Learning to count

I know I touched on this a little in my last entry but... it is incredible how my presence in society has changed so drastically since arriving in Paraguay. Qualities and talents that I had in America, especially high school, I no longer possess. I am doing a lot of relearning in a sense.

I think most of my friends and peers in high school would have called me a leader. I was active and ¨successful¨ as president of two school clubs and active in many others. A lot of time was spent organizing events for myself and other students that would take place some time in the future. I also spent time every day tutoring other kids and explaining things that I had previously learned. Throughout the year I gave several speaches in front of the student body and parents.

My new world is a little different....

Instead of running two clubs for school, I have two friends (besides my paraguay team and family here) that I can kind of communicate with. I no longer organize events for other people and very rarely do I know what I am going to be doing in ten minutes. Teaching, would be very difficult right now as I am constantly listening to people talk to me, which is very exhausting and strenuous (although I do occasionally help my little sister with her math). Speaches in front of an audience have now turned into a phrase here or there that is often corrected by an 8 year old.

To say the least this is a great experience.

I am learning so much more than I ever did in high school.. well at least different. Instead of trying to be a good leader, I am trying to be a good follower. I am more dependent on other people that I have been in many years. I am learning an entirely new culture and way of life.

What I love most is how humbling living here has been. I am like a two year old in my ways. My speach is ¨no so good¨ and I am learning a new culture full of different ¨do´s¨and ¨dont´s¨. My best teacher here is probably my little eight year old sister named Tamara. I spend a lot of time following her around as she shows me how to do things. She always laughs at how I talk and then corrects me over and over. She loves helping me with whatever I am doing. She always seems to be giving to me. Even though she may think that she is just being helpful, Tamara genuinely cares about me and has been an amazing example of how radiant serving with love can look.

Yes, I am learning Spanish but it´s the little things God teaches me everyday that makes me love getting up in the morning.