Monday, November 26, 2007
I don’t want to spend too long writing, because Peter and my new friend Kim are waiting for me outside by the pool. It’s a beautiful day in Villa Carlos Paz, in the argentine
Tuesday I didn’t have such luck with other people ordering for us, and I had to turn into tour guide. Remember how in May I wrote about wanting to become a storyteller? Well, my new dream is to become some kind of tour guide. I see it as a cross between a storyteller, a teacher and an entertainer, all things I like to do. We went to Recoleta cemetery where a whole bunch of rich and famous Argentines are buried, including Evita Peron, and we had a very dynamic tour guide who managed to make the cemetery a very interesting, not to mention educational, experience.
Wednesday we took the train to
The morning of American thanksgiving I woke up for a sunrise service (since I had never see the sunrise over the ocean, just watched it go down). It was very easy to me to be thankful, waking up in a comfortable bed, going down for a buffet breakfast and then going out to sit on the beach and read. It was a complete contrast to that evening, which we spent playing Connect Four in the mall until the security guard kicked us out, then walking in the rain and sleeping in the cold and somewhat uncomfortable train (but it cost less than $5 for a 6 hour train ride!). I chose as my Thanksgiving passage these words from Paul in Philippians: "I have learned to be content (and thankful) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Right now I am definitely in abundance here at the house of Omar and Stella Gava, at the foot of the mountains, surrounded by kind and interesting people. Yesterday they asked me to share in church about my experiences of the last year, and I was able to do it in Spanish and didn’t even look at my notes once. Then we spent until the late afternoon at a place for missionaries in training and enjoyed sweet fellowship with a dynamic group, including a Cuban couple and some folks from
In summary, I feel that the last week has been very helpful as I get ready to say goodbye to my friends in
Monday, November 12, 2007
My sister and I are both here in the church sanctuary using our particular creative talents; as I write my blog, she is painting a mural of a Paraguayan river scene. On Saturday we took a tour of the countryside and now she is inspired to put into paint what I am writing down (but maybe I will post some pictures too). The topography of Paraguay is quite fascinating. AS I mentioned in an earlier blog, we are actually quite close to sea level, but every once in a while, a big hump juts out of the rolling flatness. One such hump is Cerro Lambaré where we got robbed a few weeks back, another is Cerro Yaguaron. There was a rainy torment the night before, but by the following afternoon the sky was a blue as it could be for us to climb the hill and see for miles. The only thing that put a damper on our hike was the teenager with his eyes on us and following as we took out cameras to take pictures on the deserted crest of the hill. Jason and Larissa and I may have been a little paranoid due to the previous events, but thankfully the most dangerous occurrence was when Karen saw a scorpion.
At the next place we stopped, I nicknamed Oscar the Paraguayan crocodile hunter owing to his superior knowledge of flora and fauna. I like how he differentiates between animals whose poison is fatal, and other that aren’t that aren’t really “poisonous” because they don’t kill you. The boys and I were wading around in the creek trying not to get our clothes too wet, but all our prior vigilance was forgotten when Gaby and I spotted a snake in the water and were only concerned with getting out as fast as possible. Oscar taught us how to tap the spiny stem of a certain plant to make the leaves steadily fold up on hinges and so we were occupied for the next few minutes seeking bushes to tap and filming video clips. I remember how during the winter time my siblings and I would pass the time waiting for the school bus by cracking the ice in puddles if the day wasn’t too cold for it to be frozen solid, and I imagined Oscar tapping all of the plants he could find while waiting out in his yard or walking along the way to school. In this same place by the creek we also found a bright orange fluid fungus called “Jew’s ear,” which I would say looked more like a cerebrum, I stepped into a booby trap under a decomposed log, and we did a photo shot with a frog.
As the sun was dropping, we visited Ypacarai lake just outside of the city. I remember reading about how often Spanish names don’t fit with the thing they are describing, but I have never met a worse example than the so called “blessed waters.” Well, the area called San Bernardino used to be a very exclusive expensive tourist resort, noted from the country clubs and fancy hotels. Then they found out that tons of sewage and other pollutants were seeping into the lake and no one has really done anything about it. Today there are still many vacation homes, but the hotels are closing up, and Gaby said it best when he called it a lake full of poop and oil.That night I was in my glory as we back and made a campfire at Oscar and Karen’s house, and I got to roast a whole bunch of hot dogs and marshmallows for everyone and we all shared our favourite parts of the day and heard funny stories about Brandon and Gaby when they were little. It was almost as fun the next day trying to describe a marshmallow to Emi so that she could understand. I am so glad I have some people I care about here to meet my friends and especially Oscar and Karen’s family so that when I go back and I miss them, my family will understand why.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wow, just two seconds ago I put the finishing touches on the grade sheets for report cards, and now I have really completed a whole year of teaching. I remember the days when I couldn’t ever imagine making it this far, the days when I said to myself “I’m staying until Easter break and then I’m leaving” or “I just have to make it to winter vacations.” It’s a good thing I have this joy of accomplishment to even out the dread of having to leave my friends here in less than a month. Thankfully there are many things going on to celebrate and use as an excuse to spend lots of time together. Last Friday was Larissa’s birthday as well as our friend David’s, and only two days earlier David’s brother Ricardo turned 31 on the 31st. So we had a triple birthday party and I employed my neighbour lady to make us a HUGE cake with lots of whip cream and dulce de leche inside. It was extra fun because some of Ricardo’s family came from
On Monday we had our final “Monday Missionary meeting” in which everyone said nice things about me and made me feel that I can be happy with the work I’ve done here. Then Oscar took me and my guests to the downtown. We tried to do a little bit of tourist shopping and buy a birthday present for Gaby, but we couldn’t even find an American football and Lord of the Rings III apparently hasn’t come out yet in Paraguay. We went to a mall I had not yet been to, and there was a store that had clothes from Old Navy which were from about three years ago, but still cost the same original price in American dollars. Annette said now she knows why I haven’t sent back that many souvenirs; food is cheap here, but I have always though that buying things like clothes and cars must be almost crippling when the average income is taken into account. In the end we got Gaby a soccer ball and some other little things and then made him a treasure hunt for his birthday on Tuesday. That night we ate another HUGE cake that Karen made and slept outside in the tents.
I suppose I have convinced everyone to be a missionary now, sounds pretty fun huh? I am looking forward to dinner at Dario and Marlene’s house tonight, going to the country with Oscar and Karen on Saturday, and other invitations in the coming week. Everyone here is letting me know how much they will miss me and I know they are doing some special things because I’m leaving soon, but I have to say that all year long they have been so good to me. My hope is that I am overflowing with this love and I can carry some of it back home with me.
