First Week - food and school

I just finished my first full week in my new home. It is incredible and I am learning so much. I started my first day of teaching at the local school this week. I teach pre-schoolers and am the assistant teacher. The school is for the children who can't afford going elsewhere and all the kids are adorable. They call me "Teacher, Teacher!". It is very cute and they all love me and won't let go of me haha. In Paraguay, teacher and student relationships are different than in America. The teachers are more friends than bosses, so you call them Teacher or their first name, and you have their personal cell phone number. Also, you are more touchy with them, for example, the kids hug their teachers no matter what age and for little kids, before they leave the classroom at the end of the day, the teacher gives them a kiss. In schools here, they also have little breaks throughout the day for milk and cookies, it's yummy! I go to school from 7:00-11:00, then go home or go to my teachers house for lunch, and go back for another session with different kids from 1:00-4:00.

Last week was Kid's Day (Dia Del Nino)! It is a national holiday in which the kids are celebrated. It originally started from the war Paraguay had with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, when Paraguay was the richest country and the others wanted to combine with them but Paraguay didn't want too. Everyone in Paraguay died, so the kids started fighting and 3,000+ kids died so the day is in memorial and celebration of their lives. It is full of activities and at the school, my teacher went all out to buy the kids each gift baskets and we have a huge party. It was very fun!

If you are gluten free or dairy free, you will starve in Paraguay. For breakfast everyday, you have cakes or sweet breads with sweetened hot milk.  Everyone drinks it at least twice a day. The milk we drink at home is from a local farmer and is straight out of the cow, so we have to boil it on the stove to kill any bacteria and germs; it is tasty though.  Then lunch is always a hot meal with rice or pasta and meat.

That's just a little bit of differences here in Paraguay, and I will try to post once a week on Sundays! Thanks for reading it :)