Crazy Travels VISUALIZED

Sorry that the pictures are out of order! My computer kept dropping my selections and I had to go back and add them in....

Mark and I enjoying Iguazu Falls

A Paraguayan Soccer Game "Dale dale Cerro..."

Mark and I with our friend Manuel

                                         

Jesuit Ruins

Girls Retreat

Market in Ciudad de Este

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls

Crazy Travels

Another week has come and gone!

Although this week ended on a sad note having to say good-bye to Mark, there were many exciting adventures before he left!

After church last Sunday we left for Ciudad de Este, a city on the border of Brazil on the far edge of Paraguay. This is a city known for its black market shopping. When we arrived on Sunday night, we discovered that the city is dead in the evening. We could not find one restaurant open to get dinner. We wandered the streets and saw all the empty market shops. There were few people on the streets. Eventually we gave up and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was very nice. As dead as the city is during the night, it is alive and CRAZY during the day. For as far as the eye can see there are little shops selling "name brand" clothes, shoes, purses, electronics, etc. People were in your face trying to sell their products to you. It was nuts!

That morning we went to Itaipu Dam, the second largest in the world. It was impressive. We drove a bus to take the dam tour, and it took us into Brazil. YES! It was super rainy and stormy that day, which made the dam more active and interesting to see.

*Just a quick note on how sweet Paraguayans are. We got a free ride on a worker transit vehicle because a man invited us on with him since there were 2 spots open. Also, a lady noticed we paid too much for the bus and never received change and made sure we went and asked for our change.*

Later that day we went to "Salto de Monday," which is a whole river pouring down a hillside into a massive waterfall. NOTHING compared to Iguazu though!

We then took a ferry over to Argentina. On the way we were in three countries at the same time, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. We found our hotel just in time for a downpour that lasted the rest of the night.

The next day we spent the whole day at Iguazu Falls. These are very impressive. Imagine Niagara Falls X 10. The only bad part of the park were the massive crowds that made it hard to get anywhere quickly. But we managed to get it all in, and went back the next morning to enjoy it one more time before leaving.

After a short time back in Villarrica, we headed to Asuncion to visit our friend from our International Student ministry back in Salem. We stayed at his house (a stark contrast to the small shacks in Yuty!). We got to experience a graduation mass at the cathedral, explore a little of downtown Asuncion, meet his family, and attend a soccer game. You know you are in Paraguay when they sell Chipa and Terere at the game!

I then had to bid farewell to my Mark and our friend took me to the SIM director's house to stay the night. I attended church with them this morning. We sang one song in 4 languages--Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Guarani. It was AWESOME! Now I am safely back in Villarrica and preparing for my last 2 weeks of teaching English to the precious kiddos.

You know you are in Paraguay when....
*Everybody carries around thermoses and little cups and straws to drink their mate or terere wherever they go
*They crowd so many people onto the bus you have NO personal space....and they lady selling food STILL makes her way onto the bus and still somehow manages to walk to the back to sell her chipas
*Referees at the soccer game are guarded by police officers to ward off flying chipa and the large truck that sprays water comes prepared to break up fights against opposing fans

PRAYER REQUESTS
-Pray for Mark and I are we separated again for a few weeks
- Pray that I will be able to serve in the best way as I start teaching again
-Pray that I will connect with anybody God still wants me to form relationships with
-Pray for health and safety (this week I will be home alone for a few days and one of the dogs at the house will have puppies any day...I am praying it won't be when I am here by myself!!)

Ruins, a Horse, and a Girl's Retreat

When I wrote my last blog, I was in Yuty, since then, I have visited some historical sights, had an "exciting" adventure with livestock and a tow truck, and served young women back in Villarrica. Here is what the week has looked like:

After leaving Yuty, Karen (my mentor), Laurel and Lucas (other short-termers), and Mark and I headed Southeast to visit some old Jesuit Ruins. In the 1700s, the Jesuits came to evangelize to the Guarani and built churches and mission houses. They got kicked out by the Portuguese slave traders, so most of their work has been left to ruins. One night we heard that they light the ruins up for a special night show, and when we asked about it, they said it was happening that night. However, when we got there, they called in special favors from the tour guide and light artist so that we could have a good show. Their generosity and kindness to us but so sweet. It was interesting to see some of the history of the country I have been living in.

On the way home from the ruins, and almost all the way back to Villarrica, Karen was driving down the highway when suddenly there was a large horse in the middle of her lane. She pressed hard on the brakes and hoped that the horse would move, but he never did. The car rammed into the horse's rear end, in which the horse sat on the hood of the car while we pushed him a few feet until he fell over. At this point, we ran over the horse's body. We pulled over to the side of the road because the car was smoking and the entire front of the hood was smashed in. The horse however, got up and WALKED AWAY! We have no idea HOW the horse survived, but he did, at least for that time. All people that were in the car are also ok, but the car is in the shop. We had to call in favors to get home and we had to contact the SIM office to call in a tow truck to get the car to the shop . Now we are experiencing how to get around without a car, like many Paraguayans.

Once back in Villarrica, we started to prepare for this weekend's girl's retreat to be held at Karen's house. I was asked to teach a lesson, so I taught the youth group girls how to read the Bible and pray during Quiet Time with God, I also shared my testimony. I did a lot of the talking, and also translated for people, God really is showing how to be a leader and giving me the strength to do what is needed of me. About 10 girls from the church and Karen's old neighborhood came. We had worship time, watched Fireproof, had a few lessons, did art and nails, and enjoyed time together. It was a lot of fun and hopefully the girls enjoyed it as well. I wasn't in the room with the girls all night, but apparently they stayed up until 5am talking. Oh girls.... =)

Tomorrow Mark and I get on a bus and head to see Iguazu Falls! Yay!

Prayer Requests:
*That Karen's car will be fixed in a timely manner and will not be too expensive. Also, that she will be able to continue to minister to people far away without her car at the time being.
*That Mark will be able to serve people in his short time here (he has already been asked to help in several ways, and will probably be asked again!)
*That God will keep me focused on continuing  to build relationships for my last few weeks here.

Cultural Notes:
*Paraguayans will go out of their way to make sure you feel welcome
*They carry a thermos and little cup and tea straw around with them everywhere like Americans carry coffee cups

The Adventure Continues in PICTURES

                                              Dinner with the English Teachers

                                                  2 of my Students with Profe Elise

                                 Laurel, me, and Damaris (an English teacher we work with)

                                               Our Fourth of July Party with Friends

                                             Karen with some of the Bible Study Kids

                                              At the Quincenera at the SIM Retreat

                                                           Toucan =)

                                             People lined up on the street for the Pope

                                    The Asuncion Crowd waiting to see and hear the Pope

                                 Christian brothers and sisters in the Campo outside of Yuty

The Fourth Week: Half Way Through!

This is the end of my fourth week here in Paraguay, which marks the half way point! Yay! This week has been full of adventure.

The week started by attending the SIM Spiritual Life Conference for a day and a night. It was encouraging to be part of the SIM family for awhile and to be fed spiritually. We had a traditional quincenera for a young lady who came down to serve at the conference who had her 15 birthday while here.

Unfortunately, after the 4th of July party I started feeling pretty sick to my stomach and woke up that night nauseous. For the rest of the week, including at the conference, I felt pretty sick for the rest of the week. There is a stomach bug going around, and I think that I picked it up. Thankfully I am feeling better now.

I taught classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. When I say taught, I mean I took over the class. I planned some lessons and posted some expectations in order to show the English teach some different strategies. It went really well. The 2nd grade class especially was a COMPLETELY different class. They were so well engaged and behaved! I hope that the teacher picked up some good ideas.

This Friday I left Villarrica for an Asuncion adventure. The best part of the adventure was getting to pick up Mark from the airport! I took the bus for the first time and figured out how to take the taxi from the terminal to the SIM director's house. It was super crazy because the pope was in town and we had to drive through all of the mass of people on the streets.

Mark and I stayed for a few nights in the SIM Guest House in order to experience more of the pope craziness. Saturday morning we went to a zoo and saw monkeys, toucans, parrots, really stinky pig like creatures, alligators, and more. It was awesome!

Then we went to find the pope. The streets were lined with people excited to see their leader. We stepped onto the street behind a chain of volunteers and waited. Then the pope came down the street in a little vehicle and everybody cheered. Then we tried to find the cathedral and the streets were so crowded. Many of them were closed off completely. On Sunday morning we went to the mass and had to tromp through a huge muddy field to get close enough to the pope to see him through binoculars. I have decided that if people worshipped Christ like they worshipped the pope, the world would be a lot better of a place!

Now we are in the middle of rural Paraguay in a small town called Yuty (said Jutew) with a SIM missionary family. It has been fun to see a different part of Paraguay and see some of their ministry. Tomorrow we will head to explore old Jesuit ruins.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
*pray that I will stay healthy from here on out
*pray that my time with Mark will be blessed and that he will learn some of what I have been doing
*pray for my 2 week vacation from classes that I will still find ways to serve and build relationships with people

4th of July

Happy Independence Day America! Today we are hosting a 4th of July party and inviting some of our Paraguayan friends to celebrate with us. We are going to have an all American party to introduce them to the holiday. We have decorations, traditional foods to serve and barbecue, music, fireworks, and patriotic clothing. So as you all celebrate up North, pray for our party and that it would be beneficial in building relationships!

Deepening Relationships

This week is flying by fast! This week I have become good friends with the English teachers that I work with. On Monday night they invited me to one their houses for a get together. It was a lot of fun. We just sat together, ate, laughed, and talked. Then on Tuesday night I went back to her apartment to watch Paraguay play in the semi-finals against Argentina. Unfortunately, we lost by too much to mention. BUT, it was a fun cultural experience. When Paraguay scored a goal. fireworks exploded somewhere in the neighborhood. When they didn't and the other team did, the Paraguayan ladies in the house screamed and booed. Both the English teacher and her sister have cute little kids that kept us entertained despite a horrible game.

This weekend we are planning a 4th of July celebration at our house. We are inviting some of our new Paraguayan friends to join us to show them what the American holiday looks like. It should be a lot of fun, and very good for deepening relationships.

I am also starting to feel like I am getting to know some of the awesome people at the church as well. We went to prayer meeting last night and had some good conversations with the church members. I also LOVE the pastor and his wife. They are so sweet. The pastor is 73 yrs old but joins the youth group and even plays the games with all of the young people.

My students always look forward to seeing me and love having me in their classroom. I feel like I am starting to bond with them as well and my heart is starting to go out to some of them, especially when I hear stories of neglect and inattentive parents. It is a privilege to serve and love on these kids.

This weekend is the SIM Spiritual Life conference. We will be leaving on Sunday and spending the night. On Sunday night we will be throwing a Quincenera for an american girl coming down to help. Laurel and I will only get to stay through Monday because we have to return for teaching, but we are excited for the opportunity to get to know the SIM workers a little better and to have a little bit of a change of scenery. It should also be a great time to reflect and learn.

I do feel quite homesick from time to time, especially in the down times. Thankfully, we are gaining more and more students to tutor, which brings the down time down a lot. I am also half way done and soon will be the 2 week break from teaching when Mark gets to join me!

PRAYER REQUESTS:
*Continued deepening relationships with my new friends
*For the many Bible Studies that Karen leads--most are for nominal Christians
*For the SIM Conference
*My homesickness
*Safe travels for Mark as he arrives next Friday