"!Siempre estas cansada!"

Learning a new language is exhausting. Living in 100 degree heat with almost no relief is exhausting. Living in Paraguay is exhausting. But I love it (95% of the time!). That's how I know that this is where I'm supposed to be right now. It is kind of funny when people come up and ask me how I am, and I- being a truth-teller- often reply with just how tired I am. And they, often being equally direct, usually say, "!Siempre estas cansada!" (You're always tired, for those of you non-spanish speakers).

Sue, the director of Nuevo Horizonte, came back last week. She's been raising support for the school in the states for the past 2 months. She gave me a book called "Foreign to Familiar" by Sarah A. Lanier. It's not a very long book, and I've only just started it but it's already fascinating. It goes through some cultural differences and why people often have a difficult time understanding and adapting to other cultures. I am EXTREMELY grateful that I have come from a warm-weather climate (SC) to another warm-weather climate. While there are obvious cultural differences, there are more than enough similarities so I don't feel completely lost. I cannot imagine how exhausted-and friendless- I would be if I had to adapt to an incredibly different culture as well as all the other things. My hat goes off to all the people that stick it out in cultures so unlike their own. To people who step outside their box to understand how another culture works, instead of having people work only around their culture. I know you're probably "siempre cansado" as well.