further along, the fever got even stronger! On June 29th, we played Japan at 10am and boy was that an amazing game! I watched the game with my friend Eli and her son. But before that I hit the mall to take photos of all the fun festivities. This first picture is people starting to line up in the food court to watch the game. There were 2 HUGE screens and then like 3-4 other TVs for people to watch. I took this photo about 30-40min before the game, so the place only got fuller once the time got closer!
Outside the mall they put up this huge tent for more people to watch the game inside. It had bleachers and huge TV screens. There had to have been at least a couple hundred people inside there!
that's the TV screen in the back there by the HALLS and Trident posters.
I of course bought the PY jersey. Eli had the flag for me to use for the photo, although I prob should buy one of those too!
Eli, her son Walter and I.
What an exciting and nail-biting game it turned out to be. When the 90 minutes ended, the score was still 0-0. They then played for another 30 minutes and the score remained 0-0. So then it was time for the shootout. One Japanese guy missed a kick and so the final score was 5-3!! UNBELIEVABLE! The city went CRAZY!!! CRAZY CRAZY!!! This was the first time that PY had advanced into the quarterfinals and so everyone was SUPER excited! I had to race out of Eli's house though and get to work - I couldn't stick around to celebrate with them. But the cool part about this though was that I had to take a bus and cross the city to get to my school. Normally it would be like a 20-30 min bus ride. This day it took prob 45 minutes because of all the traffic. As you can see from the photos below, EVERYONE hit the streets. People poured out of their offices to wave flags and cheer. People loaded into cars and drove around, honking horns and waving flags. I just sat in the bus and took photos of it all (i.e. why some of the photos aren't the best quality b/c I was in the bus!). It was soooooooo fun to see all of that!
If you look closely below, you can see that all of these people are standing on the island in the middle of the busy street. There were just people EVERYWHERE!!
These are all my students - most of them wearing their PY jerseys!
I took the photo below 3 hours after the game ended! People were still honking and cheering, just hanging out and having a great time!
On Saturday July 3, we played Spain. Before the game, the city went crazy again! The malls were packed, people were honking their horns, fireworks... They opened up stadiums for people to go watch the game (it was like 90 degrees that day too!). Everyone was so excited! Unfortunately, due to a bad ref call (sound familiar US team?), we didn't get a goal that a player scored and so in the end Spain won 1-0. sooooo sad! Although everyone was clearly disappointed, I could tell that everyone was still super proud of the team for advancing as far as they had! They came back and received medals from the president. I know everyone still loves them! I sure was hoping we would win though. I wanted to see the city erupt in craziness again! haha.
DALE PARAGUAY!!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Some random PY info for you on this cold rainy night
So it started raining earlier today. It has been raining off and on now for the last couple of weeks. Tuesday night was super cold, but it has been a bit more temperate since then. But since I have no desire to go out in the rain and do anything, I figured it was a good time to write a blog and pass along some general PY info that I have been meaning to get to, but just haven't done so yet!!
So for all of you Jeopardy fans, here goes...
1) The people of Paraguay have been through two MAJOR wars. The first one is known as the War of the triple Alliance and was in the late 1800s. PY fought against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and unfortunately lost. "Paraguay was defeated in 1870 after five years of the bloodiest war in South America." (although Wikipedia may not be the BEST source, I know this time it is fairly accurate! LOL) Because of this war, Paraguay lost a TON of land (almost half of the country I think), including ocean access. Bolivia and PY are actually the only land-locked countries in S. America. It was also during this war that a large portion of the male population in PY was decimated and it was up to the women to rebuild the country. "Paraguay's prewar population of approximately 525,000 was reduced to about 221,000 in 1871, of which only about 28,000 were men." Although you can still see the Latin Machismo here, there is still a definite respect for women down here because of this time period! When a bunch of us are standing up in a full bus and a seat opens up, I am often given the seat by one of the guys standing nearby - always sweet!
2) The north part of the country is known as the Chaco. I haven't been there yet, but the second war in the 1930s was fought over this land. This too was a long and bloody war. But although PY did defeat Bolivia, they still lost some of the land due to the treaty that was made!
3) Yes, people here are still quite bitter about all the land they have lost due to these 2 wars - and rightly so I think! There is also VERY little love between Paraguayans, Argentinians and Brazilians. In fact, Paraguayans will flat out tell you that they hate anyone from Argentina! You think your college rivalry is bad...
3) PY Independence day is May 14 and Mother's day is May 15. What's interesting is that nothing really happened on May 14. I was told there was like a concert and some speeches somewhere, but it was pretty low key, all things considered. All of my friends were amazed to hear about the grand celebration that we have on July 4th. Of course one friend was quick to point out that the actual act of independence was pretty low key here. Apparently some guy from Spain came over, they signed a treaty and that was that...vs. the bloody war that the US went through to gain our independence. One can then understand our need to celebrate! However, Mother's Day is a different story. On this day, very few people have to work, and most of the shops are closed down. The restaurants are open, but usually just for a lunch buffet. Again because it was the women who had to rebuild the country, the government decided to make this the more important holiday - I think that is pretty cool actually!
4) Typical day in PY:
I have mentioned before that breakfast here is usually just coffee and bread/toast, something simple like that. They will of course have this before work.
12pm - is lunch, like on the dot. seriously, if you go to a buffet at like 1pm/1:30, there will be like nothing left!
4-6pm is called merienda here and it is basically like British tea time. This is the time for more coffee/tea and then maybe pastry/dessert...something just to tide you over until dinner.
8-9pm is usually dinner time here. I didn't think I would like eating that late, but I actually don't mind it. It is usually not a big meal though, portion-wise lunch tends to be much bigger.
The people here always think it is so funny that we eat dinner around 5-7pm. "Aren't you hungry later though?" Most people ask after they hear that. I tell them that we eat dessert after dinner and not before! LOL They will RARELY eat anything sweet after dinner, they have a strange "can't let different foods mix in your stomach" thing. Like after eating an asado (their BBQ), they hate to eat dessert b/c it won't mix well. ??? Don't ask, I am at a loss as well. They of course think it is funny that I will eat whatever, whenever! LOL cultural differences!
5) Speaking of which, after I had been here for a few weeks, my brother asked if there was something that I did that definitely made me super American, vs. Paraguayan. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that they eat pizza with a fork and knife. ????? I remember going to a b-day party at a pizza place, eating pizza with my hands and quickly realizing that was I the only one doing that! (no one said anything though) Fortunately, since then I have told everyone here that everyone in the US eats pizza with their hands, just so they know what's going on! I have even convinced a few of the guys that it is the better way to go! haha ;)
Well I had hoped to get some photos posted with this blog, but for whatever reason the photo uploader doesn't want to work - probably due to the rain/storm. Most of my photos do still get posted to Facebook, but I do also post daily photos to Flickr, for those who are interested.
hope you enjoyed the PY facts!
hugs
So for all of you Jeopardy fans, here goes...
1) The people of Paraguay have been through two MAJOR wars. The first one is known as the War of the triple Alliance and was in the late 1800s. PY fought against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and unfortunately lost. "Paraguay was defeated in 1870 after five years of the bloodiest war in South America." (although Wikipedia may not be the BEST source, I know this time it is fairly accurate! LOL) Because of this war, Paraguay lost a TON of land (almost half of the country I think), including ocean access. Bolivia and PY are actually the only land-locked countries in S. America. It was also during this war that a large portion of the male population in PY was decimated and it was up to the women to rebuild the country. "Paraguay's prewar population of approximately 525,000 was reduced to about 221,000 in 1871, of which only about 28,000 were men." Although you can still see the Latin Machismo here, there is still a definite respect for women down here because of this time period! When a bunch of us are standing up in a full bus and a seat opens up, I am often given the seat by one of the guys standing nearby - always sweet!
2) The north part of the country is known as the Chaco. I haven't been there yet, but the second war in the 1930s was fought over this land. This too was a long and bloody war. But although PY did defeat Bolivia, they still lost some of the land due to the treaty that was made!
3) Yes, people here are still quite bitter about all the land they have lost due to these 2 wars - and rightly so I think! There is also VERY little love between Paraguayans, Argentinians and Brazilians. In fact, Paraguayans will flat out tell you that they hate anyone from Argentina! You think your college rivalry is bad...
3) PY Independence day is May 14 and Mother's day is May 15. What's interesting is that nothing really happened on May 14. I was told there was like a concert and some speeches somewhere, but it was pretty low key, all things considered. All of my friends were amazed to hear about the grand celebration that we have on July 4th. Of course one friend was quick to point out that the actual act of independence was pretty low key here. Apparently some guy from Spain came over, they signed a treaty and that was that...vs. the bloody war that the US went through to gain our independence. One can then understand our need to celebrate! However, Mother's Day is a different story. On this day, very few people have to work, and most of the shops are closed down. The restaurants are open, but usually just for a lunch buffet. Again because it was the women who had to rebuild the country, the government decided to make this the more important holiday - I think that is pretty cool actually!
4) Typical day in PY:
I have mentioned before that breakfast here is usually just coffee and bread/toast, something simple like that. They will of course have this before work.
12pm - is lunch, like on the dot. seriously, if you go to a buffet at like 1pm/1:30, there will be like nothing left!
4-6pm is called merienda here and it is basically like British tea time. This is the time for more coffee/tea and then maybe pastry/dessert...something just to tide you over until dinner.
8-9pm is usually dinner time here. I didn't think I would like eating that late, but I actually don't mind it. It is usually not a big meal though, portion-wise lunch tends to be much bigger.
The people here always think it is so funny that we eat dinner around 5-7pm. "Aren't you hungry later though?" Most people ask after they hear that. I tell them that we eat dessert after dinner and not before! LOL They will RARELY eat anything sweet after dinner, they have a strange "can't let different foods mix in your stomach" thing. Like after eating an asado (their BBQ), they hate to eat dessert b/c it won't mix well. ??? Don't ask, I am at a loss as well. They of course think it is funny that I will eat whatever, whenever! LOL cultural differences!
5) Speaking of which, after I had been here for a few weeks, my brother asked if there was something that I did that definitely made me super American, vs. Paraguayan. The first thing that came to mind was the fact that they eat pizza with a fork and knife. ????? I remember going to a b-day party at a pizza place, eating pizza with my hands and quickly realizing that was I the only one doing that! (no one said anything though) Fortunately, since then I have told everyone here that everyone in the US eats pizza with their hands, just so they know what's going on! I have even convinced a few of the guys that it is the better way to go! haha ;)
Well I had hoped to get some photos posted with this blog, but for whatever reason the photo uploader doesn't want to work - probably due to the rain/storm. Most of my photos do still get posted to Facebook, but I do also post daily photos to Flickr, for those who are interested.
hope you enjoyed the PY facts!
hugs
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Videos of traditional harp music and dancing!
So I was FINALLY able to download a couple of videos to show you all - yea, that took awhile! LOL
Video #1 - For the Jacksonville crew, the church invited a woman to come in and play the harp for our Sunday service. Paraguay is known for its traditional harp music. It was really cool hearing her play!
Video #2 - For their last service with us, a few members of the church did some traditional PY dancing for them. The lighting in the video is horrible, but hopefully you can at least get the idea! =)
Enjoy!
Video #1 - For the Jacksonville crew, the church invited a woman to come in and play the harp for our Sunday service. Paraguay is known for its traditional harp music. It was really cool hearing her play!
Video #2 - For their last service with us, a few members of the church did some traditional PY dancing for them. The lighting in the video is horrible, but hopefully you can at least get the idea! =)
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
New friends from Jacksonville
Although all the churches in Florida support the churches in South America, the church in Jacksonville has specifically decided to support the church here in Asuncion, Paraguay. So this past week, we were lucky enough to have 7 members of the church fly down here to spend the week with us. The group consisted of a married couple, their son and daughter and then 3 single women from the church. The group came down here to not only learn about Paraguay, but also to encourage the members, as well as to participate in 2 service projects. I was battling a cold when they got here, so I wasn't able to help out with their 2 projects. But, I know that they first helped fix up a family's house that was in desperate need of painting and repair. Then they also went to an orphanage Saturday afternoon, bringing them toys and spending time with them.
Here is a photo of us waiting in the airport for them. Yes, there are a couple of words that aren't spelled correctly, but I was told it makes the sign that much more endearing! I agree! =)
The group arrived late Wednesday night, so we moved our midweek service to Thursday night. After church, a group of us went to a fast food place called Pancholo's to grab a bite to eat. From left to right is Tere, April, Yessi, Guille and Guille. April is the girl who stayed with Guille and Yessi and I. She was super fun and we instantly hit it off and became fast friends! She unfort only knew a few words in Spanish, but with her personal translator (me - LOL), she did her best to talk with everyone!
Friday night, we invited all of the singles over to the house for a devotional and a traditional Paraguayan asado. We grilled beef, sausage and had many of the fixin's including mandioca (yucca), rice and potato salad. Everyone had a blast! In this photo is Ricardo, Alma, Vale, Derlis, Sarah and Nancy (in the back). Sarah and Alma were 2 of our FL visitors.
This is David and his sister Sarah and then April. I was told that David and Sarah don't like traditional poses for photos - hence the funny look David has! LOL
Here is a photo with a lot of the women who came. The girl on the left in black is Maria, the third single woman who came with the group. Alma is in the middle, April and Sarah up front.
Saturday night a bunch of us went to see a concert by a Paraguayan group. They had guitars, bass, drums and percussion - it was great. I love this photo b/c you can see the lead singer using a cow's jaw bone as an instrument - that was a new one for me! LOL
After the concert, we took a quick group shot and then went to go eat some dinner.
This is a monument for the dead Paraguayan heroes - just love how it looks at night!
This is the yummy fish stew thing I ate for dinner. It was tomato based with onions and potatoes, not spicy though (most food isn't spicy here at all!) - but oh so yummy!
On Sunday, the church invited a woman to come play the harp for the end of our service. Apparently, Paraguay is well-known for its harp music. In the middle a bunch of us got up and started dancing - it was spontaneous and so much fun!
As I have mentioned before, World Cup Fever is in full swing. We took everyone to the mall and some group had painted a horse with red stripes to promote the World Cup - too funny!
Here is a photo of all of us at the mall!
Monday night was pizza, card games and dancing at the house for all the singles - remember how I mentioned David doesn't like to do the typical pose for photos - this one was of course no exception. So, although he looks bored, he was just trying to be funny! =)
Here is a photo of Guy and Loretta Berndt - the couple leading this crazy group! LOL Guy is even wearing his new PY World Cup jersey - I need to get me one of those too I think!
They stayed for almost a week and I know that the Paraguayans and the peeps from Jacksonville all had a blast! I think we may have even convinced a couple of them to come live down here for a year or so - pray for that! They were all just such wonderful people, so encouraging and loving to us! I know everyone here was super grateful for their visit!
Here is a photo of us waiting in the airport for them. Yes, there are a couple of words that aren't spelled correctly, but I was told it makes the sign that much more endearing! I agree! =)
The group arrived late Wednesday night, so we moved our midweek service to Thursday night. After church, a group of us went to a fast food place called Pancholo's to grab a bite to eat. From left to right is Tere, April, Yessi, Guille and Guille. April is the girl who stayed with Guille and Yessi and I. She was super fun and we instantly hit it off and became fast friends! She unfort only knew a few words in Spanish, but with her personal translator (me - LOL), she did her best to talk with everyone!
Friday night, we invited all of the singles over to the house for a devotional and a traditional Paraguayan asado. We grilled beef, sausage and had many of the fixin's including mandioca (yucca), rice and potato salad. Everyone had a blast! In this photo is Ricardo, Alma, Vale, Derlis, Sarah and Nancy (in the back). Sarah and Alma were 2 of our FL visitors.
This is David and his sister Sarah and then April. I was told that David and Sarah don't like traditional poses for photos - hence the funny look David has! LOL
Here is a photo with a lot of the women who came. The girl on the left in black is Maria, the third single woman who came with the group. Alma is in the middle, April and Sarah up front.
Saturday night a bunch of us went to see a concert by a Paraguayan group. They had guitars, bass, drums and percussion - it was great. I love this photo b/c you can see the lead singer using a cow's jaw bone as an instrument - that was a new one for me! LOL
After the concert, we took a quick group shot and then went to go eat some dinner.
This is a monument for the dead Paraguayan heroes - just love how it looks at night!
This is the yummy fish stew thing I ate for dinner. It was tomato based with onions and potatoes, not spicy though (most food isn't spicy here at all!) - but oh so yummy!
On Sunday, the church invited a woman to come play the harp for the end of our service. Apparently, Paraguay is well-known for its harp music. In the middle a bunch of us got up and started dancing - it was spontaneous and so much fun!
As I have mentioned before, World Cup Fever is in full swing. We took everyone to the mall and some group had painted a horse with red stripes to promote the World Cup - too funny!
Here is a photo of all of us at the mall!
Monday night was pizza, card games and dancing at the house for all the singles - remember how I mentioned David doesn't like to do the typical pose for photos - this one was of course no exception. So, although he looks bored, he was just trying to be funny! =)
Here is a photo of Guy and Loretta Berndt - the couple leading this crazy group! LOL Guy is even wearing his new PY World Cup jersey - I need to get me one of those too I think!
They stayed for almost a week and I know that the Paraguayans and the peeps from Jacksonville all had a blast! I think we may have even convinced a couple of them to come live down here for a year or so - pray for that! They were all just such wonderful people, so encouraging and loving to us! I know everyone here was super grateful for their visit!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
World Cup Fever is just beginning!
So the World Cup is starting up soon - the local newspaper even has a countdown on their website. Paraguay is of course going, as is the USA. I can't remember if I mentioned it in another post or not...but the night that Paraguay qualified for the World Cup was quite the exciting night!! Everyone was lined up along the streets waving PY flags, car horns were honking, people were cheering...it was SUPER exciting for everyone involved! They were happy that they qualified, but they were also happy that they had qualified before Argentina!! (pretty intense rivalry between these 2 countries). LOL
Anyway...so these World Cup sticker books came out less than a month ago and they have become a HUGE hit with all the children down here. What's funny is that I went ahead and bought one last week as a fun souvenir. But today there were 3 or 4 women standing outside the school giving the books away for free. Why, you ask? Because the money isn't in the books it's in the stickers that you put inside and I am here to tell you that it is QUITE the racket! LOL
Here's how it works: inside the book are two pages for every country participating. There is a sticker for every country, as well as a sticker for every player playing. There are also stickers for every stadium they will play in, as well as just official World Cup Stickers in general. IN FACT there are 640 stickers all together!!!! what is that about??
So, I went ahead and bought 2 packs of stickers for about $1. Inside each packet, there were ONLY 5 stickers...TOTAL racket I tell ya! Can you get a grasp on how much $ these parents are paying here? craziness!
With all the doubles/extras, the students at my school have even started some game to try and win stickers from other kids. Not entirely sure how it works yet, but they are all VERY addicted to it!
Here you can see the page for Paraguay - very excited to already have 2 players from the team.
Here is the US team - nothing yet!
So, will I be able to fill my book, no probably not. But am I still going to spend a few bucks to get a bunch of stickers, yea I will! =) It's fun!
Go PARAGUAY!
Anyway...so these World Cup sticker books came out less than a month ago and they have become a HUGE hit with all the children down here. What's funny is that I went ahead and bought one last week as a fun souvenir. But today there were 3 or 4 women standing outside the school giving the books away for free. Why, you ask? Because the money isn't in the books it's in the stickers that you put inside and I am here to tell you that it is QUITE the racket! LOL
Here's how it works: inside the book are two pages for every country participating. There is a sticker for every country, as well as a sticker for every player playing. There are also stickers for every stadium they will play in, as well as just official World Cup Stickers in general. IN FACT there are 640 stickers all together!!!! what is that about??
So, I went ahead and bought 2 packs of stickers for about $1. Inside each packet, there were ONLY 5 stickers...TOTAL racket I tell ya! Can you get a grasp on how much $ these parents are paying here? craziness!
With all the doubles/extras, the students at my school have even started some game to try and win stickers from other kids. Not entirely sure how it works yet, but they are all VERY addicted to it!
Here you can see the page for Paraguay - very excited to already have 2 players from the team.
Here is the US team - nothing yet!
So, will I be able to fill my book, no probably not. But am I still going to spend a few bucks to get a bunch of stickers, yea I will! =) It's fun!
Go PARAGUAY!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A funeral here in Paraguay
I wanted to write a quick post about my friend Guille's dad suddenly dying last Thursday. It was quite sudden and therefore extremely unexpected. He is hanging in there, I haven't actually had a chance to talk to him since last week.
But that night, a bunch of us drove to his family's house 2+ hours away that night for the wake. I wasn't sure what to expect, but since it was different, I thought I would share the death/funeral traditions here.
Basically when someone dies here, they have a viewing/wake like we would. The difference though is that it is at the person's house. So when we got to his parents' house, the coffin was open and on their porch. It was a simple wooden coffin. His dad was lying in this beautiful lace material. There were wild flowers at his feet and the cloth covered his eyes. Behind the coffin was electric candles and a figure of Jesus on the cross. Then behind that were the HUGE flower decorations that people had sent. By huge I mean like min 3 feet across! I wanted to take pics, but got the feeling it wasn't super appropriate. Under the coffin there is also a cup of water in case the dead spirit gets thirsty (Catholic thing I think, or maybe a PY Catholic thing, not sure about that).
So everyone comes to the house to pay their respects. It was actually SUPER cold that night. So they passed around hot coffee and mate and then cookies and stuff to munch on. A few of the women did a Catholic praying thing with the Rosary. Frank used the Bible and shared some scriptures for everyone. We prayed and sang some songs. Guille and his sisters shared a few kind memories and that was it.
If you can, most people stay through the night and on to the next day. At 10am the next day, I guess they took the coffin to the cemetery where he was quickly buried. My friends and I ended up leaving around 2am, so I didn't see that part. Gotta be honest though, I am really glad we don't have the tradition about staying up all night. It was super cold and most people just sat around outside in plastic chairs all night! But it was really cool to be able to share about our traditions in the US and to hear about their traditions here. Most were surprised that we wait a few days before the actual funeral. Although I am told they have funeral homes in Asuncion, they don't in the country-side, which is why you need to bury the body quickly. But the tradition still holds in Asuncion.
Anyway, just thought you all would be interested to learn the cultural differences down here.
I definitely love and miss you all very much!
Thanks for all of your prayers and continued support!
But that night, a bunch of us drove to his family's house 2+ hours away that night for the wake. I wasn't sure what to expect, but since it was different, I thought I would share the death/funeral traditions here.
Basically when someone dies here, they have a viewing/wake like we would. The difference though is that it is at the person's house. So when we got to his parents' house, the coffin was open and on their porch. It was a simple wooden coffin. His dad was lying in this beautiful lace material. There were wild flowers at his feet and the cloth covered his eyes. Behind the coffin was electric candles and a figure of Jesus on the cross. Then behind that were the HUGE flower decorations that people had sent. By huge I mean like min 3 feet across! I wanted to take pics, but got the feeling it wasn't super appropriate. Under the coffin there is also a cup of water in case the dead spirit gets thirsty (Catholic thing I think, or maybe a PY Catholic thing, not sure about that).
So everyone comes to the house to pay their respects. It was actually SUPER cold that night. So they passed around hot coffee and mate and then cookies and stuff to munch on. A few of the women did a Catholic praying thing with the Rosary. Frank used the Bible and shared some scriptures for everyone. We prayed and sang some songs. Guille and his sisters shared a few kind memories and that was it.
If you can, most people stay through the night and on to the next day. At 10am the next day, I guess they took the coffin to the cemetery where he was quickly buried. My friends and I ended up leaving around 2am, so I didn't see that part. Gotta be honest though, I am really glad we don't have the tradition about staying up all night. It was super cold and most people just sat around outside in plastic chairs all night! But it was really cool to be able to share about our traditions in the US and to hear about their traditions here. Most were surprised that we wait a few days before the actual funeral. Although I am told they have funeral homes in Asuncion, they don't in the country-side, which is why you need to bury the body quickly. But the tradition still holds in Asuncion.
Anyway, just thought you all would be interested to learn the cultural differences down here.
I definitely love and miss you all very much!
Thanks for all of your prayers and continued support!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Hangin' with the singles for Semana Santa
Easter weekend, also known as Semana Santa here means a 4 day weekend for everyone here. Most people work a half day on Wed and then get the rest of the week off. Good Friday is actually the day when everything is closed down. With most of the country being Catholic, Good Friday is their big holiday. So Friday a group of singles from my church and I traveled about 30-45 mins away and stayed at this hotel/"resort" area. The place has an actual hotel with a few rooms, but also has cabins that you can rent out, which is what we did. It was absolutely gorgeous there and we had a blast!
Here is the gang:
The place had a small lake with a boat and a kayak that you could you take out for a bit. Here are the girls in the boat; the guys are in the next photo! All the girls wanted to sit in the boat so they wouldn't fall in...as you can tell, the guys weren't really concerned about that! LOL
A couple of photos of me and the bridges they had over the lake:
Before dinner, (hamburgers that the guys grilled for us) I pulled out the cards and ended up teaching the guys how to play poker and everyone blackjack. None of them knew how to play, which really surprised me. They all enjoyed blackjack more though, mainly b/c I think it was easier to pick up! We used pebbles to bet with, which was fun.
After dinner, we went for a walk around the area. We even sat for awhile and people told ghost stories. They wanted me to tell one, but I just couldn't think of one, plus I don't know that my Spanish is quite up to ghost story-telling level yet! LOL
Saturday we got up, ate breakfast together and a bunch of us ended up spending most of the day swimming in their Olympic size pool (4 - 25 meter lanes, for those who know swimming) Most of them couldn't swim very well, which isn't too surprising since a) we are not near the ocean and b)pools are only for the rich here. But everyone eventually got in and paddled around if nothing else! =)
While we had to be out of the cabin around 3pm, we ended up sticking around until 6 or so, just swimming and chatting. It was so much fun! A few of us even ended the trip with a stop at an ice cream place in town! I am so glad that we were able to do this, I enjoyed it so much!
We are officially into fall, but it is STILL hot and sticky here. But I am LOVING all the flowers that are still everywhere. Here is a tiny one I found in the grass near our cabin.
Easter Sunday was a normal day here. Everything was open as normal. We ended up having service at 6pm to give everyone time to come back into town (most people head out of the city to visit relatives in the country side). But unlike the packed Easter services in the US, ours was pretty light. There was some easter candy/chocolate being sold in the stores, but that pretty much seemed to be the extent of Easter here. Def no colored eggs or easter egg hunts to be found!
Here is the gang:
The place had a small lake with a boat and a kayak that you could you take out for a bit. Here are the girls in the boat; the guys are in the next photo! All the girls wanted to sit in the boat so they wouldn't fall in...as you can tell, the guys weren't really concerned about that! LOL
A couple of photos of me and the bridges they had over the lake:
Before dinner, (hamburgers that the guys grilled for us) I pulled out the cards and ended up teaching the guys how to play poker and everyone blackjack. None of them knew how to play, which really surprised me. They all enjoyed blackjack more though, mainly b/c I think it was easier to pick up! We used pebbles to bet with, which was fun.
After dinner, we went for a walk around the area. We even sat for awhile and people told ghost stories. They wanted me to tell one, but I just couldn't think of one, plus I don't know that my Spanish is quite up to ghost story-telling level yet! LOL
Saturday we got up, ate breakfast together and a bunch of us ended up spending most of the day swimming in their Olympic size pool (4 - 25 meter lanes, for those who know swimming) Most of them couldn't swim very well, which isn't too surprising since a) we are not near the ocean and b)pools are only for the rich here. But everyone eventually got in and paddled around if nothing else! =)
While we had to be out of the cabin around 3pm, we ended up sticking around until 6 or so, just swimming and chatting. It was so much fun! A few of us even ended the trip with a stop at an ice cream place in town! I am so glad that we were able to do this, I enjoyed it so much!
We are officially into fall, but it is STILL hot and sticky here. But I am LOVING all the flowers that are still everywhere. Here is a tiny one I found in the grass near our cabin.
Easter Sunday was a normal day here. Everything was open as normal. We ended up having service at 6pm to give everyone time to come back into town (most people head out of the city to visit relatives in the country side). But unlike the packed Easter services in the US, ours was pretty light. There was some easter candy/chocolate being sold in the stores, but that pretty much seemed to be the extent of Easter here. Def no colored eggs or easter egg hunts to be found!
Monday, March 29, 2010
My B-day in Paraguay
Thursday, March 25 I officially turned 35 (dang that feels old to say!) and had my first birthday here in Paraguay. The tradition here is that you celebrate your birthday on whatever day it falls on. Whoever can come heads over to your house around 8 or 9 and then the party begins!
I hit a party supply store a couple of a weeks ago and found the cutest Strawberry Shortcake dessert plates and decided that that just needed to be my theme! I LOVED her as a kid. I had the sheets, sleeping bag, dolls. I think I even had the lunch box! So I decided it was time to bring her back. I bought a plastic tablecloth and then some strawberry candies to throw on top of the table. I also had red, pink and white balloons hanging up – SUPER fun!
My mom was nice enough to send me money so I could throw a pizza party for everyone (THANKS MOM!). You all know how I love pizza and so I definitely wanted to make that happen!
The pizza was SUPER yummy. We had 4 types: cheese, pepperoni, ham and cheese and veggie. As the night wore on though, they quickly became a mix of everything! I think I have mentioned before how everyone LOVES ham and cheese down here – ham and cheese sandwiches (if they are toasted, they are called mixtos), h&c empanadas…everything! But they also LOVE LOVE green olives, so every pizza MUST have green olives. Me, not so much of a fan of olives, but I bought a ton for the peeps! LOL!
This photo sums it call up!
(the kids who came to the party took the candy and wrote my name SUPER sweet!)
Here is a group shot of everyone.
Here is a photo of my friend Eli and her son
Here is a photo of my friend Paty and me.
Some more photos!
(the pizza with just sauce is just baking to set the crust, we added toppings later and then put it back in the oven)
Since it was a Thursday, most of the singles who didn’t have cars left around 10:30 or so to catch a bus. Those singles and marrieds who did have cars stayed until about 12:30am. A very successful and encouraging birthday!
I hit a party supply store a couple of a weeks ago and found the cutest Strawberry Shortcake dessert plates and decided that that just needed to be my theme! I LOVED her as a kid. I had the sheets, sleeping bag, dolls. I think I even had the lunch box! So I decided it was time to bring her back. I bought a plastic tablecloth and then some strawberry candies to throw on top of the table. I also had red, pink and white balloons hanging up – SUPER fun!
My mom was nice enough to send me money so I could throw a pizza party for everyone (THANKS MOM!). You all know how I love pizza and so I definitely wanted to make that happen!
The pizza was SUPER yummy. We had 4 types: cheese, pepperoni, ham and cheese and veggie. As the night wore on though, they quickly became a mix of everything! I think I have mentioned before how everyone LOVES ham and cheese down here – ham and cheese sandwiches (if they are toasted, they are called mixtos), h&c empanadas…everything! But they also LOVE LOVE green olives, so every pizza MUST have green olives. Me, not so much of a fan of olives, but I bought a ton for the peeps! LOL!
This photo sums it call up!
(the kids who came to the party took the candy and wrote my name SUPER sweet!)
Here is a group shot of everyone.
Here is a photo of my friend Eli and her son
Here is a photo of my friend Paty and me.
Some more photos!
(the pizza with just sauce is just baking to set the crust, we added toppings later and then put it back in the oven)
Since it was a Thursday, most of the singles who didn’t have cars left around 10:30 or so to catch a bus. Those singles and marrieds who did have cars stayed until about 12:30am. A very successful and encouraging birthday!
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