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!

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.

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.

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

A New School Year, A New Set of Changes and Lessons to Learn

        Our new school year has officially started!!!! I have been going full force since I came back to Paraguay. From helping our new teachers to adjust, to preparing for our re-accreditation, having a student teacher half the day, and adjusting to some chances in the school have only been the start of some of the changes and components to this new year.

      We have 5 new teachers this year and 4 major switches for some of our other teachers! They are working to adjust to both the culture, new school, and for all of our new teachers… their first year of teaching! They are full of energy and things are going well. It is crazy to think that I was in their shoes just 1 year ago! We are still in need of another teacher and could certainly use your prayers in the area (The position is middle school Social Studies and English if you know anyone who may be interested!)!


      With the new school year, also come new students! While I do have my old 4th grade class as my fifth grade class I do have a new set of students in 4th grade! Still I got to use know these students from camp, recess, chapel and other activities that we have done together. It seems strange that I already know so many of these students and while it is a fresh start, I already know so much! We have all gotten one more year under our belt and I can’t wait to see what we are going to be able to do!

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!


Firsts:
- First time starting my second year of teaching!

- First time being a mentor teacher to one of the new teachers!
- First time being a cooperating teacher for a student teacher!

End of the First Year!



The Cancha!



       I am sorry that I have not posted in two weeks, things certainly have been full and busy as our semester ended and I was able to come home to the US for our winter break. My parents surprised me back in May with buying me a ticket to be able to come home for this break and I have been so blessed with this time. I have enjoyed catching up with family and friends and the rest and break have been a welcomed relief.



Chipa salesman



       Before I left on break I was able to go to my first Paraguayan soccer game! It was a sort of pre-season game of Paraguay verses Chile. While no one scored Paraguay still played well, and I had a blast getting an inside look into their soccer games! While the stadium wasn’t full there was still plenty of cheering, chipa and drink salesmen, and soccer pride. While there was more cheering for Olympia and Cerro (the biggest rival in Paraguayan Club teams) instead of for Paraguay, it was wonderful to get to show some country pride. I have attached several pictures for you to be able to see!



Rolling advertisements!

    



Julia finished her pillow that she
was making in art club!



  On June 24th it is the official day of San Juan and there are lots of festivals all throughout Paraguay to celebrate! I went downtown with some friends and was able to join in with the festivities. The San Juan festival is full of old traditions, some that are more standard and some that are more regional. Much of the festivities revolve around fire. There are games and rituals to help young women find out who they are to marry(things similar to catching the bouquet), clay pots (like piñatas), and this year in Asuncion they made the biggest mbeju in the world! Mbeju is a traditional cake/pancake-like pattie that is made from a few ingredients and then cooked over a stove or a fire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbeju ). In this case the mbeju was huge, about the circumference of an above ground swimming pool. They rigged up a huge iron circles and with a crane and a big fire, they were able to cook the mbeju. I have to admit that I have certainly had better, but it was still fun to be a part of it. At the festival there were lots of traditional dancing, delicious food, and some stuffed human sized dolls. One of the dolls that was downtown that they were going to burn, was labeled with the names of key figures that were less than popular with the people who helped to label it. For example on the doll that I saw it had the labels of Lugo (the Paraguayan president) and the president for the Olympia soccer team! I have been so blessed to dive into the Paraguayan culture more and more.



These pictures are from the end of the
year carnival that we created!



       I will be heading back to down to Paraguay on July 12th and our new school year will start up on July 26th with in service for teachers before. We are welcoming several new teachers into our school and are very excited to have them join our community.



Digging for pirate treasure!



Prayer Requests:

- The temperatures in Paraguay are going lower than they have before. Much of Paraguay is not equipped for the weather and many people are struggling. My church has been giving out new blankets and shoes to the children that come to my church to help keep them warm. But many people are far less blessed. Those living in the slums and shacks have little to keep them warm at night. Please pray for the people in Paraguay on the streets and in the shacks.

- Please pray for safe travel and a good transition for our new teachers that are coming down.

- Please pray for safe travel for all of the teachers who have traveling for a safe return.

- Please pray for a wonderful fresh start with the upcoming new school year.

Firsts:

- First Paraguayan futbol game!

- First time celebrating the San Juan festival!
- First time eating the World’s biggest mbeju!
- First Year of teaching completed!
- First time going from colder Paraguay to warmer US!

I’ve heard it said, that people come in to our lives for a reason…

Hanging before the tea with Kate,
my pastor's daughter

          This Friday was the ACA graduation for the senior class of 2011! We had 11 students graduate and 6 different nationalities represented! It was one of the classes at ACA with the most US missionaries (3), and also had Paraguayans, Koreans, a Taiwanese, a Peruvian, and a British student. Most of these students have been at ACA since kindergarten and in the same class together through the years! Their pictures, memories, and stories were special to hear as they grew together. All of this time together, and now they are separating and going truly around the world! Each has made an impact on each to help them grow and become who they are and who they will become! From dreams of becoming a diplomat, to an opera singer, to banking, and the undecided, each is heading out into the world to make their mark! With memories being stated about even as far back as elementary and kindergarten, it was a wonderful end of the year reminder and extra jolt for why we do what we do and the impact a little action of love can one day make on the world!!!

Filling up before the ten minutes
are up. I could hear the ocean!



         On Saturday, I went to my church for nearly 8 hours to help set up, decorate and clean up from the Té de Damas (Ladies Tea)! It was certainly a wonderful time for the ladies of the church to join together, have fun, and learn more about the Lord. The theme was Winter Wonderland (selected by some Paraguayan ladies)! The irony was that while we are entering into our winter here that can get cold (no snow though), this last week was the annual heat wave that accompanies the festival de San Juan. So while I was hanging up snowflakes from the ceiling on my church I was sweating in the 80 degree weather! Still the decorations turned out very well and the women loved it! We had food, tea (Paraguayan cocido (a very sweet hot tea)), crafts, a testimony from a woman on a mission trip, and games. One of the games as you can see involved trying to stick as many balloons onto a group model (aren’t my Paraguayan sisters in Christ so sweet to pick me)! Within ten minutes I had 39 balloons all over me! It was a wonderful time being able to grow closer to these women and laugh together!



Winter wonderland, Paraguayan style!



Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for a good end to our school year as it is coming up soon! (June 24th)

- Please pray for the board as they are working on making important decisions about this next year!
- Please Pray for our new teachers that are coming!

Firsts:
- First ACA Graduation!

- First Té de Damas at my church! (Ladies tea)

They decided to pop the balloons to count them!!!