My Adventures and Travels

I've been living up to my blog's title the last month, which is probably why I also haven't gotten around to doing any posting! My first official weekend out of Asuncion was the weekend of September 20. Twelve of my closest friends and I rented 2 vans, and on Friday after school drove about 270 miles, which took at least 8 hours, through 3 countries and 4 border crossings, to Iguazu Falls. So why did we go to one of the 7 wonders of the natural world on a measley 2-day weekend, when we had a 4-day break the very next week? Well one of the planners of the group found out that there was a 10k/half marathon there that weekend! Almost everyone in the new group of teachers is a runner, so it was a good excuse to check it out. Friday we just drove and drove and drove. The border into and out of Brazil is hilarious because stopping is totally optional, and no one bothers you if you just drive straight through without stopping, so that's what we did. We were slowed down a l...

I just checked the calendar. I've already been here 8 weeks....how is that possible? In some ways I feel like I just got here and everything is new and foreign. In other ways it seems I've been here much longer! I've never been on a vacation this long, so I guess I'm starting to feel like I really live here... I wonder if people at home still think I'm on a 2-year vacation. No, I really do work here. Even if my daily stresses are not the same as yours, teaching 22 10-year olds is still a LOT of work! In the past 8 weeks, I have found my new comfort zone. I've started to learn my way around the neighborhood. In the past 8 weeks I have made great friends; friends I imagine visiting if they take another international job, or who I hope will visit me back in Colorado. Friends who will become my travel buddies. I have started thinking of Asuncion as "home." I have gotten to know 22 10- and 11-year olds, and their parents. I have gotten lost. I have been...

I'm starting to get behind...my birthday was over 2 weeks ago. Oh well better late than never! All of us "newbies" have spent a LOT of time together! Especially during our first two weeks here while we were all house-hunting: we all lived in the hotel, we went to work together, took cabs together, and ate our meals and explored the neighborhood and went shopping and went out for drinks after work together. Turns out, we all like each other pretty well too! So once we all started getting our own places, the promises to invite one another over for dinner began. One of the fellow newbies, Mark, asked if any of us had heard of a progressive dinner party before. I hadn't, but it sounded like a fun concept: go from house to house and have a different course, and drinks, at each house. Since we all live within walking distance of each other, we decided to do it. The fact that 4 of us had birthdays on the same weekend helped solidify it. Originally, we were going to go fo...

We recently had a school holiday, and our mentors arranged a bus and trip for us to nearby Aregua! It was only about 45 minutes away, but a world away from the big city of Asuncion. I LOVED it! It was really nice to get out of the city, see a little bit of the countryside, and walk around and shop in Aregua. It is kind of an artisan/hippie town situated on a big lake. It is also strawberry season, so you can sample and buy every possible strawberry concoction! Entrance to the beach Lake Ybacarai The gang The gang, enjoying our boxed lunch of empanadas. There is lots of shopping to be done in Aregua, especially if you are in the market for pots. Lunch outside in the garden...beautiful! The view of Lake Ypacarai from the church. Strawberry festival! My buys for the day!

I've decided to start a little "how to" series, basically of things I wish I'd known when I decided to move! I hope this will be helpful to others who are thinking of doing the same thing. Hopefully it's not too for those of you who know me and are hoping for personal updates...or I guess if it is you can just pass on to the next post! So far, here is my biggest piece of advice for anyone thinking of moving abroad: Have some money in the bank. You will need it for expenses that inevitably come up, and to tide you over while you wait for that first paycheck! Luckily I had some money saved, and I got some money when I sold my car in the U.S. If I hadn't, I would have really struggled. Even though my current employer paid a $1500 (US) moving allowance and a $500 shipping allowance, I found that I needed a lot more than that to get just the basics. (The point of this post is *not* to bash them at all-I'm lucky they paid some expenses! My point is just th...

I just realized I never updated my house pictures. Probably because it's still a work in progress and I want to keep adding to it, but at least it's not as empty as it was! Bit by bit it is starting to feel like home. I'd still like a living room rug, some decorations/wall hangings, and maybe a little tv in the future. I'm also still working on my patio so I'll update that when it's ready! Dining/living room area. It's funny, the windows are so bright that it actually looks dark (if that makes sense) from this viewpoint. Standing in the doorway to the balcony looking in, you can see how much natural light there is! Another look out the balcony Kitchen, with appliances Bedroom, feeling cozier... But I still feel like I'm missing something.... Oh yeah. Friends. Now it feels like home!

A couple of weeks I posted pics of my classroom. Now it is pretty much set up. I'm still adding things to the walls but I like to use posters I create for a lesson, so those will come in time! Here are a few pictures of my room. I had to bring just a little bit of Colorado with me! Speaking of school, it started last week! I have 22 students. Here are their statistics. They're pretty cute, too, but I don't post student pictures. Guess you'll just have to come volunteer in my room and see for yourself. ;) 13 boys, 9 girls 18 born in Paraguay, 3 in the US, and 1 in Peru 19 speak English as their 2nd language (their accents are so cute!) 0 IEPs, 0 ILPs, and GT isn't a "thing" here or I'd have a bunch Socially advantaged (which is to say, rich kids). 88: approximate number of cheek-kisses exchanged on the first day of school. 22 students x 2 parents x 2 kisses per person.  My team is 2 5th grade teachers, 2 aides, and 1 Spanish teac...

I think the hardest thing about this move is that I'm trying to do 3 really hard things at the same time. 1. Adjust to a whole new country, including the language. 2. Find a place to live, furnish said place, and move in, and 3. Change jobs and get a new classroom all set up for the school year. All in the span of about 2 weeks. It's all really exciting but very stressful too. For starters, even when I moved into my first apartment, I had SOME stuff. Here I am buying absolutely everything you need to furnish a place, which unfortunately here also includes a stove and fridge. So because of that I'm still staying in the hotel, but should be moved out in the next day or two. Also the hotel does my laundry, and I kind of hate doing laundry, so why leave? Last week I spent *very* little time in my classroom because I was so busy looking for a place. This week I'm pretty busy getting settled in my class...I mean it's Wednesday night and school starts Monday, yikes! ...

When I first got here, there were some initial things that had to be figured out as far as housing. The teachers already here were already established in their places (or had done "dibs" on a place of someone leaving!) so we new teachers had to figure things out. Who would live alone? Who would have roommates? Who would the roommates be? Anyway I was kind of undecided on whether I'd rather live alone or with others, but it worked out better to get my own place. And I couldn't be happier with it! It is within walking distance of the school, but there's also a bus line a couple blocks away that stops RIGHT in front of the school (for those rainy or extra hot days). Here are some pictures and explanations! Also, so it's not just a repeat of what I post on Facebook, here's the story of getting my keys and meeting my landlord. Yesterday, when I closed on the place, I signed a contract and handed over a bunch of money and got the address to get keys from...tha...