The last night.

Well. It's about 1am and I'm just finishing up the packing. I weighed one bag but honestly the kg scale confuses me and I'm not sure how much it should be and somehow I'm getting it all to the states, even if I pay the fee! Just don't care that much anymore, I can't do the impossible! :)

This past week has been full of strange goodbyes. I've never been good at goodbyes, I always do see-you-laters. Which in one sense is good, but in another I never REALLY feel like I'm leaving until after I'm gone and I have so much I wish I would have said. But in this case I honestly feel like it's a see-you-later much more than a goodbye. Paraguay has crept into every part of me and I'll always think of it as another home. Cheesy as it sounds, part of me really will always be here. In a mere 6 months I have grown to love the people, the school, the empanadas, even the crazy bus drivers I love just a little. Especially when I sit up front and they help me find where I'm going...

I'm sure I'm going to get back and everyone will get that glazed-over look real fast as I start talking about Paraguay and harping on my feelings on the state of the government, the economy, what people SHOULD do for developing countries, blahblahblah... But I can deal with that. :) I am so ready to get home and hug my friends and family and be in one of my best friends weddings, but when the craziness slows down I'm pretty sure I'll be wishing I could be back here in Lambare.

Please be praying for my flight as I head home- I think this is the first time I'm actually nervous about flying with all these plane wrecks happening...
Pray that I can get some decent rest to go full-force into wedding mode and seeing everyone!
Pray that I can readjust quickly and don't have too much reverse culture shock and that I can find a job quickly!!
And thanks for all your support and prayers over the past 6 months, I couldn't have done it without you!

Ya te extrano Paraguay. Espero para verte otra vez.

My last full week....

As this week is about to begin, I realize that as EXCITED as I am to go home and see everyone and start the next part of my life (why are there so many parts??), I'm just a little in denial that I'm leaving. Everyone here keeps asking me how I'm feeling with it being so close, and the only answer I can give is... umm... ok, I guess. It hasn't really hit me that in a week and a half I will be landing in Charleston and thrust into life in the US. That in a week and a half I will be able to flush toilet paper down the toilet again (thank you, Jesus). I will be able to get in my car and drive when I want, and not feel that I'm putting my life on the line every time I'm on the road. I will sleep on a real mattress that doesn't squeak every time I turn over. I will be able to drink Starbucks and talk to my family and friends in PERSON (yay!).

So bizarre.

I also won't be able to speak Spanish every day (many times a very humbling experience...). I won't wake up knowing that something I'm doing, no matter how small, is impacting the education of children that otherwise would have a much bleaker future. I won't be reminded of just how spoiled I am and how much I have when I walk outside my door. I won't be surrounded by amazing Paraguayans (and missionaries!) who selflessly help others when they themselves have so little.

So as I come to terms with leaving, and get geared up for that thing called real life, I can only know that while I have not a single clue what I'm doing- I don't have to. It's all worked out for me. For that I am ETERNALLY grateful. I just have to keep that in mind when I feel like the economy is crashing down around me! Oh wait, it already is... :)
And while I know I'm not indispensable, I hope at least a little that I will be missed. And hope that everyone here knows they will be missed in return.

(I also hope that my welcome home party is already planned and that it will include all things American. And maybe some Mexican food...)

Un mes de mi vida.

So. Once again I fail at the blogging. It has been OVER a month since I've written anything about my life/adventures. Sorry all blog followers! (Let's be honest, interest has been dwindling anyway... you know who you are...)

So here is a bit of an update!

First things first- I WILL BE HOME IN 2 WEEKS. Yes, that is 14 days. From tomorrow. Wednesday July 30th, 2009 at 8:37am I *should* be cruising down the Charleston airport- barring any unforeseen airport dilemmas- with too many carry ons and a giant floppy Paraguayan hat, just in case people don't recognize me. Then I go into full-fledged Christa-and-Brandon wedding mode. (YAY!) My life is crazy. I love it.

As to other things that actually have BEEN happening in my life as opposed to things that WILL be happening:

• I went to a heavy metal Christian concert in the city a few weeks ago. It was interesting. I actually liked one of the bands but then the screaming/screeching got a liiiittle too much for me. But it was a really cool way to evangelize to people who normally wouldn't be into the "Christiany" concert scene. This group actually has an entire heavy metal church, and one of their associate pastors killed 17 people and was in jail for 20 years or something. Talk about an amazing testimony!!
• Latin American Idol came to town. No, I did not try out. But don't think I wasn't tempted. Although I did realize just how Americanized I am (duh) when I came back and was so excited to tell some of my friends about it and they looked at me with blank expressions... nice.
• The school has OFFICIALLY begun it's first phase of building the poliodeportivo!! Translation: multi-purpose sports/music/classroom building. It is a HUGE deal for the school and desperately needed to continue to expand. So far it's coming along very well! Still raising funds though, so if you feel lead to give I'll give you a giant hug in 2 weeks when I come back. :)
• We had Dia de la Familia last Saturday! The school has it every year in July when winter break starts and the whole family takes part. They start a few weeks before and do games for the parents and kids and encouraged a cleaning project for the school area around the neighborhood. It was so amazing to see everyone taking part and it really helps people take more pride in where they live. Trash is such a huge problem here, it's nice to see trash cans on the corners and fresh painted sidewalks and fences and even some flowers! (The little blue man picture now holds a trash can outside my front door). Everyone worked really hard. Then last Saturday we had the day of games! We Americans sang out national anthem since it was July 4th, too. We had hundreds of people come, the streets were filled and it was a long, exhausting day completely worth the pain. And, thank You Jesus, the rain started right AFTER everyone had cleaned up everything and put the last of the stuff back inside. :)
• I'm on winter break for 2 weeks! Very strange phenomenon, winter break in July... Well, a week and a half down already. Last week I went with Carol, Donald, and their daughter Cora with 2 of their friends who came to visit from Texas (shout out to the Lone Star State!), Eric and Deb, to see the Jesuit Ruins! The trip was fabulous and proved to be a bit more challenging than originally expected. In the form of speed bumps. There must be hidden cameras all over Latin America just to laugh at the people who miss their whale-sized speed bumps and fly over them like Evel Knievel. But seriously, the ruins were gorgeous and we had a great time!
• Today we took the 7th and 8th graders to the Expo. It's kind of like our fairs, but with less rides and more promotiony stuff. But we still had a great time! We rode the ferris wheel (while praying it wouldn't fall apart), saw the sweet-smelling cows, sheep, and horses, and just poked around for a few hours. And of course, ate.
  

Now I'm just hanging around and finding things to do, movies to see, books to read, people to visit, and sleep to catch up on, for the next few days until school starts again! Then it's time to start packing up the last 6 months of my life... please pray as the days start closing in! Pray for the people I leave behind, and for what lies ahead. And for a safe trip home! I'm kind of worried my awesome Paraguayan hat will get crushed. That would be tragic. I would also love to not have any problems changing planes or going through customs/immigration...

Ok, I promise to update again before I leave. Que Dios les bendiga!

Birthday and Back Aches

If you know me, you know I love birthdays. Especially mine. :) With this past week being my birthday week I was geared up for all sorts of birthday fun. But Sunday night I get a call that there is a medical mission group here for the week, could I PLEASE come help translate since no one speaks Spanish??

I have been praying for the opportunity to help with a medical team the whole time I've been here and jumped at the chance! I was expecting to learn new words and have a good experience, but as usual I can never prepare myself for the awesomeness that God has in store.

I went into it a little nervous that my Spanish wouldn't be good enough or that I wouldn't be able to understand the patients (and a couple of them were pretty difficult to decipher!). I was put with Shane Palmer, a chiropractor. I think he started out as nervous as I was... But we both did pretty well, even though we were unprepared for the whirlwind week that it turned out to be! They even had to hold some patients back from him, he was so busy!

It was amazing to witness the relief people felt when they realized that someone could help them. Years of harsh living and work conditions, with no chance to hit up the spa once in awhile like we do, or even just have a day of rest, (and in many cases terrible diets) take a serious toll on these peoples bodies. But I can't describe how it felt when we realized there wasn't much we could do.

We saw a 9 year old boy who had an infection in his hip several years ago and had surgery. Now the part of his hip that needs to grow is no longer there, resulting in one leg shorter than the other and not much anyone can do about it. He needs at least one more surgery in a few years and a possible hip replacement in his 20's. I was the one who had to translate that to tell his mother, who is probably struggling to survive week to week, and watched as she broke down. We all cried with her.

We saw a 27-year-old woman who had nearly unbearable pain from rheumatoid arthritis. She could barely hold her 2 month old baby.

There was a woman with pneumonia so bad she could barely breathe and should have been in a hospital long before she came to visit the clinic.

We saw a few people with herniated disks in their back but didn't know what it was and had gone untreated for years, doing irreparable damage to their bodies.

Janie and Renee, the 2 nurses pictured above, did an amazing job with triage and taking symptoms despite the language barrier, and prayed for so many of the patients. It was such a blessing that they were able to help so many people. In 3 1/2 days the doctors saw about 680 patients and gave out I-don't-even-know-how-much free medication, toothbrushes, combs, bible verses, necklaces and bracelets, and candy to the kids. They had church services every night. Another team from the same group helped build a new church building so the congregation wouldn't have to meet outside anymore and got it about 80% finished, and another team went to a daycare and did VBS there every day with the kids. This group from the Florence, Alabama area was amazing. They worked all day without complaining, and were a pleasure to get to know. They even sang me happy birthday and I shared my cake. :)

At the end of the week I was dead tired but completely inspired as well. It was an emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausting experience but one that left me just a little less self-absorbed and a little closer to the people of Paraguay. And although I still love my birthday, for the first time it took a back seat to the rest of the things going on around me and I was strangely ok with that. :) Dios te bendiga!