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.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Happiness or Joy

           This month, our elementary school is studying Joy. Joy has always been special to me, not only because it is my middle name but also for what it truly is and where it comes from. This Thursday I will be our chapel speaker for 3rd – 5th grade and I have decided to share with them about the difference between happiness and joy. This has certainly been a lesson that I have worked to grow and learn from for years and find to be a huge part of teaching and living overseas. Happiness can come in a moment and is fleeting. It is directly linked with the about of emotion that is evoked from something. Webster defines it as good fortune and a pleasurable or satisfying experience. When teaching, sometimes students will say something funny, a lesson goes well, a parent tells you a positive thing their child has learned. These little moments are great and enjoyable, but by themselves they will only bring happiness. If in the next minute a student says something hateful to another, or a lesson completely flops, the happiness can change into sadness or frustration. And suddenly the good feelings are gone. When living overseas, one minute you can be discovering a new part of the culture you are living in and the next remember a wedding that you missed because you were away. You could be learning to make a new dish and the next be told of a family injury or hard time that they are going through and not be able to be there for them. The happiness can be gone in a second and if it only comes from what is happening at the time, your emotions are in a constant roller coaster ride.


        The exciting thing is that we have joy that is everlasting and comes from the Lord. Webster defines joy as a source or cause of delight and the emotion evoked by possessing what one desires. While I believe this is be partially true, I also believe that what we truly desire most can only be fulfilled by God and that it is He who our joy then comes from. I love the quote from Mother Teresa that says, “Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life. One has to follow it, even though one enters into a way full of difficulties.” The joy the Lord gives us is not a roller coaster, but if we can continue to trust in Him, we can be blessed will an inner “fountain” of joy that is never ceasing. Through teaching and living overseas it has been this joy that has blessed me and guided me in ways to allow opportunities to continue to share God’s love and joy to those around me. I am so thankful for the joy of the Lord that is there in the good times and the challenges.


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 that the school would be blessed with the Joy of the Lord and turn to Him in all times.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

GRATEFULNESS

        This last week one of the main concepts that we focused on in class was gratefulness. Ironically during this last week I have challenged to be grateful in everything. Isn’t it great how the teacher always learns with the students and often learns even more through teaching something? With the start of the new semester I definitely have blessed in many ways:
       o I get to have my students for the second time in a row (my 4th graders -> 5th graders)
       o I get to teach the same subjects as last year (yahoo for already have gone through it once)
       o I have a student teacher (well sort of, technically he is the other 4th and 5th grade teacher’s
         officially, but is student teaching all of 5th grade so he is in my classes for ½ the day)
       o Accreditation Committee leader for Safety, Health and Nutrition (half expected, yet it didn’t
          appear to be this much work initially)
       o I have a great new roommate!


And I also have some unexpected blessings:
       o Camp Director (I will be the camp director for our week long elementary overnight camp)
       o Co- PTA teacher coordinator for elementary
       o Two brand new students to the school (both with little English, and two others that have been
          here 1 semester and also have a little bit of English)


       I thank the Lord for His incredible power that he blesses us with to be able to shine His light around us. While at times it is easy to focus on everything that is going on and everything that needs to be done, I thank the Lord for His incredible blessings and am grateful for his plans ahead. Thank you all for your prayers! I know that the Lord has planned great things ahead!

Prayer Requests:
- please see above
 
Firsts:
- First time helping my mentee teacher open her classroom door twice in the last few days! But to her credit, the lock has been freezing in the last few really cold days!

- First time being a co-PTA coordinator
- First time being a camp director for our week long elementary camp