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| Sunset along the River Parana |
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| View of the bridge going to Posadas on our way to the barrio. |
Thursday marked exactly one month that we’ve
been living in Paraguay. Some days it feels like I’ve been here for so much
longer and can’t believe only a month has passed, but most days it still feels
like we just arrived. I’m sure that I’ve changed a little and that I’ve learned
things, but for now it still feels like I don’t know anything and I haven’t
grown at all. For instance, this past week I was having one of those blah days.
You know, where you aren’t in a bad mood, it’s just not a good, happy mood. As
we were walking around the neighborhood beneath the bridge telling people that
the health center is open and what days the doctors, dentists and courses are I
couldn’t help but thinking, “What is wrong with me?!” Here I am seeing people
that lack shoes, adequate shelter, clean water and I’m feeling blah because I
didn’t get to talk to my boyfriend this afternoon and the birthday card I made
probably won’t make it to him on time? Ridiculous! But that in itself was a
sign of how much I need to be here for me. I’ll be honest, I absolutely love
the experiences I’m having—working with the kids, meeting people in our
neighborhood, helping people improve their health, visiting the sick, getting
to know the sisters and increasing my faith—but every day is a challenge for
me—missing my family, Matt, my friends, being able to do exactly what I want
when I want. Knowing that I have so much room to grow and that I’m definitely
going to be a better person because of the struggle is enough to keep me
going. I’m thankful that I still have almost nine months left here.
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| After a day at the Centro de Salud (Health Center) |
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| One of the adorable kids we encountered while walking around the neighborhood. He's 4, his mom is 17 and he has a little baby sister. |
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| Banana Tree! |
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| On our walk in the barrio. |
For the second week of jardín class lasted for two hours, so
it was nice to have more time with the kids to get to know them and to learn
how to talk to them more. I now carry around my dictionary in one pocket of my
apron and my camera in the other.
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| Caitlin with her kids in Sala Azul. |
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| Nati with her flower she helped paint. |
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| Some of the girls with Hermana Graciela. |
More difficult than
adjusting to the culture shock of living in Paraguay is living with nuns in a
very structured community, especially after living on my own more or less for
five years. In Albuquerque it was like we got a glimpse of what community life
was like for a nun, but here we’re actually participating. The sisters pray
together in the morning each weekday at 5:45 (haven’t made it yet), go to Mass
at 6:10 (sometimes—for lent I’ve vowed to go at least twice a week plus Sundays
and usually Saturdays), pray in the afternoons and also pray together at night
before dinner (we participate). I’m sure that there’s more that we don’t know
about, plus there are various events at the chapel and other churches such as
special prayers, speakers, and Masses. Strengthening my faith is definitely one
of my goals of this experience, and it’s happening sometimes because of all the
structured prayer and sometimes in spite of it. I generally prefer personal
prayer, and to be blunt sometimes I’m all prayed out in Spanish. Sitting and
listening to three hours of straight Spanish is still exhausting for me at this
point since I have to mentally translate everything. In times like that I just
apologize, ask for patience and strength to make it to the end of the
service and use the time for personal prayer. I think Jesus understands.
Earlier this week we
had a meeting with Maria Jose, the head sister in our house, to talk about how
things are going and to ask questions. It was wonderful! We more or less
figured out our daily schedule for each week, talked about visiting Jesuit
ruins and Iguazu falls, talked about specific projects the sisters could use
help with (I should be posting those soon) and found out that we have a little
more freedom than we thought. Plus, she said they like us.
In other news, our
stove caught on fire! On Thursday when Caitlin and I came back home with Sr.
Magdalena after walking around the neighborhood under the bridge, I went
downstairs to eat some of this coconut dessert that I’m absolutely addicted to.
Instead of the dessert though, I found black ceilings, everything in the
kitchen and dining room covered in soot, and the sisters assessing the damage.
Luckily no one was hurt and besides some electrical problems in some of the
adjoining rooms and the obvious soot, the kitchen is the only room that needs a
lot of work. Fortunately the sisters have a kitchen upstairs as well, and it
looks like we’ll be eating there for about two weeks.
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| The kitchen and stove. |
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| Outline left from a cross hanging on the wall. |
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| Dining room. |
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| Cleaning... |
This weekend Caitlin
and I celebrated our one-month benchmark and St. Patrick’s Day by wearing
matching green shirts, going out and exploring the city, looking at souvenirs
and stocking up on sweets. It was nice to have a day by ourselves to learn the
buses, look at Paraguayan things and take pictures without feeling embarrassed or
worried that someone is waiting on us. Since we didn’t get lost we should be
able to take the bus in by ourselves more often, which is nice since it’s much
cheaper than a taxi. (Bus is equivalent to about $0.50 whereas a taxi is about
$5.00.) At night we went to Mass at the Chapel followed by dinner and cake in
our courtyard and a movie under the stars. A much different St. Patrick’s Day
then I’m used to, but it was still a great time. Structured community life is
difficult to adjust to, but the fun times and getting to know the sisters helps a lot.
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| Inside the market. |
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| The government building in Encarnacion. |
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