The Prince and the Pictures

So this is just a short note to inform all of you loyal readers that, if you haven't already noticed, there is a link to view our web albums of Paraguay off to the side there.  No, a little lower.  Too low.  Right.  Right there.  Good.  Now, there might still be some kinks that need worked out, but more or less you should be able to see what we see.

On another note, uploading all of the pictures to the web this morning allowed me the chance to remember our trip to the countryside and that they are teaching about "The Little Prince"  in the school there.  Those kids, if they read that book, will turn out just fine.

Sorry.  The lighting on the picture is not good... but you get the idea.  I was excited to see it on the blackboard.

If you do not know about this book, allow me to tell you that it is possibly the greatest book ever written.  I know what you are thinking.  "Well Craig there is this..." No.  No arguments.  Find this book and read it, and you will see. Antoine de Saint Exupéry wrote the book way back in 1943.  It was a work of genius then, and still is now.  Here, check Wikipedia.  

Anyhow, my German Host-mom Sylvia first gave me this book when I was in Germany, and it was the first book I ever read in German.  (It was originally written in French, but it's in a bunch of different languages now.)  It should be required reading for anyone who is going to be an adult, anywhere in the world.  CEMTA (the Mennonite Seminary here) also has the book in Spanish, and so I read it again in Spanish.  One day I will read it in English, and then in any other language people find the book in and give to me.  It is that good.

Face Off

   For the past two weeks I've been having a nasty reaction to something in Berta's (our new host mom) home.  Unfortunately, this little bugger has been affecting my face, making it itch like mad, and therefore, swell up and become beautifully dry.  It has woken me up at all hours of the night, only to remind me that I in fact have not figured out what I'm allergic to!  However, Craig and I were willing to try anything, even if it means sleeping in separate beds.  We have 2 beds in our room, a twin and a double, and I apparently was allergic to either our bed, my pillow, or Craig.  So we bought a new pillow, switched beds, and I now sleep alone.  And you know what?  I finally slept through the night!  I feel like a new mom, experiencing the first time that her child has slept the whole night through!  What a relief, and even more wonderful is that my face does not itch, and is back to its normal size.  Praise the Lord!  :)  

    

Get with the Beat!

We've all had the experience of going to a concert, worship service, or while sitting with an uh-hum, older person, and the song starts.  Now it has a pretty good beat, you're enjoying it, until... oh dear help us all, someone starts to clap on the 1st and 3rd beat of the song!  If this sounds like you - you can't keep a beat, and can't figure out why everyone else is clapping on the off beat - Ahh yes, then you should move to Paraguay!  

That's right my friends and family, you're "off the beat" here in Paraguay if you clap our "normal" 2nd and 4th beat to a song!  So a big thank you for all of you out there, (you may not know who you are, but we do) who have prepared me for this cultural difference that is probably the most difficult to adapt to!  

Give me all the cheeks you want, I'll kiss them, I'll take the cold showers on a cool morning, I'll even deal with the dust here that makes my face itch like mad!! Just don't make me clap on the 1st and 3rd beat!  So as you go to church on Sunday morning, remember me as you clap along, however you do it.  

Cutting the cord...

Although the title may make some people cringe, it´s happend. For five weeks we were comfortable in the house of Maria, her wonderful meals, surrounded by people who have once been in our shoes and learned a language other than their own, and encouraged by their slow talk. ¨Snip¨goes the sissors, and off we go. This past Monday, we were scattered to our assignments for the next 9 months, to learn from the people, and teach English.

It´s always a shift when you hear different people speak Spanish, it´s an adjustment. The different speeds at which people speak a language is obviously another setback. Craig and I are now living in San Lorenzo, just a 10 minute walk to the Mennonite Seminary (CEMTA) here. We live with a very livly, and talkative Reberta, or ¨Berta¨as she likes to be called. 

Now she´s a sweetheart, she really is, however, she loves shortened names, and really so does much of Paraguay. So only naturally to her, she says, "Oh Krista, we´ll shorten that to Kris. That's how everyone does it in Paraguay." Now, I like to think that I´m a flexible person, and many of you know how I feel about Kris. But Kris!!? I suppose if my group member Scott, can handle Escott, since Spanish speakers have a hard time saying "S" without an "e" sound preceding, I can handle "Kris" for 9 months. I guess.  

Besides adjusting to my new name, things are going well. Once my new host mother found out how much Craig and I love mangos, we went on a hunt to find some. Not to a supermarket, and sadly not to her backyard, but to the streets! Many people have mango trees, and when the ripe mangoes fall from the street and into the road, other people stop by an snatch them up. I have to admit, I felt a little timid taking other people´s fruit, but she did it first! :) They were so good I could have eaten them until I was sick! Berta told me one time when they were just coming into season, which is actually in December, she collected and ate 20 mangos in one sitting! My new comfort food. Love it.