Un Techo Para Mi Pais - A Roof for My Country

This past weekend my friends and I (plus lots of our students and their families) volunteered for Un Techo Para Mi Pais and let me tell you, if you've ever needed a reality check, this is where you should get it. This organization came to our school and asked if we wanted to participate in building houses for families. It's similar to Habitat for Humanity, but what is different is that the families have to contribute financially to their house, do a lot of preparatory work, and participate in the construction by helping and preparing meals for the volunteers. The houses we built are 6m x 3m and are built up on posts so as to prevent flooding that regularly damages the homes. The whole process is extremely exhausting, but it's the kind of good exhaustion that can change your whole perspective.

The place where we were building was just outside of Asuncion where the families survive by sorting through trash to collect recyclables that they can then cash in. So, needless to say, their living conditions are unimaginably low. Electricity is rigged up in ways unimaginable to most. Bathrooms are non-existent. Privacy is hard to come by. But, despite all the differences between their reality and ours, we all came together as one and built the houses! We had some major and minor bumps along the way (downpouring rain, major electrical accident, scrapes, bruises, and bumps), but we did it. WE DID IT! I am incredibly proud of everyone who volunteered their time and effort, wish nothing but the best for Oscar, Antonia, and Oscar Jr., and can't wait to do it again :)

For some pictures and more info...check out their website (http://www.untechoparamipais.org/dondetrabajamos/paraguay.html). I hope to get some pictures from some of my students so you can see where we were actually working, but until then just check out the site.

much love to all xoxo

Oh yeah!

And, how could I forget?! Yesterday was a wonderful, wonderful day...maybe my most favorite day here yet! My roommates and I ventured out to San Lorenzo to help celebrate Lila's birthday with her and her friends and family and it was absolutely wonderful - a perfect reminder of exactly why I wanted to do this whole experience to begin with. Wonderful food, wonderful company, and some wonderful music to top it off! Check it out :)

Concerts, Thanksgiving, and Cataratas del Iguazu

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted (again!), so here's a quick update....

First, I'm blown away that this first semester is almost over; where did the time go??? This is my last week of teaching, followed by review-week next week, and then finals...I did it! Well, almost ;)

The past few weeks have been busy, but enormously enjoyable! After the pep rally a few weeks ago, I went to a David Guetta (enormously popular DJ down here) concert just outside Asuncion and IT WAS AWESOME!!! It was exactly what I needed. As cheesy as it sounds, I really love when so many people can come together and enjoy something such as music. I mean really, when do so many different walks of life all come together? Anyway, it was great. So great that we were out til 6am...oops!

Around that same time, I finally started taking Spanish lessons and just today I got complimented on my accent...guess the lessons (plus 9 years of Spanish in school) are starting to pay off!

Let's see...what else? Oh, last week was Thanksgiving and one of the houses of teachers here hosted a huge potluck dinner. We had about 20 people there, plus all the fixin's. It was an insane amount of food! So thankful for this opportunity and cannot wait to share all my stories with a lot of you when I'm home in 3 weeks!!! Can you believe it?!

And, most recently, I went to Iguazu Falls and it was AMAZING....absolutely stunning. The pictures don't even begin to capture the beauty of this natural wonder. Plus, it was a comical trip filled with memories for a lifetime (remember how I told some of you that I wanted more stories to tell when I was older....got 'em!)!

Waiting to boat our way to Argentina. That's Brazil on the left and Argentina on the right.














Our boat that carried us legally into Argentina. (We don't have Brazilian visas which forced us to be creative when trying to get to the falls!)














In the middle of the boat ride, we were between all three countries. There's Brazil...



















Argentina,



















and back behind...Paraguay!














Now, onto the Falls!!! First look...



















Beautiful creatures on the way...














And, the first breathtaking look at Iguazu Falls...



















Here are some more to tide you over....















































That's a boat down there! We did that on day 2 :)

































A crazy, cool fig tree on a lil' detour to get lunch



















And, more falls...obviously, it was hard to pick which pictures to put up;)














Just walking along :)



















My favorite little nook of the falls!














The two brothers...



















Okay, and last but not least...THE DEVIL'S THROAT!!!














So yeah, that's my life in review as of late. Tons more has happened...like the story of the old man who works at a nearby corner store and the crazy conversation we had, but some things are better left to be told in person...hehe! So for now, enjoy. Hopefully I'll post some more before I leave for break, but if not, look for lots of posts come February!

Guess Who's the New Cheerleading Coach???

So, after a random sequence of events, I was selected to be the new ASA Cheerleading Coach/Sponsor and I gotta admit....I really love it! I mean, it's fun for me because I get to re-live a significant portion of my childhood, but what really seals the deal is how enthusiastic the girls are about it. They absolutely LOVE it! In fact, if they were as dedicated to math as they were to getting everything ready for their cheerleading debut, I don't know if I'd have enough material to keep them occupied. Seriously, it was unreal. Anyway, after a week's worth of practice, the girls debuted their stuff at ASA's first-time-in-a-long-time Pep Rally before a bunch of kids left for the week to go to a whole-week sports tournament called Rancho in Brazil. Sounds pretty great, huh?! And, if this whole cheerleading thing takes off...I'll get to go with them next year (yes please!). Needless to say, I was ridiculously busy practicing, rehearsing, and laughing a whole lot, but in the end, I was sooooooooooooo proud of the girls!!! GOOOOOOOO ASA!

Let's Go RED, Let's Go WHITE...














For some of you, you'll know exactly what this is....(Dominate and Devastate, we'll blow you away!)














Yell Out Your Colors ASA: RED, WHITE, BLUE!














Good Job Girls!!! So proud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!














And, a little video so you can see it all ;)

COMING SOON

And, the whole week leading up to the Pep Rally was Spirit Week. Here's a couple of my costumes/outfits....

Celebrity Day



















Just in case you weren't quite sure who I was...













Twin Day...awesome (aka dorky) Math teachers and the most awesome hats ever!!!



















There were several other days, but I don't have pictures of those (Pajama Day, Beach Day, and Paraguayan Colors Day). All in all, it was a great and exhausting week...can't wait for the next one ;)

I'm not too good at this!

So, now that it's a month later, I guess I'll post again! Man, I'm really not so great at this. Well, it's not that I'm not so great at blogging, it's just I always have so much other stuff going on. First year teaching, social events, sleep, teaching, planning, grading, social events, working out, etc etc. It is all just a little much sometimes. That is why I've decided to slow down a little and just start living. I kind of feel like I've been in panic mode a lil' bit and haven't really been taking time for myself. I've been constantly thinking in the future rather than just living in the now. I don't know...I guess as a teacher, you always have to be thinking ahead, but when I do have my time, the here and now, I just want to breathe.....ahhhhhhhhhh. Much, much better.

Alright, now that I've gotten that out, here are some pics from Halloween Paraguayan style! My favorite part was getting ready...the hairstylist really outdid himself and I think this may be my most favorite halloween costume yet :) Check it out!

Neapolitan...Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate!



















Check out our hair!!!




























Bzzz, Bzzzz...There's the bee and a Facebook Page!



















The "Big" house gang!














Derek enjoying the ice cream sandwich;)














Poison Ivy and Floronic Man



















Magic 8 Ball



















Good times, good times! Now, off to do some work so I can relax (if only for a little bit) later. xoxo

October = Spring?!

One thing I'm definitely not used to is the opposite season thing we've got going on down here. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's awesome having two springs and summers, but it is completely bizarre to me to have flowers blooming everywhere when October is rolling in. But, if that's as weird as things get, I'll take it! And...speaking of two springs, I just had my second Spring Break..HOLLA! 6 of us ventured off to Buenos Aires for a weekend getaway full of great food, fun, friends, dancing, shopping, and site-seeing. It was a great trip - refreshing, relaxing, revitalizing, and an all-around great experience. Now I'm not the biggest fan of big cities...the go, go, go just gets to me a bit, but I have to say Buenos Aires was fantastic. The different neighborhoods all had something unique to offer and made the city seem much smaller in my opinion. I really enjoyed Recoleta and the artisan market there plus the small amount of time we got to spend in Palermo and San Telmo. And our hostel, Hostel Estoril, was fantastic. Great central location, great staff, and great company. I definitely recommend it if you're in the area. So, yeah, I guess I'll just have to get used to this whole double spring and summer this year...it's a rough life;) Now off to work, work, work so I can travel more!

Here are some photos from BA














Down by the new port area



















Cool bus + some kissy-kissy ;)














La Boca



















Boca Juniors Stadium - La Bombonera



















Where Evita gave her speech



















Loved this map at the hostel



















A few from the Recoleta Cemetery












































































Peaceful tree in the city



















Wish I knew what this building was...



















Just singing in the rain on our last full day :)














My favorite graffiti I saw all weekend as we left for the airport