Tuesday, December 6, 2011

It’s beginning to sound, look, smell, and taste a lot like Christmas: El concierto de Navidad, frutas y flores nuevas, y galletas de Navidad!


The small gathering after the
Christmas Concert!

Sounds of Christmas: Last week we had our yearly Christmas concert. The night was full of sounds of laughter, singing, instruments, and “Oooops”. As with many children productions there are often little Ooopses that occur. Although in Paraguay there are also the other unexpected surprises. For instance, the wind blowing the projection screen over, the sound system failing several times, and few other mishaps. Still the sounds of Christmas songs from the voices of children, in different accents rose up that night.

The decorated the courtyard of the highschool!
 It had art exhibits food for sale and other displays!


 
Sights of Christmas: With the season has come the coconut flower being sold in all of the streets. While at first I thought that it must have been a miscommunication that this strange looking brown felt like bat was a flower, I was shown otherwise as some of them that were open had a shower of flowers inside. Unfortunately mine never opened, but it did fill our apartment with a pleasant “Paraguayan Christmas” smell.



  
       Also I was able to try some new fruits that are sold here in Paraguay. One of my new favorites is that of the lichi chinesis. A small tree fruit that is very sweet. While it has a purplish pink rough exterior the inside is white and looks somewhat like a hardboiled egg. The seed is brown, hard and smooth like a little bullet. I also got to buy a little baby watermelon, which is just my size for by eating and carrying the 10+ blocks back from the store!

Smells and Tastes of Christmas: This Sunday, I had the privilege of teaching in Spanish some of the ladies at my church how to make my Aunt Lyn’s snickerdoodles. The ladies have been asking for months how to make some our US recipes. So for our Christmas party this year, we had a cooking workshop. We had a wonderful time cooking together and sharing.

Firsts:
- First time teaching how to make sugar cookies in Spanish
- First time eating lichi chinesis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee )
- First time buying a little baby watermelon


Prayer Requests:
- I am traveling to the states in two days! Please pray for safe travel.
- Please pray for all of the teachers that are traveling over the next few months.



I think that I am becoming  a true Paraguayan
with my 4 thermos!


Sunday, November 20, 2011

Familia Baez: a broken and hurting family in desperate need of prayer!

One of the new missionaries that works at my church posted this about a family (well the children) that attend Oansa (Spanish version of Awana) and our church.
http://loandbetold.wordpress.com/tag/familia-baez/

She really does a great job explaining alot of what is going on in this family. While they have a mother, these children are basically orphans working to survive. I remember one of the first times that I went to the church I met these children and was told that the one girl (Jessica) was just told several times this week by her mother that she needed to go and become a prostitute to help support the family... because it was implied that she was not doing her share.

Three of the Baez girls

Today I found out that a few people from the church went to their house/shack yesterday and worked to scrub at least some of the dirt and filth away. They also worked to hand wash all of their clothes which had just been piles of dirt. These 5 children share a double and a single mattress between the two of them and which are dirty, foul, and nasty. Yet the children were so thankful for this and said that they would sleep so much better that night.

Please keep this family in your prayers. These are truly wonderful children that are each beautiful and unique. They are all sweet and caring, and excited to learn more about Christ.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Crazy, Packed-Full, Busy, Challenging, Exciting Three Weeks!

Where to begin….. Over the past two weeks I have worn many hats and my head still seems to be spinning!


Camp Moto: God first, Others Second,
I'm third
Director’s Hat: I started out with being a camp director for our elementary overnight week camp in the countryside of Paraguay. It was beautiful and our time was wonderful! From chapels and games to meals, free time, and pool, we worked on putting GOD FIRST, OTHERS SECOND, and I’M THIRD. The students learned and grew so much! It was such a blessing to watch and help these students have such a wonderful Christian overnight camp experience. During the camp I was also wore the hats of:

- Nurse and Lifeguard: I was the camp’s “nurse” and lifeguard. Praise the Lord, most injuries were minor and treated easily.

Wet Clothes Relay!


Fun at Camp!
- Referee: There of course were a lot of wonderful games (including water balloon volleyball, guess the teacher, wet clothes relay (adult clothes had to be put on over their suits (one of my favorites)), find the counselor (we were hiding around the camp at night (I hide in a dry storm drain : )), etc.

- Marshmallow cooking instructor: Most of the kids 1st or second time cooking a marshmallow!
Camp: Water Balloon Volleyball!

- Team Leader: Sadly red team didn’t win this time. But we sure had fun!

Scholar’s Hat: Then I switched to my master’s class, which had started the same night as our elementary camp. So I had 3 days to catch up on. It was good 2 week class and I really enjoyed learning more about data, analysis, etc. as it applies to the classroom and school. I am still not done with all of the course work, but hope to finish up soon! One of my big class projects is actually really helping with my responsibilities as my accreditation committee leader for Health, Safety, and Nutrition.

Water Balloon Launch!
Teacher’s Hat: Of course all the while I was also teaching both my students and my student teacher. We have had a lot of fun with plenty of projects! Look through the link for the pictures to see some of them!

the Human Knot (A classic :)
Safety Supervisor’s Hat (Accreditation committee leader): Drills, drills, and more drills : ). We are finally finished with our 4 drills for this semester. Needless to say this is 4 times as many as we had for the whole last year combined. So we have had a long way to go. Still things are looking good. Another 5+ more next semester and we should be meeting the requirements! Plus the awareness and attitude of the students is becoming far more serious about the drill, which is also a benefit.


Sugar Cookies with Art Club

Cook’s Hat: From lunches and outreaches at my church, to planning for thanksgiving, to making sugar cookies in Art Club, I was also been busy with cooking and preparing.

Genetic Family Tree Project
Construction Hat: We have a new roof on our apartment building! While it was being removed much of the old roof came through the holes in our ceiling (tar, concrete, tiles, etc.) and landed in our apartment. Thankfully after the first day, my roomate and I learned to tar/tile proof our rooms. We did have some laughs seeing the sky through our ceiling and even some stars at night as we went to bed. Though praise the Lord it has now rained three times since the new roof and no water has come in! This is the first time it has not flooded when it rained since I have been in Paraguay!

Crime Scene Investigators with
matching DNA of samples to suspects!
(really it was bar codes, but we had fun)
Impatient Patient’s Hat: My ankle is still struggling : (. But hopefully in another week, I might start to be able to do some exercise on it. This would make it 5 weeks since the accident. Thanks for your prayers as it is healing slowly. I was able/for my own safety went off the crutches after 1.5 weeks, which was in the middle of camp and pretty dangerous to use crutches at the campsite. While I am still wrapping, icing, and using a brace, soon I hope to be able to use it more!

Sugar Cookie madness!
So I guess this is a brief :) overview of the last few weeks, I promise more will follow. We are rushing ahead to the end of the semester with only 13 more days of school left! We will be having a nice little thanksgiving vacation and then the end of the semester and summer vacation! It is hard to believe that I will be back in the states in 24 days! I hope to see as many of you as possible!

The Crime, one stolen backpack,
the task, match the DNA.
Well things are still crazy so I do need to end now, and get back to work!

Firsts:

Intense investigators
- First time not having my apartment roof leak when it rained since I got here! (we got a new roof!) Also first time during a re-roofing project where so much of the roof came through the holes in our ceiling!
- First time having master’s class start the same day as our overnight camp
- First time being a camp director
- First time going to a Field Hockey game in Paraguay ( I went to watch one of my fellow teachers compete!)
- First time making sugar cookies with my art club!
Virtual Cell Field Trip

Prayer Requests:
- For a smooth ending to the year
- To bless the ministries in Paraguay
Picture Day :)
- For speed and accuracy with all the work I need to accomplish.

Learning about echolocation!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A Night of Firsts!

1. First time going to an Emergency Room in a third world country

2. First time getting an X-ray (in any country)
3. First time being rolled around in a wheel chair and needing it
4. First time having to find and use crutches (I did find a pair that was just big enough)

Initiating Event: On Sunday, I was playing volleyball and after jumping up for a block I came down on a friend’s foot. I heard “pop”, almost blacked out a few times, and still have a nicely swollen, black and blue ankle. Thankfully nothing is broken, and today I had an appointment with a traumatologo who thinks I just damaged my ligaments badly. Therefore I have and will continue to be off of my foot for several days as I wait for it to heal.

This event has certainly put a check on my dependence on God, as Elementary Camp (which I am the director of) and my next master’s class start on Monday. Furthermore, I was going to run my first 5K this Sunday and have been training for it. Yet, that obviously does not appear to be plausible. Still praise the Lord for His protection in keeping this a more minor injury.


Prayer Requests:
- For patience and healing in my ankle and the strength to do my best at camp and during my master’s class.
- For safety for all of our students and teachers during camp next week!
- For wisdom in action and what is said during camp to work to best shine God’s light to these students!


Other Firsts:
5. First time ordering a pizza with ham on only half of the pizza and ending up with a doggy bag of ham for my pet duck?!?! The funny thing is the Spanish speakers with me have no idea how our waiter came to this assumption and reassured me that I had said everything right. Of course I still believe that my confidence in my Spanish was a little bruised with this humorous event. Unfortunately I cannot have a pet duck as it is against school policy for the apartments :( , but I do have a rubber ducky, unfortunately he doesn't eat meat.

6. First time helping to nurse a little baby bird back to life! Little MoMo (short for Moses (since it was drawn up from the floor of the front of our apartment building) is now being raised by several caring new mothers. In some small way I feel a special connection as we recuperate together.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

GUESS WHO HAS A CÉDULA?


I OFFICIALLY HAVE A PARAGUAYAN CÉDULA! After only one year and 3 months, all of my paperwork, clearances, translations of the paperwork, certification of the paperwork, conformation of the paperwork, and many other papers that I am still struggling to understand. Yet what a blessing it is to now have permanent residence in Paraguay. This allows me to come and go from Paraguay whenever I would like. I no longer have to depend on my 90 day visa that requires me to leave the pop in and out every 90 days. This cédula lasts for 10 years! It also helps with traveling around Paraguay and identification requirements. While I do not know how long I will be staying in Paraguay (that is up to the big guy upstairs), this is certainly wonderful.



Prayer Requests:


1. Please pray for the upcoming elementary CAMP!!!!! It will be October 24th - 27th.
2. Please pray for my upcoming master's class... it is Oct. 2th - Nov. 4th. The professor is being very gracious and letting me miss the first three days due to camp. But needless to say it will certainly be really busy and crazy for those two weeks!

Firsts:
-        First time getting a permanent residence card from a country other than the United States! I am so excited to finally have my cédula, if you couldn’t tell.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fútbol de la Interalianza

Thursday was el Dia de Boquerón and a national holiday! And so I joined some of the girls at my church to compete in a soccer tournament among the CMA churches. What an experience! It was an all day tournament, with 6 teams competing, and I have to admit our team was not prepared for the intensity of this tournament. Our small team was comprised of both pastors wives (one has a 5 month old), three girls that went work during the day and go to the school at night, two sisters, two young girls that are from the neighborhood around our church and more or less pop around between places to stay, a new inter at the church and myself. We were certainly an interesting group, wearing our matching bright yellow shirts Oansa t-shirts (Spanish Awana). We had informally practiced twice for less than 2.5 hours combined on a small cancha in a little park that was tiled.


The intimidation factor was definitely high! Upon arriving it did not take long to notice that all of the other teams had made official jerseys with their names and numbers on them. Some of the teams even had matching shorts, socks and balloon and signs! While we only played the girl teams, the boys’ teams were even more impressive, with several of the players having been pro! Some teams had rented out grass canchas for two months to practice and prepare. This was no Sunday barbeque with a casual soccer tournament.


Even though the intimidation was high, I was so blessed by this experience! It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know some of the girls on my team better. As well as a great chance to continue to minister and show love to the girls that basically live off the street or between houses. One of the girls has been encouraged by her mother to go and be a prostitute to help bring money into the family. These girls are starved for true love and it has been great seeing them grow at the church. The church has really been able to bless them both spiritually and physically in many ways!


Furthermore it didn’t hurt that our girls’ team got 2nd place! We were all very proud and impressed! We really came together and used our unique skills to encourage each and play as a team. I even scored a goal and got a header. : )


What a wonderful way to spend my holiday!

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for the new teachers coming in, and the teachers switching out
2. Please pray for our overnight elementary camp that will be Oct. 24th – 27th
3. Please pray for our classes and students as they go through transitions and what comes next.

Firsts:
- First time competing in a soccer tournament! Also the first time getting second place, scoring a official goal since played when I was 5, and first time getting a header in a game!

- Of course on top of my majorly leaking roof in three spots, two of my balconies would start flooding into my apartment at the exact same time that I was home alone making cookies and pancakes on my temperamental oven! The best part was when I put my oven mitts on to run out in the rain and furiously squeegee my balcony!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

4+3+2+1= 4 Quarters, 3 Teachers, 2 Sides, 1 Week.





Who knew that so much could happen in one week and yet, so much could still need to be done.


Making Bilateral Symmetry Insects!

4: We have already flown through ¼ of our school year! It is crazy to think about how much has happened and yet how fast it has gone. From the topics that we have covered to memories we have made, I wish that at times I could slow down the movie or go back to enjoy the parts even further. Still this year there have also been a lot of challenges. So as the Lord knows best I guess, we continue to flow through life with everything flashing past us, growing and learning as we go.


We designed half of the insect on one side
and then painted that half, folding and squishing
to make the symmetrical side!

3: We have now reached the week where Mr. Bloom, our (Jenn and my) student teacher is teaching all of the subjects. He will continue with this until for two more weeks and then we will start taking the classes back. This whole time has certainly been a learning experience for all three of us. Our students are learning to adapt and switch between each teacher, their style, and their differences. While we have tried to remain as consistent as possible with our expectations, and routines, it always takes some adjustment for the student teacher, etc.

2: Last Friday I went and judged my first debate tournament! It was certainly different than the debates in the states, as the program is new and growing, but it is definitely a great learning experience for all involved. The ACA students did really well. For all of the debates that they have participated in during the last 2 years (since it started), ACA has won most of the debates with a superiority in their English and persuasive arguments. Last Friday was the initial debates with no eliminations and tomorrow the students will compete again with single elimination brackets for the 6 teams. The debate topic is whether or not Paraguay should amend their constitution to allow for presidents to be re-elected after their 5 year term. In the past, Paraguay has had dictators that are ruthless and a very corrupt government which still carries over to present. Yet Paraguay has made improvements recently. This debate competition promises to remain interesting and exciting as the finals progress tomorrow!
God is the Ultimate Super Hero!

1: All of the above is just a glimpse of part of my last week. I am also busy planning for our camp coming up which I am directing, leading our subcommittee for re-accreditation of ACSI, taking the MAT this Saturday, etc.

He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient!
Prayer Request:
1. Please pray for the new teachers coming in, and the teachers switching out
2. Please pray for our overnight elementary camp that will be Oct. 24th – 27th
3. Please pray for our classes and students as they go through transitions and what comes next.

Firsts:
- First time judging a debate tournament!
Our creations!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

El Equipo de Naranja: The Orange Team

From fingers to toes in orange (flowers
and ribbons in hair, with facepaint and orange
nail polish)
Have you ever tried to blow up 40+ water balloons? To say the least it is harder than you would think. They are so small and these Paraguayan ones taste terrible! I never knew that the muscles in my mouth could hurt so much. Nonetheless the balloons were successfully blown up to then be popped over the next few hours. Why was this done you may ask? It was done for el equipo de naranja! Family Adventure Night (our PTA picnic) was this last Friday night and we were able to raise lots of money for our school at all of our booths, food, and entrance fees! While the exact numbers have not been announced I know that at least several thousand dollars were raised from the game tickets alone.
All for one and one for the carrots (hey
they are orange and my boys loved them.)


Like last year, 4th grade was teamed up with the 10th graders. Yet instead of being purple like last year, we were given the color ORANGE!!! Head to toe in orange we came to the picnic ready to compete and try to get the most people to play at our games. Our two games at our booth were a ring toss around bottles and a balloon game with numbers inside (balloons with numbers (related to corresponding prizes) are blown around by a fan in a cage. A contestant grabs a balloon, and receives the prize for the number inside). Hence the reason for lots of water balloons being blown up.

Go Orange Team!
Praise the Lord the weather stayed nice and the storm held off to the next morning! The families and students had a great time and it was a wonderful time to improve connections between parents and teachers!



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

How many licks does it take to get the center of a Paraguayan Lollypop? 1106

Looking for homes and things we miss
everyday!
My crazy whirlwind of a two week class, has come and gone, and I must say that this was by far my favorite master’s class so far! It was all about Secondary Language Acquisition; and I found it to be exciting, challenging, and applicable. It was truly great to be able to learn more strategies and methods to provide better instruction for my students. As well the class helped me to better understand the process and necessary foundations. In fact, I am starting to think more about further study in Bilingual Education. Praise the Lord for this blessing!
Examing nature and the making
connections to the biogeochemical
cycles!

During the midst of my master’s class, when I was not working on my 4th and 5th grade work, I have been working on some of my responsibilities as the chair of the Safety, Health, and Nutrition committee (for our ACSI accreditation). I have been busy setting up new emergency evacuation procedures, folders, protocols, etc. Our school has been under code for years in all of these areas, and it is definitely taking a while to get things back together. We already have one fire drill down and another one this week. Thankfully we are working hard to improve and provide a better and safer environment for our students.


Fresh cut flowers that some of my students
brought in for me!
 (including orchids and
hibiscus)
The Joy of the Lord. During this crazy and busy time it has been the joy from the peace of the Lord that has given me the strength and support that I need. This joy is such a blessing and it is great to see it in my children as well. You also can’t help but smile from the innocence and joy in my students with their comments, actions, and determination. For instance, the Tootsie Roll Pop sales movement about “How many likes does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?” came up in a discussion and I mentioned it to my students. What happens next, but one of my 5th graders licks a Paraguayan lollypop 1106 times to get to the center!

Licks to center: 1106

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Master’s Class Take Three!

Our internet has been having problems in our apartments so I apologize that this was written and ready for Tuesday, but did not post!

All right, day 1 down in my third master’s class and in a couple of hours I will be off to my second night. Sorry if this blog post is a little short, but with full-time school (6:40am- 3:00pm) and then master’s class M-F (6-9pm) and Sat. (8-1pm) for two weeks things are definitely crazy. Still in all the craziness, I feel so blessed with this class. I am currently taking “Teaching English as a Second Language”. Out of the three classes I truly think that I will enjoy this class the most. The teacher has had a lot of experience in the area, as a student, elementary teacher, parent, and master’s level professor. She seems to have really thought through the material, and the assignments seem applicable and clear. It is such reliefs after the last few classes have been a little all over the place and crazy. This teacher has recently moved to Paraguay with her family and I hope that she will teach more classes to come!


Here are some pictures from some of the class activities that we have done this week!


Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for strength, endurance and wisdom while I take my master's class
2. Please pray for the sicknesses that have been going around the school!
3. Praise the Lord we have a new junior high teacher! She should be coming soon!
4. Praise the Lord, several of our teachers and staff are expecting! Please pray for a smooth pregnacy and for the new replacements that need to be found as some are leaving and others will take a leave of absence.

Firsts:
1. First time hearing that the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria are "the famous sisters" and that Leif Erikson "was the fastest man on earth". One of my students put this on a social studies test for my co-teacher! He did admit that he didn't study and hadn't done the homework. : )  

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Strawberry Festival and Cold Days!


     So as I am writing this, I just finished making my great great grandmother’s secret sugar cookie recipe! They are delicious. Yet it still struck me that tied for my favorite part were the cookies and the heat from opening up the oven every time! It has suddenly dropped back into our cold winter weather and with the humidity it gets you deep into the bone. Now for all of you northerners that are laughing at me right now… with Paraguay’s cold days usually in the low 40s and 50s, I have not forgotten about our winters. Here the cold really gets you as there is little if any insulation on the buildings and the humidity can truly pierce you to the bone. It feels like you are living in your garage and there isn’t really an escape from the cold. Often it is colder inside the buildings than outside. Especially like at church this Sunday as the cinder block walls and metal sheet roof served to keep the cold in like an icebox. Keeping this in mind, PLEASE pray for the people that live in the chacarita (one of the biggest slums in Asuncion), shacks, and on the streets. I am blessed to be able to layer lots of clothes, have hot water and a stove, and other ways to get warm, they do not.

     While this weekend was a cold one, I was able to go to the strawberry festival at Aregua! While it was much smaller than the Grove City strawberry festival (I know, hard to believe ; ) the strawberries were delicious and the time with friends was great! Paraguay had a fantastic strawberry crop this year and Aregua ( a town 30 minutes out from Asuncion (see a post from about a year ago for more on Aregua and its pottery) put strawberries in and on everything! There were chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry filled empanadas, little strawberry cakes, strawberry fruit salad, strawberries and crème, strawberry jam, strawberry juice, other strawberry drink (some alcoholic) and of course fresh picked strawberries! This was such a treat to be able to have some of these sweets as strawberries, really any berry, are rare and expensive here. I have to admit, I have almost finished the whole kilo I bought on Saturday!

Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for all of the new teachers at ACA. They are starting teaching for the first time, which is overwhelming on top of moving around the world to a foreign country.
2. Please pray that we get the new teacher that we are looking for! (The position is middle school Social Studies and English if you know anyone who may be interested!)
3. Please pray for ACA and all of the new changes that it is going through!
4. Please pray for the people that cannot escape the cold and are suffering!

Firsts:
- First time going to the Aregua Strawberry Festival!


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Beauty in the Ruins

    This weekend we celebrated two holidays: La Fundacion de Asuncion (the foundation of Asuncion) and El dia de los ninos (the day of the children (to celebrate the children who had to fight in the past wars of Paraguay when they ran out of enough men)). Because of this we had a 3 day weekend and I jumped at the opportunity to go to the southern part of France and see the Jesuit ruins near the city of Asuncion!



    The Jesuit missionaries were some of the first people to reach into the center of South America and current day Paraguay. Along with being some of the first European people to learn Guarani and make contact with these people, they also stood up for these indigenous people during the major land battle between the Spanish and Portuguese. With desires for the land and slavery, eventually the Spanish and Portuguese forced out the Jesuits one of the last supporters of the Guarani. While some of the Jesuits and guarani at the missions left regretfully, but without violence other missions stood their ground. The movie the Mission is a great representation of some of this history and I strongly recommend the film!!!

    Because of the removal of the Jesuits, their missions were destroyed, never completed, or left to age over time. The ruins that I was able to see were that of the ruins of Trinidad and the ruins of Jesús. The ruins at Trinidad are some of the largest in Paraguay as you can see from the numerous buildings that made up this mission. The Church and accompanying building at Jesús were never completed before the Jesuits had to leave. Recently these ruins have been remodeled and restored.


    I was so blessed to be able to see these ruins and get a look into the history, passion, and light of God shown in that time. The impressive sculpting and beautiful architecture is truly breath-taking and astounding for them to have been created during that time and with hand tools. They were definitely in the middle of nowhere and still are pretty far away from anything else.