Dios Te Bendiga from Paraguay: Surrounded

Fuerza Paraguay!

Often times life seems to be swirling around you at crazy speeds with new changes occurring every day. These last two weeks have been just that. From my second master’s class starting and to progress reports being due, to daily changes in our school and so much more, my life has certainly stretched me in the last few weeks. I apologize for not posting last week and this one being late, but hopefully the above make up for some of it!

The video that showed at midnight. It was
on the back of the building below!

If I had to pick one lesson that I have continually been blessed to learn again and again while in Paraguay, it would truly be to trust in the Lord. I have the lyrics for Still by Hillsong posted at my bedroom door and it helped to truly keep my focus on the right place. The Lord truly has an incredible plan for our lives and he can fly us over the storm.

Paraguay has officially turned 200 years old! This last weekend we had the Paraguayan Bicentennial Celebrations surrounding the night of May 14th to the 15th as we celebrated its independence! With lots of Paraguayan shirts, refurbished downtown, lights on all the buildings, concerts, lanterns, and lots and lots of RED, WHITE, and BLUE! While I was very busy with my school work, university class, and other things, I was thankfully able to head downtown to join in the celebrations! Besides the celebrations around our school (which is still covered in Paraguayan flags!), I went to the military parade on Saturday, the concert behind the Palacio (with fireworks, light displays, and video of Paraguay on the back of the Palacio (very, very cool), and walked around the downtown on Sunday night seeing the other fireworks displays, video, and more! I, of course, was not the only as you can see in some of these pictures!

The memorial to the heros. In this case
their military ones.

One of the parts that was the most unique and special to me, was spending Saturday night, turning to Sunday (when the documents were officially signed) standing behind the Palacio (the presidential palace), next to the river (dividing Argentina and Paraguay) and next to the chacarita (what use to be one of the worst slums in Paraguay). I was truly standing between one of the symbols of the high life of Paraguay (the Palacio) and one of the poorest and most dangerous places (the chacarita). It was a real glimpse of the true division of Paraguay as we celebrated this beautiful country. It was so special being a part of these huge celebrations, trying my best to sing along when I could as thousands of Paraguayans showed their pride and celebrated together!

The Palacio! A gorgeous white building
where they showed the video on! See the
picture above.

Prayer Requests:

- Please pray for the people of Paraguay during this celebration and hopefully a mark of the continual growth and difference this country will make.

- Please pray for our school, during its time of change as the year comes to an end.

- Please pray for the new teachers for the school, that they will be blessed with a peace about coming.

Firsts:

This building is actually pink! But they

also put pink lights on it too. It is Paraguay's

"white" (but really pink) house!

- First and only time celebrating the Paraguayan bicentennial!

- First time attending an international military parade!

- First time going to a concert behind the Palacio of the president and next to the chacarita!

- First time attending a video display on the entire back of a government building! It was wonderful!

- First time taking a class on Secondary Language Acquisition. I am really enjoying the material.
- First time having a master’s class make it half way and then have to switch to long distance.

The front of the Palacio!

- First time taking a day off from any job!!!!! I decided to take Wednesday off to be able to input all of the quarter grades for progress reports, get work done for my master’s class, and other odds and ends. Yet with my master’s class being drastically altered, I was able to finish my grades on Tuesday night and relax today. It was hard to give up my class for a day, but the break was a wonderful blessing.