In Memory...

In memory of a good friend....

New Favorites

So, I've finally had some time to discover Asuncion and these are my fav places so far....

Cafe Bohemia...great little restaurant/bar with live music and salsa dancing on some nights














Medialunas Calentitas...fun, colorful, delicious - perfect place for Sunday brunch!














Poolside at Chaya's (aka Melrose pool)














There's also the shawarma sandwich place and Lemonaid. It's starting to feel like home!

PTA picnic

Today was the PTA picnic at school and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I signed up to play some volleyball for the high school teacher team. Anyhoo, I got lots of work done yesterday so I went today ready to mingle and play! Now, I haven't played volleyball in probably 5+ years and I was shockingly nervous to play (especially in front of my students' parents and the rest of the faculty), but it was great! We played the 9th grade parents and this wasn't just any ol' game....this was FOR REAL volleyball. It was awesome. And if this how they play volleyball, I don't even wanna know how they play soccer! Don't have any pics of the game playing, but just know that I sported a shirt with this on the front of it...let the inner-geek shine ;)















http://www.mentalfloss.com/store/product_image.php?imageid=449

Train to Nowhere

A few days before school started, all of the new teachers went on a little adventure by taking the "Train to Nowhere." Now, I was definitely intrigued because I've actually taken a train to "nowhere" before (http://www.baldwincity.org/community/midlandrailway/) and that trip was complete with some acting and a gun show! So, needless to say, I definitely peeled myself out of bed to take this train ride to nowhere. In reality though, this train, the only wood-fed steam train still in operation today, does go somewhere and after a couple pauses in some small towns (and one for when some windows shattered...long story), we ended up in Aregua - a small town just outside Asuncion that has a great little lake and is well known for its pottery and art. Unfortunately, we went on a winter day and practically nothing was open...oops! Anyway, the train was great. Not only was it a great way to see some of the towns surrounding Asuncion, but it also was relaxing and entertaining all at once. And yes, there were even a couple of shows down and back!

Firsts...

First bus ride in Asuncion down!














So this morning a group of us went downtown to the market area, Mercado Cuatro, to try and find some inexpensive furniture and home accessories. It was a little crazy. Different streets specialize in different stuff...there's the furniture street, the shoes street, the food street, the electronics street, etc, etc. It was somewhat overwhelming and going with a big group is definitely not ideal, but you potentially could find anything down there..no problem! If only I had found what I needed....oh, and the bus system is totally great here. I mean, the buses are a little rickety and when you mix that with some of the cobblestone streets, it definitely makes for an interesting ride, but overall it's just like buses anywhere else. Why do people always make it seem so scary???

These pictures definitely don't capture the whole effect...












































And the ride home (single file bus ride)

TGI(almost)F!

Well, another week down..almost! And really, things have been great. Let's see...this week, I still only had 4 days of class (complete with fire drills and lock down drills), I successfully got the TI-calculator projector thing to work, got my grades up to date, hosted a b-day dinner for a roomie, went to pilates (twice!), AND had a GREAT time:) Paraguay is not at all what I expected and I everything I had hoped for all at once! Teaching is great, the people are great, etc, etc. Really, you guys have to come visit at some point!!! Maybe I'm still on some sort of moving/transition high, but if I am, who cares?! haha! Anyway, my goal for this weekend is to find some stuff for our house and just get a little more settled in....our delay of moving in sort of stunted the 'homey' feel of the house. But, in time, in time. I guess I'll also have to fit in some work and fun and all that, but those are givens. Plus, I really hope to update this more; add some more pics and tell you all all about life in Asuncion. For now, I'm off to bed...Happy Friday (almost)!

Our House! (...in the middle of our street)

Our house! Lots of pics below...



















The living room to the left when you walk in (notice our nice new recovered couches!)














The dining area after you walk through the living area















The back patio/yard














More patio/back yard/asado grill















Back inside...the kitchen



















Kitchen 2



















Going upstairs now...One wing of the 2nd floor (my roommate Cristi's area)














The other wing (Danielle's area)



















Going up again...my area. This is the landing area with desk and shelves...



















....and a HUGE terrace!



















More terrace















Vanity/bathroom area (notice the shower "stall")



















Bedroom



















Bed



















Closets




















That's it folks! For a more detailed tour, just come visit :):)

1st Day!

First day down! Well, let me be honest...it was the easiest first day ever. Let's just say the seniors here get a little crazy the night before school starts and well, they go home after the welcome assembly. Sooooo, that made my day super short :) The juniors that I did see today though were great and almost eager to begin math...crazy! Anyway, it was a fun day and even better since the sun came out and it warmed up. Here's a few more pics of my classroom as it is now....

Still needs some work, but I like it nonetheless!














My desks...and the not-so-awesome view :/














Ah...my first bulletin board.

Night before 1st day of school

Well, here we all are (Danielle, Chaya, and I) sitting around learning how to blog the night before our 1st day of school! What a productive use of time ;) No, but really, if I don't start this now I never will, so enjoy!!!

School starts tomorrow and I'm starting to get the jitters! It should be a pretty mellow day considering I'll only have about 2 classes, but I've still got butterflies! haha. Anyway, obviously I'll post more later, but here are a few not-so-great photos of ASA from when we first toured the campus (my classroom included). Wish me luck!!

American School of Asuncion




























My Classroom Initially



















It's official!

Here goes nothing! My first blog attempt...


More to come later :)