What an Adventure! (Sorry this post is so long!)

I left Paraguay a week ago today. I spent Monday night in the airport of Lima, Peru and caught a plane the next morning for Cuzco, Peru. I took a taxi and then a bus to Ollantaytambo (about an hour away from Cuzco) to meet up with family friends. My buddy, Brandon Wyatt (the brother of our youth intern Justin Wyatt a few years ago) is a missionary for two years in Lima and his family was coming down to visit him.

We went to Machu Picchu on Wednesday (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) which are old Incan Ruins. (Here's a picture I googled http://www.pdx.edu/media/a/l/alumni_machu_picchu.jpg)We woke up before 5 and headed up the mountain on a bus. Once the gates opened, we ran toward the back left corner to be one of the first 200 in line to climb Waynupicchu, the tall mountain in that background of the photo. They only let two hundred people in at 7:00 am and another two hundred at 10:00 am. The climb was hard but very worth it and about took a little over an hour. From the top, you could see all of the ruins, but more incredible were the jungle-mountaints that surrounded us. I could only say "God makes really cool things!"

We then hiked down the backside to a cave that served as a temple, ate lunch, and hiked an hour and a half back to Machu Picchu (MP). That afternoon we walked around the ruins and took pictures with llamas over looking the whole valley. I never knew that MP would be as big, beautiful, or mystical as it was. It might possibly be the coolest thing I've ever seen.

That night we took a train back to Ollanta and a bus the next day to Cuzco. We were all supposed to catch planes Friday morning for Lima, but my flight was cancelled and I couldn't leave until 4 o'clock Friday afternoon. The Wyatts arrived fine in Lima and I had an extra day and a half to see the city by myself. I called the hostal we'd stayed at and they picked me up. I went to my new room and prayed that God would help me make the most of my situation and be safe. I called my parents and the Wyatts and my Costa Rican family (who I was supposed to see that night in CR) and told them what had happened. I spent that day journaling, walking around the town, and meeting people. I met a woman and her daughter who were touring the area and we saw famous Incan stones and hiked up a mountaint to see the whole city right before sunset. That night I hung out at the hostal and met people from the Netherlands and Brazil.

Saturday morning I woke up and took a taxi to the plaza, ate breakfast at a local restaurant and read my book in the square for a couple hours. Every now and then people walked up to me and tried to sell me things. I kept telling them I didn't need anything else, but thank you. They each got tired of asking eventually and sat down and talked to me for a while. One woman talked for about an hour. I love that I can communicate with just about anyone now. I feel like my Spanish has really improved, although I still have a long way to go.

I had really wanted to be in Costa Rica, but God gave me friends and let me listen to people that I think don't usually have many listeners.

I left Cuzco on my 4:30 pm flight Saturday and arrived in Lima around 5:45. I had to go to the counter to see when I might be able to fly to Costa Rica since I'd missed the flight while I was in Cuzco. I figured it was late and there weren't anymore leaving that day and that I'd spend the night with the Wyatts in Lima. The woman at the counter said that there was a flight leaving Sunday morning and then asked if I had my yellow fever vaccination card. I'd never heard of that before and she explained that if someone has been in Peru, there are certain countries that they cannot enter unless they have this vaccine. Costa Rica happens to be one of those countries (the US is not) and it takes 10 days to get it. I would already be in Texas in 10 days so I knew that getting this in Lima was not a choice. The lady changed my ticket to Thursday the 14th (when I would have been leaving Costa Rica for Longview).

I cried for a couple mintues out of disappointment, but was excited that I would have more time with the Wyatts in Lima. They came and picked me up and I am spending this week with them in Lima. Yesterday I went to two different churches in the Lima area and will be able to visit with more of them later in the week. Tonight a family is coming over for dinner and I am making chicken pesto pizza. Last night, when we were with one congregation, I got to play translator for my two friends who didn't speak Spanish and talk with some of the members afterwards. They were so excited that I was able to communicate with them and kept saying how happy they were that we came down and spent time with them.

Things don't always go the way we expect them to and God has really taught me this week to trust in him and be flexible. Although I do not know when I will see my Costa Rican family again, I trust that God has a reason for keeping me in Peru and I am content wherever I am. Thank you for your prayers! I have really felt them this week!

We´re Safe!

Alsiha and I left Asuncion this morning and because my flight was cancelled, we ended up on the same flight to Santiago, Chile. Alisha will be there all this week and I am currently at the airport in Lima, Peru waiting to catch a flight at 8^30 tomorrow morning to Cuzco to meet up with some old family friends.

This morning on my flight from PY to Chile, I sat my a man who was reading a newspaper. An article caught my eye and he let me have that section. I read that Paraguay only has 14 speech pathologists in the country (of over 5 million people!). When I tell people what I`m studying sometimes I feel like they don´t understand how important it is, or they think it just has to do with elementary kids who can`t pronounce certain sounds. There was a quote in the article that I liked (it´s in Spanish, but I´ll translate it.) ``It`s an art to express out feeliongs and furthermore it is the door to our thoughts. Therefore, if a person cannot speak well and doesn´t understand or learn in school, he or she cannot relate to people at work or function in society.`` This is why I am studying what I am. I want to be used where there is the most need. I keep thinking how cool it could be to get together a group of speech pathology friends to form a type of mission team who could help improve people´s qualities of life in the name of Jesus. When I got on the plane I did not expect to start thinking about these things, but God´s funny that way.

Our Last Day

Alisha and I leave tomorrow morning for Chile and Peru (later Costa Rica) respectively. We've had a really great time and are sad to leave but look forward to our next stops to see friends from other churches/countries.

This being my second time to leave these people, I know how sad I will be this next year, but this time it's different because I don't know when/if I'll ever be able to come back. This time next year I'll be starting grad school and will be busy with that for the next couple years. My prayer is that I will be able to keep up with the church and friends that I've made here and that they have seen Christ through me. I have loved teaching English, hanging out with friends from church and the community. It's my prayer that these churches will grow in love and numbers as they reach out to the rest of this city and country.

Please continue to pray for Alisha and me as we travel. We hope to update again during the rest of our travels. Thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers, and love!

--Shannon

Adventures!

Yesterday, Shannon, Rocio, Victor and I went to Argentina! Victor is one of the leaders here at the church and he came with us to help us get around safely. We waited on the outskirts of town for a bus, when it arrived, it was already jammed full of people, but we just squeezed in to add to the fun. It was a great experience, I found it rather funny. We are getting many opportunities to be a part of the culture and learn about another way of life. After awhile I was able to get a seat and enjoy the scenery of the country. We passed by a lot of palm trees and crossed a river. It is amazing to witness God's creativity and glorious art in nature. We arrived at the border and got our passports stamped and walked across a bridge to Argentina! We rode into the nearby town of Clorinda for the afternoon. It was great to be in another country and see more of the world. There were markets and little shops lining the streets so we looked around some and then ate lunch. It was a lovely adventurous afternoon in Argentina! I'm grateful that we were able to travel safely to and from the neighboring country. On the way back into Paraguay, we had a nice little ride and we got to watch the sunset--it was gorgeous. Thank you for all your prayers and support, I pray that you are able to see God's handiwork all around you.

God has been doing so much here in Asuncion, it is a blessing to be here. I really enjoy teaching English using different passages from the Bible. All of my students are so different; they come from different religious backgrounds, different families, different places and perspectives on life. However, all of them challenge me and all of them provide me with great joy. One of my students is very logical and he likes to ask a lot of questions--questions about the Bible and different rules, values, and commands that God gives us. I love getting to talk with this student because he really makes me think about what I believe and why I believe it. Even though he questions everything, he helps me grow stronger. I pray that this student will grow to understand more of the truth of God's word and be able to grow in faith. Although God's ways do not always make sense to our human brains, they are always the best way to live. I pray that I am pouring as much goodness is into his life as he has given me.

I like people

Today I had lunch with a friend who I hung out with a lot last year. It was just the two of us which was great because we only spoke Spanish and that doesn't happen much. She's studying to be a lawyer and told me all about the Paraguayan government. Apparently they're getting a new president in August. (He's been elected already but doesn't start until then.) He's actually a Catholic Bishop and a member of the Liberal party. It's a big deal because the Colorado party has held the presidency and other offices for 60 years!

Anyway, at lunch she told me that i was a special kind of friend. That some other Americans that have come before were only friends for the little while they were here and didn't really care to get to know people and keep up friendships once they left. She told me that she thought my friendship was different than that. I told her that's the reason I came back and that there hasn't been a day since I left Costa Rica the first time or Paraguay last summer that I hadn't thought about the people I knew there. Somehow I cannot forget people. However, it's sad when I get back home because I want to be at home with friends and family but my heart also wants to be with my family and friends in both Costa Rica and Paraguay. I think that's a good thing. Maybe a God thing.

I got a new student last week named Pati. She's really great. She hasn't had a lot of English background but she understands a lot if I talk really slow. The other day she came late and we just talked for the rest of the hour and got to know each other a little bit better.

Pati wants to study Psychology, but she told me that when she tells people that they often say that it's not an important field. When she asked me what I am studying (Speech Pathology) I had to explain it to her because they don't have that career here. Specialized careers like mine are not available in this country. She wanted to be a mechanical engineer with an emphasis on automtives but had to settle for psychology since they do not have the other as an option in Paraguay.

About a week ago a woman came off the streets into the church and told me that she lost her job and couldn't find another one. A student who was sitting in the lobby told me that there are jobs in the city, but nobody wants to do them. When you drive around Asuncion there are many people on the streets selling anything from gum and coughdrops to socks and maps of the city. Children enter busses and hand out papers with a bookmark that say "I'm poor and hungry. Would you please buy this bookmark for G1,000?" (about a quarter). This makes me sad because these kids will be doing similar things their whole lives to earn money because they aren't in school learning skills that could help them lead a financially secure life.

There are many people here who have great jobs, work hard, and continue their education. However, it breaks my heart to see kids selling things on the street in order to eat and who, because of this, will be doing this their entire lives.

I keep thinking how great it would be if I came to Paraguay as an adult and started some type of Speech Pathology school. How great would it be if education for more career fields became available to the youth of Paraguay and the next generation was better able to care for themselves. I want to ask that you be in prayer for the government here in Paraguay and that individuals can have better access to jobs, education, and that Christians can bring hope of Jesus to this country.

*In case you didn't see, I put a link to more photos at the bottom of my previous post.