A Whole New World

After a brief look around I notice that I am no longer in the United States (sometimes it just hits me like that). Early Sunday morning my team and I left Chicago and flew to Orlando where we had a seven hour layover. From Orlando we flew through the night to Sao Paulo, Brazil where we almost immediately flew to Asuncion, Paraguay. It was a long two days and it was nice to finally get here. At the airport customs was a breeze. The man only checked my passport and a paper that I filled out (definately incorrectly) on the plane. It took him less than twenty seconds to accept me into his country. After customs we were met by a very excited and warm welcoming party that had made a large sign with all of our names on it in bright colors, it was a good site to see.

After just a few hours in Paraguay I noticed a few things that are different than in the United States. The first is that barely anyone speaks english, the driving is absolutely crazy and there are animals, especially dogs, everywhere. It´s a little different, but I have already grown quite used to it. The people here are also very very friendly and willing to help out in any way possible. They also (normally) speak slowly so that I can better understand what they are saying.

My host family is great. My parents have two daughters and a son, all of whom are fluent in German and Spanish and know a little bit of English. They are very patient and often laugh with me about my poor spanish. I always feel comfortble and welcome in their home which is a very good feeling.

During the day I normally have spanish/Paraguain culture lessons. Even though I have been here for less than a week, I am pleased with the rate at which I am learning spanish. I can normally stumble my way through basic conversations and am learning many new words and expressions every day. At times it can be pretty frusturating having a general idea what somone is saying to you, but having no real idea about the details or specifics. I have become very good at using my hands to talk, a skill that I have never had. I also had a good laugh at myself today when I realized that I was having difficulty counting to 100 when just three months ago I recieved an A in my college level calculus class... it was just a little ironic. Today we were also introduced to the city and how to use the buses, which is a crazy experience.

It´s wierd to me to see how different my life is than just a few months ago. A lot of things have changed, mostly for the better and I am very excited for this next year. Please keep me in your prayers.