Not every aspect of my life has been gloomy lately; there have certainly been some very exciting times! Last weekend, Cassidy, Alex, and I had another "American Night," where we fixed American food (mac & cheese and brownies) and watched a movie in English :) I love Paraguayan food, but it was wonderful to eat something that reminded me of home. I definitely had too much chocolate, as I ate several brownies (plus part of the batter beforehand) and quite a few chocolate chips (which we added to the brownies for a more chocolaty taste). I also drank several glasses of chocolate milk with my meal. In addition to our fun "American Night," I recently received a huge care package from my family. My parents, my grandma, and my one aunt and uncle all split the cost of the items inside. It was intended to arrive in time for my birthday but got here about a week late. That didn't bother me, as it was filled with snack foods, cosmetics, birthday cards from my family, and some miscellaneous items - all things I can enjoy no matter when I receive them! When you are thousands of miles from home, a care package is a care package :)
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| Hooray for American Night! :) |
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| roomies eating mac & cheese |
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| the contents of the package I received from my family |
Temperatures have been all over the place lately, but in general they are cooling off a bit. Most days are in the 80's, but a couple of days have reached 90 or 91 in the last week. Although 90 is still hot, at least it is not unbearably hot like the first month or so that I was here. I don't think we will see many more days around 90 until later in the year, as we are in fall now. There have also been some rather chilly days and nights lately, with rain included. The coldest night we have experienced has been 55, which really isn't that cold for someone who lives in Ohio. However, after living in 85-105 degree temps the past couple of months, 55 feels cold! Because the first day of fall was officially last week, we had our "Fall Back" last weekend. I sure needed an extra of sleep! The U.S. experienced "Spring Forward" a couple of weeks prior to our "Fall Back," meaning that I am now on the same exact time as Eastern! The time zones evened out since one of us sprung forward and the other fell back :) We will remain on the same time until October when Paraguay goes off of Daylight Savings. Then I will be one hour ahead again.
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| a beautiful view from our roof |
Two weeks ago, a team of eight Brazilians visited Paraguay for mission work. Six of them stayed at Alex's house, and two stayed with John and Colleen Eisenberg. They visited several local schools during the school day, including the school where I teach, Nuevo Horizonte. At Nuevo Horizonte, they led several special chapel services for our students, both young and old. One evening, Alex, Cassidy, and I (and the Brazilians) attended a church service in a town named San Lorenzo, about 40 minutes from Lambaré. My host dad Andrés preached, and then a traditional guarani band played some of their favorite music. They were fantastic - so much so that I bought one of their CDs. It was very exciting to interact with some Brazilians for a week because I have been wanting to learn Portuguese, and I was able to practice my listening and speaking skills with them. I love being bilingual in English and Spanish because Portuguese is similar enough to Spanish that I could understand probably 80% of their Portuguese. I didn't know enough to speak back to them in Portuguese, but I still learned a lot! A couple of them know English (one specifically is fluent), and a couple of them know Spanish, so I was able to use the two languages I know in order to communicate...plus pick up a bit of the third language. The final night they were here, we all went to the costanera (coastline) and sang songs in the sand in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Three language, ONE GOD! How awesome is that?! He transcends all cultures!
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| traditional guarani music at a church service in San Lorenzo |
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| the costanera (coastline) at night |
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| a view across the sand |
School has been in a category of its own lately. I have had to call the elementary principal and the dean of students into my room three times in the past couple of weeks. I am having a very difficult time trying to control a classroom of either 27 or 29 unruly students. It seems like when I turn my back to help one student, four more are in the corner of the room sticking their tongues out at one another or rolling around on the floor. I have one student in particular who gets the whole class going. I have begun to draw a smiley face on the board. Those who are behaving well get their name written beneath the smiley. As long as they continue to behave well throughout the entire class period, their name stays where it is. This technique helps because it points out who is and isn't paying attention in class. I was so frustrated with my morning class last week that I began tearing up in front of the students. I know that's not good because it shows weakness, but I was SO frustrated! I am still trying to keep my cool and simply pray daily for my students so that I am not yelling or behaving in a way that is not proper, especially for a missionary. I need to continue to be reminded of my purpose here - to shine the light of Christ!
I am running out of things to say this time around. I have been quite emotionally unstable lately, but I know where I need to turn in order to solve that problem! Time in the Word of God and in prayer is essential anyway, but even more so when you feel like you are going through the fire. I wish the movie God's Not Dead were showing in Paraguay because I believe that it is the exact movie I need to see right now...one that discusses belief in God. What will you do and where will you turn when your faith is truly tested? I don't want to reach the point where I believe that God is not living and active in my life. He is with me every second of every day, and I must embrace His presence in my life!
Until next time, Dios te bendiga! :)
Ways you can be praying...
1) my health (especially emotional right now)
2) my relationships with my host family, roommate, students, and God
3) patience, strength, and peace in the classroom (especially first grade)
4) to not doubt who God truly is and the power that He has in my life
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