#1) don't take what you have for granted. Be thankful and joyful that you have a home, food, water, school and people to take care of you; it's not like that everywhere in the world.
I've started to feel my thoughts changing, maybe a feeling of being more aware; I'm not really sure. It really first started when I took the bus from my home to the main road to go out to work and to just go out. Everyday the bus passes a huge community of tents, tarps and wooden shacks. I can't help but look, every time and just try to imagine what that could be like. Especially these last few days in the sweltering heat, I honestly can't imagine living like that. It's started to make me think "why is this happening? How can I help? What can I do?" I don't know the answer to those questions yet, but I'm working on it.
Starting my new job has opened my eyes to new things too. I work for an organization called Don Bosco Roga. You know those advertisements on tv that say you can sponsor a child and pay so much money every month? That's where I work. Don Bosco here in Paraguay has teamed up with a Catholic organization called chalice in Canada, where the Canadian sponsors send money or gifts to children or elderly people here. My job is to translate the letters that the children and elderly people write to their sponsors. Some of you may be thinking that those programs aren't really good or real, but I know this one is. The letters I read and translate are really awesome. They share photos with each other and really sometimes have a great connection. Although my job is boring, I also find it kind of rewarding. On Saturdays I go and play with the kids that are part of the program. I've learned new rules for jenga (such as holding the structure and taking your piece so it doesn't fall), been asked if my eyes are really real, and I've been learning some more Guaraní (which is always accompanied with lots of giggling kids). Maybe this wasn't as exciting and fun to read, but I think it is important. I really hope that you sit down today for a minute and thinks about how really lucky you are!!! Think about how not every country is like the one you live in. Be thankful you don't live under a tarp, and think about how you might be able to help! You don't have to do anything extravagant, maybe just send a thought upstairs to the big guy or do some volunteer work...I don't know! I hope this inspired you a little bit! Now I'm going to move onto the fun adventures I've had in the past few weeks!!
Salto Cristal:
The people who say that Paraguay is an ugly country, obviously have not SEEN Paraguay! I had the opportunity to travel to a place called Salto Cristal, which was honestly one of the coolest day trips I've ever been on! My sister Arami was going on the trip, because her friends (AFS volunteers) were going. I got invited along and though, what the heck, I want to get out, explore and meet new people, so this is really the perfect thing for me to do! The "party" bus, a small bus that held 20 people, picked Me and Ara up at the infamous Puma gas station that my life pretty much revolves around. We got on the bus and the first person I saw was the AFS volunteer who I spent a lot of time talking to in order to change families and jobs. As I moved farther back into the bus, there were all the volunteers from orientation! Jaja it was kind of weird, just because I was the youngest and I knew them in a different kind of way. That all faded within hours and everyone was taking and laughing and friends. The bus ride was really fun.....except for the roads.
Lets take a minute to talk about the roads here in Paraguay. I should have put that on the list of things to be thankful for!! Clevelanders, or anyone that knows those terrible winter potholes; it is nothing compared to here. There isn't even a real winter here and it is ten bagillion times worse than home. For instance...on our way to Salto Cristal, we hit a bump....a serious bump. I literally flew out of my seat, landed back down on a seatbelt buckle and was left with a whole in my pants. Please, next time you see a "pothole" just get that image in your mind!
On the way, we stopped at a big hill from which you could see forever. I felt in love!!! Finally, I saw green, and trees, and mountains and hills and beauty! I could smell...urine; but I just kind of blocked that part out as much as I could. We then continued our bumpy and somewhat uncomfortable journey towards Salto Cristal. Once we arrived it wasn't what I pictured. It was like someone's farm...pigs and chickens and goats running around. Then people started changing into bathing suits and getting ready to go to the falls. I thought it would just be a little walk and we would be there and boy was I wrong. It was a vertical drop to get there. I'm not joking when I say vertical drop. There were rocks that you had to scale and a rope about half way down that you could hold onto to make sure you wouldn't fall to your death. Other than that getting down wasn't too bad! I made the stupid decision of wearing flip flops and ended up just going barefoot to get the proper toe grippage that I needed. Once we got down the vertical drop of death, we had to walk through a river/stream to get to the falls. I've never seen so many beautiful butterflies in my life. Fluorescent purples and blues, floating past your face while you feel the cool water on your feet and the sounds of the birds in the forest singing...it was seriously magical. But the most magnificent part was the first moment I actually saw the falls. I didn't really have words. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The closer I got the droplets of mist kissed my face and the cool breeze coming off of the water felt so good after coming down those rocks. It was really incredible. We all were swimming and playing and just enjoying life. What a great thing to do. Enjoy life!!!
After we climbed back up the rocks, we got back into the bus and started out to our next destination.....CAMPING! Oh man, it was so much fun. We made a fire, walked in the river, talked, and had fun. The most awesome thing was the sky. The sky clear enough to see many, many stars; and at the same time there was constant lighting. There was never a crack of thunder or a drop of rain. Just stars and lightning; it was incredible. The next morning, I had so many terrible mosquito bites (which still aren't gone yet, I'll attach some pictures don't worry) But it didn't even matter because the trip was absolutely unforgettable.
Expo Capiatá:
I went to expo in Capiatá, which is basically like a little fair. I went with my friend Aldo who I met on the Salto Cristal trip. I just wanted to mention that it was my first time seeing the traditional Paraguayan dance!! They balance bottles on their heads, dance with cheese, and chipa and flowers. It was really cool for me to see for the first time live!!
San Bernardino (Sanber):
I spent Monday with my friend Aldo in Sanber, which is his city. Sanber is one of the most popular weekend and summer vacation spots to go in Paraguay other than Encarnacion. It is on lake Ypacarai and it's so beautiful! Once you get out of Gran Asuncion and into Interior, everything is more quiet, peaceful and beautiful! We went by motorcycle (yes I know, but don't worry we went slow and both were wearing helmets) to many places with amazing views of the city and of the lake!! It was such a cool day and I really want to go back again! I know people that vacation there so maybe I can tag along with one if them sometime!
I am very very happy here and happy about the move. It has really been good for me and my experience has already changed so much. Tonight I'm going with some co-workers to a Beatles tribute concert which is kind of REALLY AWESOME! That's about all I can think of so far...I'm sure there will be more stories soon that I'll want to share!!! Also a shout out to my Poppy, it's his birthday today and I'm sad I won't be going over to eat German chocolate cake with him. I miss you! Thanks for reading and check in soon!
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