Christmas and Parties

Hello all! Christmas was a difficult time being away from home and family, but it was an experience I will never forget and am glad I got to be a part of in a different country with my second family.

To start off, last week we did a lot of little things but one main thing was my sister's graduation and her party/prom for it.  In Paraguay, you have your high school graduation at night time, at the school, and the students wear their school uniforms and the parents walk up on the stage with them for them to receive their award. It was very different from in the States but interesting to see. Following that, on Saturday was the party/prom for her school. It was our family and 7 others, who rented out a big hall and had a party. Saturday day time, my mom, me, and my sister all went to the salon to get our hair, nails, and makeup done for the night. It was crazy!! I got more done for her party than I even did for prom!! It was very fun though. The salon was packed with about 35 people all getting ready for the night. Most proms are on the same night from different schools, so all the salons in Encarnacion are full and booked up, so my sister had to make an appointment last June for the day of her prom. Beauty is a big deal in Paraguay, for every event.  Anyways, the party was beautiful, with decorations, photographers, dancing, and dinner. They have a little ceremony in the beginning where if your a girl, your dad walks with you down the aisle and if your a boy your mom does. Then they dance with you to a song you choose and your brother or siblings dance with you too! The part started at around 11:00 and ended at 5:00 in the morning, which is early for Paraguay.

This past week was Christmas, Christmas Eve, and my aunts birthday. For my aunts birthday we all went to dinner on the beach for her, and the next night was Christmas Eve. My dad's family has all passed, but my mom has seven sisters and they all live here in Encarnacion. So the family is big and a lot of fun! We do a lot together and it is so nice, I love it! Christmas Eve is the big day here instead of Christmas day. So we all prepared food to bring to one of my aunts house, and we went over at around 9:00 and ate, drank, and talked. Then at midnight we celebrated with champagne and cider and ate more. We stayed there unit around 4:00, then everyone went home, slept for 7 hours, and went back to her house the next day, Christmas day, at around 12:00 for lunch time (all the leftovers). It was still delicious with a lot of meat, corn, rice, and typical Paraguayan dishes.  They are all so welcoming and make me feel right at home.

I missed my family a lot these past couple of days, but I know they're having a great time in Canada at the moment with my Dad's family and I will see them in 6 months. Wow, time flies. Sorry if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes, I typed this on my phone which has a spanish keyboard so everything is red underlined. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Change can be a good thing!

I am so sorry for not writing in a long time, a lot has been going on here and now I’m finally settled and have some time to write. All the schools are on holidays at the moment until mid February or early August, so I haven’t been working and instead relaxing and enjoying summer as much as I can with it being between 100 and 120 degrees everyday. I almost die when I have to go outside.

So as of right now, I am sitting on my new bed in my new house writing to you. I had to change houses, families, and work due to some personal reasons, but I am very happy with my new situation. It’s like I am starting all over again from the beginning, which is nice in a way.  Sometimes change can be good, for many reasons. I moved out of my house about three weeks ago and moved in with my friend, who is also on AFS from Belgaim, and lived with her and her family for about three weeks. It was a lovely time and we did a lot of girl things since the whole house was girls!

This past week however I travelled to the north of Paraguay to a region called San Pedro. I first took the bus to the capital, Ascunion, met my friend there and after we travelled to San Pedro with her mom. We stayed on a farm for three nights and four days and it was amazing and a memory/trip I will never forget! We woke up every morning quite early, ate a delicious homemade breakfast as we watched the sunrise, then got on horses and went horse back riding around the property for about 2-3 hours. The property is 1,000 hectares which is about 2,470 acres. It was all farm land and consisted of cows, animals, and fruit trees they keep to keep the farm running. We got to help herd the cows in every day on our horses and the land was beautiful. There were wild horses, monkeys, cows, owls, bats, fireflies, lizards, sheep, goats, chickens, peacocks, and dogs.  It was so much fun and my friend and I had a blast playing with all the animals and eating real fruit and good food after not having any for a while in Paraguay. There was also a pond which we could swim in and it was so fun to do when the sun was setting. It was all in all a wonderful trip and I will definitely go back if I have the chance too.

I got home from the trip on Thursday night, and Friday I moved into my new home.  It is in downtown Encarnacion, about two streets away from the beach. I have a 17 year old sister, a 19 year old brother, a mama, a papa, and three big dogs.  I share a room with my sister and we get along great! The family is so nice and welcoming and they really make me feel at home.  They are very family oriented and we do many things together; shopping, eating, drinking terere, relaxing. The first night I got here they took me out to a nice restaurant for my arrival and then we went to the square to listen to live music. Yesterday, on Sunday, was also a great day for me as my whole family cooked a huge nice lunch and they taught me how to make a lot of typical Paraguyan foods. It was lovely and I am having a blast so far!

I will try to write again every Sunday since I am settled now.