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In the last year or so, a plan was thought about, prayed about and finally brought to fruition this year. The idea was to send 4 campus students (2 girls and 2 guys) from Florida down to Paraguay to serve and encourage the church in Asunción; they were to come down for 7 weeks during their summer vacation. Students had to apply and then once chosen, The Florida Missions Council (a group within our church that decides how the churches' money should be spent helping the churches in the Caribbean and South America) would pay for their flight down to Paraguay and give them a small stipend to use while down here. I am told 20+ students applied and 4 amazing people were chosen:Beto Figueroa, Allan Mena, Andrea Garces and Cristina Aguilar.
Here is a pic with me and the 4 of them. I am standing next to Beto. The guy next to the couch is Allan. The girl on the left is Cristina and the other girl is Andrea.
On June 21st, Beto, Cristina and Andrea all flew into town.(Unfortunately due to passport issues, Allan wasn't able to make it until July). Although they got in at midnight, a group of us still went with open arms, ready to welcome them to Paraguay. I am sure that first week was probably a blur for them - trying to get into the rhythm of speaking Spanish full-time, trying to learn their way around, meeting everyone at church, learning about the money, the culture... I remember well my first month here, it was exhausting!
We started things off right though, the first Friday they were here we had a bible talk and then a karaoke party. Everyone had such a blast singing and dancing and just getting crazy/having fun. It was a great way for everyone to start bonding.
After that, we all headed up to a place called Marianela for a quick Monday/Tuesday getaway/retreat. (FYI: We = the 3 campus students, Frank Bedoya and family, John Hoyt who came down with the college students and stayed for 2 weeks, The Sincore Family who came down for a month to help the church, then myself, a teen named Daniel, and David Berndt from Florida - more on his visit later)
It was June, and boy were we cold! I fortunately slept warm that night because I brought my sleeping bag, used two blankets the place provided us, plus had 2 pairs of pants on and like 2 shirts and a sweatshirt - NOT exaggerating at all here....I think it was like 30 degrees in our rooms that night - remember, no central heating around here! Others unfort didn't fare so well - just due to a lack of sleeping bags really. I think Frank and Liz just threw the kids into bed with them so they could try and keep each other warm! LOL But despite the cold, we had great classes, ate super yummy food and just had fun getting to know each other since we had 7 weeks ahead of us and were going to be together a lot!
(us singing a song before a class)
(Cristina, Beto and Andrea)
One of their goals for the summer included trying to start a campus ministry. We have strong teens, singles and marrieds ministries, but we still need to work on a ministry for college students. So they frequently went out to the National University to invite people to church, and to try and start Bible studies with students out there. Here is a photo of some of them on campus one day.
Another goal was to help David Berndt get his non-profit organization going.In the photo above, David is the one on the far right with the long-sleeve t-shirt. He came down here 3 months ago to serve the church and to serve the poor. He and his friends started a non-profit organization called Live Cheap (check out livecheap.org - it really is a cool organization!). So every Saturday, they made (and still make) sandwiches to hand out to the poor on the street. (I teach every Saturday, so I was only able to join them once or twice). They were also able to help a family in a city close-by. It was a family of 10 and thanks to Live Cheap and the church, they were able to bring this family a couple of new beds and tons of clothes and food.
Of course it wasn't all work, we had to show them a good time as well!
When they first got here, we decided to have a costume party at the church - I did it up 80's style!
And of course, a trip to Paraguay wouldn't be complete without some soccer fun. The singles and teens all got together one Saturday evening to play soccer. I played a bit (this is a photo with me and my team), but I can't say that I helped them very much! LOL
They came just in time to watch the Copa de Sudamerica - apparently it is the second biggest soccer tournament next to the World Cup. The next 2 photos are of everyone watching a game together. Paraguay made to the finals, but unfortunately we lost to Uruguay. It was a fun time though!
(Analia, Belen and Andrea and I)
Of course with all of these Americans in town, we had to have a 4th of July party, despite the cold weather! I downloaded a bunch of America songs - from "Born in the USA," to "Proud to be an American." haha We ate hamburgers, hot dogs, chips. I even baked up a Duncan Heinz yellow cake with chocolate frosting (one of my fav combos!), as well as chocolate chip cookies. We had to try and be as American as possible! LOL
Here is a picture of David grilling it up right - good old hamburgers with cheese and hot dogs! (FYI: they don't normally grill hot dogs here and the hamburgers will only occasionally have cheese - although in their defense, cheese can be on the more expensive side here!)
We spent their last weekend here going non-stop, trying to get as much time in with them as possible. Friday night was a final teen bible talk. Saturday was a final party and Sunday night was the official going away party. The first pic is from the bible talk. The next two are a couple of pics from the party Saturday night.
The last Sunday service was done by the teens/the Americans! We all got up on the stage and sang a couple of songs in English for everyone (well actually we tried to make the songs half english/spanish). For those who know the church songs - we sang "I tried and I tried" and "Glory Glory"!
Here is a photo of Andrea, Cristina, Analia and Belen and I at the last church service.
The last Sunday they were here, we had a big going away party for them - there were LOTS of tears to say the least. They really did a great job impacting the teens and so many others here, that we were all sooooo sad to see them go! It was especially nice for David and I having some fellow Americans around for awhile. We can always speak English with people down here. But it is nice when you can be with people who get the American sense of humor! The 4 of them are amazing - they gave up their summer to come down to Paraguay to serve, encourage, teach...I know they walked away feeling proud of all they had accomplished while down here - both on a church level AND on a personal level.
During the party we all shared how we felt about their visit here, we ate, we sang, we played some games. The thing was that they had to be at the airport at like 3am, so all the teens just stayed at the house (most of the adults left long before that! LOL) and we all just hung out together until it was time to head out. Of course you can imagine how tired we all were!! But overall, it turned out to be a really sweet evening - despite the lack of sleep!
By the time we got to the airport, very few of us had any more tears left! We quickly got them checked in and through security. It is always tough to say goodbye - especially when you have been hanging out with such a great group of people for 7 weeks. They will be missed!
see....soooo tired, everyone!! (this is inside the airport by the way)
We are so grateful that they came and all of us hope that they can come back to visit soon!
One last funny pic:
July 30th here is Friendship Day. It's a cool holiday because it is similar to V-day in the US (which they do celebrate here as well) but it is a holiday just to show your appreciation/love to all of you friends. As with any holiday, gifts are to be had and cards to be given, so of course all the stores are full with little trinkets and such to buy. At church, we had a box at the front where everyone could drop off cards/notes and then they got delivered to everybody. It was fun getting everyone's encouraging notes!
So in the spirit of Friendship Day, I thought I would introduce you all to my best girl friends down here - they are a FAB group of girls and I am super lucky that they have taken me in and given me lots of love!
So this is my friend Vale. She is actually from Argentina, but moved here with her son like 7-8 years ago because her sister used to live here (her sister recently moved back to Argentina). She is a single mom with a 13 year-old son named Mar, who is just the sweetest kid. She quickly became one of my very best friends down here because from the start, she made it a point to talk slowly and to make sure I always understood what was going on. She was patient and always willing to listen/give me a shoulder to cry on when things got tough/stressful! She still helps me with my Spanish, really one of the few people who will still correct me, which I do appreciate! =)
This is my friend Eli. She and Vale are the two friends I have had since the beginning. Eli is from a town like 8 hours away from Asunción. Where she used to live (a town in NE Paraguay, bordering Brazil) they really only speak Portuguese and Guarani, which I think is kinda crazy and kinda cool! haha - In fact, she only speaks in Guarani to her family. She too is a single mom with a 15-year old son. His name is Walter and he too is a great kid - he calls me his second mom! =) So, day three of being in Paraguay and I started crying - just frustrated with the language and there was Eli to give me a big hug and encourage me along! She is great at that! I don't get to hang out with her right now as much I used to. She used to clean houses, but has recently been working at a day care during the day and taking classes at night to be able to work at financial institutions doing financial stuff (specific I know, not quite sure of all the details to be honest - finance vocab is hard! LOL). I am super proud of her though for trying to get some education so that she can get a better salary/job/security for her and her son.
The next friend I made was Anita - you probably remember her from the wedding photos/wedding blog post. I went over to her house just about every week last year where she would feed me a delicious lunch before having to head out to my tortuous third graders! She is an amazing cook, always willing to serve, help out, listen, be a shoulder to cry on as well! (yea I have cried a lot here, hence why I need lots of encouraging friends! LOL). With her having gotten married and also going back to school to finish her degree in nutrition, I probably only get over there a couple of times a month now. But always still grateful when we get a chance to hang out/catch up!
The next two are more recent friendships....
The first one is Laura. She has actually been here the whole time I have been here, but for whatever reason it just took us awhile to build a good friendship. She is single and currently taking classes at a cooking school to become a chef. She is an amazing cook as well! She just started working in a restaurant as well and is probably one of the most hard-working people I know! This picture is funny because I painted her nails. As a chef, she can't paint her nails, so I did it one weekend and she was happy to show them off, even if it was for a day! We can always have a good vent fest when we get together!
Nathi is my newest friend - less than a year actually. But it has been fun building a friendship with her. She is always super joyful, always wanting to encourage everyone around her. She is a child psychologist and works in 2 different places with kids. She speaks some English too, which makes it fun when we want to say something but don't want the other people to know what we are saying! haha
So there you go, a short introduction of some of my friends here in Paraguay. There are of course many other names I could mention (teens, singles, guys/girls) But these really are my go-to girls and decided they just needed their own post!
To all my friends who are in the US reading this - I still love and miss you a ton and am always grateful for your friendship as well!
hugs!
HAPPY BICENTENNIAL PARAGUAY!!What a fun and amazing experience it was to be down here for this momentous celebration. Official Independence Day here is celebrated the 14th and 15th of May, with the 15th also being Mother's day as well. But activities were held throughout the entire month, all culminating to the big weekend!The whole city was decked out - below are a few buildings with their cool lights/decor!
Friday the 13th, a group of us headed downtown to kick off the weekend festivities with everyone. We sat down for awhile at a show at a building called the Cabildo. The building used to be where all the political people met, but now it is a pretty cool museum. The photos below show some traditional Paraguayan dancing.
The next day we woke up to pouring rain and thunderstorms, so I actually didn't head out until later that day. But what a fun day it turned out to be. Behind the Palacio (basically PY's version of the White House) was a HUGE concert and it was FULL FULL FULL of people.I couldn't even begin to count, but it had to have been thousands and thousands!!! After various groups sang and danced, they showed this "video projection"on the back of the Palacio - I took a picture of the last part when it said "200." After that there was a HUGE fireworks show. Man, I LOVE watching fireworks, I really do. It really is my favorite part of the the 4th of July. Independence day isn't normally celebrated much here during the other years, so this was a special treat for everyone!
It took us forever to get back home that night - we probably caught one of the last buses leaving the city and that was only after walking quite a ways!! whewBut even after 2 long days, we still had more to see! We headed back out to the Palacio where they were trying to inflate like 5 or 6 hot air balloons that were supposed to take off after that. Unfortunately it was just way to windy and they gave up after awhile. So we just walked around and took pics. The beachy looking away is part of the Paraguay river that cuts the country in half. It was cool to see so many boats on the water!
Apparently, it was a miracle my friend Eli and I could be on the back stairs of the Palacio and have our picture taken. Normally the back part of the Palacio is VERY off-limits. If you try and get anywhere near it, the soldiers definitely get upset. But the whole back part was open this weekend so all the Paraguayans were taking advantage of it! It was very cool!
Some group shots of my friends!
It was a VERY long weekend, but it was sooo cool to be a part of this event and see the very strong national pride that the Paraguayans have!
Last year - the World Cup, this year - the Bicentennial. WOW - I am so grateful that I have been able to be here to see these special moments! =)hugs to you all!
Hello allSo a few months ago two good friends got married and it was fun to see all the traditions about weddings down here. The week of the wedding, we had the shower for Anita. Not sure why, but at the shower, the tradition is to dress her up all crazy, put crazy make-up on her..really just make her look horrible.Again, didn't really get the why, but it was fun to watch and of course take photos! LOL =) Other than that it was like a normal shower..presents, a couple of games, some sharing/advice and food. It was a really nice evening and since we made it a surprise for her, she was definitely encouraged! =)
So the day of the wedding,the ceremony was supposed to start at 8pm.But leave it to the Paraguayans to start late - LOL. I think most of the guests were there by 9pm, although many were still walking in around 10pm. The bride finally came a little after 10 and the party got started! It was a very simple, but sweet wedding ceremony. I think the bride and groom only stayed until 1 or 2am or so, but I am told many times everyone stays and dances until like 4 or 5am! Now THAT'S a party! haha
Here is a photo of Rolf and Anita.They didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen. They just had 2 couples as official witnesses. I think some people do do the whole wedding party thing, but it also doesn't seem to be as big of a deal down here as it is in the US.
This is a picture of my friend Nathalia and I with the groom before the wedding.
Couple of interesting traditions...1)After the first dance by the bride and groom. All the guys then dance with the bride and the ladies with the groom. You dance for a few seconds before the next person cuts in...it is done for luck.So, I of course danced a few seconds with Rolf - can't go jinxing myself here! LOL =)2)They do throw the bouquet, but do not seem to do the whole garter belt thing.3) They know about the old/borrowed/new/blue thing but couldn't really seem to get a feel for if it was really followed down here or not.4)The cake was the most interesting part I thought. First they tie different charms onto ribbons. Then they place the charms on the outside of the cake and frost around it. Then all the single girls go to the cake, choose a ribbon and pull out the charm. If you pull out the wedding rings, then you will be the next one to get married. So they do the cake first and then the bouquet toss. Didn't get either one though..maybe next time! =)
Dinner was a simple baked chicken with rice and bread.The cake had layers of vanilla cake and dulce de leche in between - very yummy!My friends and I left around 1am or so.It was a really nice wedding and I am of course super happy for new couple! =)
