Happy New Year's

MENDOZA: famous for wine, but thanks to a good eye at Independence Park I chugged down a cool glass of Grape juice!! But, the vineyards were absolutely GORGEOUS even from the limited view via the bus window.





Below, mate gourds for sale at an artist fair. For all you Argentine connosiours, you'll know that mate is a way of life in Argentina and for those who don't know, research it a little.




















Here you see me at the Cerro de la gloria...commemorating the triumph of General San Martin who camped here in Mendoza before crossing the Andes to liberate Chile. This statue is on the top of a hill in a 500 hectare park dedicated to the General. In the middle of a desert, every tree and flower in the park was brought in from another country or other climate...there's not a single native tree in the entire park because the local climate is too dry to naturally promote trees. So, the town spends millions of pesos to keep everything alive, including wilting palm trees, brown pine trees, and scrawny sycamores. It's really pretty in its own way, but the artificiality of it all just didn't appeal to me and I can't help but think about teh possible damage to the local ecology that they are promoting...oh well, guess I could take it up with Al Gore or something.



















Next leg of the trip took me into Chile with new friends in the sprawling urban metropolis of Santiago. Here you see me in Viña del Mar, a nearby town on the Pacific Coast. It was chilly with freezing cold water, but beautiful sands and lots of seashells that I now have in my Paraguayan home.














This is part of the presidential palace called La Moneda where they sacked Salvador Allende in the famous coup d'etat in the 1970s.



















Climbing a small hill overlooking downtown Santiago, I saw one of the most beautiful Nativities ever!! Pure wood and immaculately carved, this life size Nativity was only missing one thing...the baby Jesus!! I asked why the manger was empty and they said that the Chilean tradition was to leave it empty until the night of the 24th so that he was "born" on the 25th.














Here I am with my new friends Marylyn and Orlando, native Chileans and friends of a friend of Mimi. We are looking out on one of the miradores of the hill onto the capital city of Santiago complete with 7 million inhabitants. They laughed at my Argentine accent and I laughed at their Chilean phrases and jargon. They invited me to go on vacation with them in February and while it's incredibly tempting, I don't know if I could handle more Chilean slang or the 2 weeks I would be taking off from working...














A gigantic cruise ship in the Valparaiso harbor....ooooohhhh.....















Christmas Eve dinner with the missionaries at a member family's house in Concepcion. They were incredibly giving and made a spread to die for!! Then, if that weren't generous enough, they gave everyone a present...including me. Since they didn't know my name, they put "to the friend of Sister Reavis' sister..." on the package. It was hard to be so far from home and from the Christmas preparations of Utah, but their love was really touching.















Christmas DAY in Chile!! I woke up to a saddening rain but luckily it cleared out for a midday sun as we collected snail shells and sea shells on the beach with a local family. It's not the same without the snow, but a different experience for sure. It was really humbling to see another part of the globe and say a Christmas prayer while hearing the crashing waves and watch the flocks of seagulls circle the bay.














After Christmas in Chile, I went back through Argentina almost all the way to the Atlantic Coast to meet up with old friends in Buenos Aires. In front of the second church built in South America, my dear friend Zulema and I pose for a last pic before heading back on the plane. I also spent the afternoon wih some of the girls from the singles ward...things are basically the same they report, but basically good.




















Well, for those of you that haven’t been tracking my blog, you might think that I’ve run off to some tropical jungle and disappeared from Western civilization; for those that have been tracking my blog, you’ll know that isn’t far from the truth. Despite the current difficulties of the official start of Paraguayan summer, the end of the calendar year has always been a natural time of reflection, especially for a hopeless romantic and over-analytical person like myself. Personally, too, the end of the year has always been a time of reflection as it also signals another birthday (the 6^th for those of you who might not remember). So, I thought I’d sum up what I’ve experienced this year and I’m writing you all because, in one way or another, you were each there with me along some part of the path.

Things have really come full circle this year. Though a chronological description would seem most obvious, I find that I can’t start at the beginning of the year without mentioning where I am today. I just got back from a two week jaunt starting in Buenos Aires Argentina (on the Atlantic coast) tracking all the way to Santiago and then Concepcion Chile (on the Pacific coast) and back. Coincidentally, I ended up seeing some of the same wonderful people in Buenos Aires at the end of the year that had been so pivotal in my life when it began. Having met Mimi Guzman through my internship in Buenos Aires, I headed back to Argentina to accompany her and thus swept again down memory lane at the close of another year.

I started out the year in a panic to sell my contract, organize my courses for graduation, and go through training to fly down to Buenos Aires where I completed a 3 month internship with the Church Employment Resource Services. Together with my companion Laura, I had the opportunity to teach and be taught about the value of the individual, the power of self-confidence, and the awe-inspiring influence of our Heavenly Father’s love for His children. I studied Argentine culture, women and the labor markets, and locked myself in our bright pink apartment to study astronomy as the time crunched in on me. I made new friends and lost some old ones, spent a lot of money on empanadas and masas finas, got unlucky in love, cried over the violation of personal space when my backpack was stolen in the busy bus station, and learned that a medium-town girl from suburbia Utah could cut it as a city girl in the sprawling metropolis of Buenos Aires. I spent many hot hours trucking around the subway, the bus system, or walking the long blocks while surrounding by a constant layer of cigarette smoke, pondered my relationship with God and my future as I strolled the long plazas of the Avenida Independencia, and smiled every time a local would comment on how good my Spanish was or assume that my companion was my visitor.

In another whirlwind of paperwork, project planning, and facilitator meetings, I jumped back into American life for a short 4 weeks before leaving on another jet plane…

Extending my graduation and amidst enormous time and social pressures, I headed off to the highlands of Guatemala. Despite a strong Argentine accent when speaking Spanish, I worked on eliminating my American accent in my 3^rd language Maya-K’iche’. I made forever friends with the humble host mother Juliana as she shared her home, her family, her knowledge, her language, and her heart with me. I worked to make things work in a new town with new contacts, organize and put up with a group of very independent BYU students on their first research venture, and polish old research with new leads for publication. I soaked up the sun on the beaches of El Salvador while making new friends with locals along the way. I successfully wore traje tipico (the traditional K’iche’ clothing) for a full month and got a little better at my Guatemalan weaving. Constantly soaked in the summer rains, I spent a lot of time around the wood-burning stove, listening to family news, stories, and even local mythology. I made a promise to return (if not earlier) for the quinceñera (15^th birthday celebration) for little Teresita, the 5-year-old heart-stealer of my host family.

Reluctantly leaving the loving home of Santa Maria Visitacion, I spent 6 weeks back in Bountiful with my parents, taking advantage to visit my sister Jennifer before she put her home up for sale, as well as visiting other family and the wedding of a good friend from high school, Ashley Ammon. Since I’ve spent the last 3 summers in Guatemala, hers was the one of only 2 weddings of high school friends I have been able to attend in person. I worked to overcome my homesickness for the highlands, spent long hours writing papers and doing research, and struggled to face leaving for Paraguay with basically no contacts, little information, and lots of fears.

But, as time waits for no man, my day arrived to head on another long journey to South America where I currently find myself in a small apartment along the busy Ruta 2 in a mid-size town of Itauguá. Shocked by the force of intense Paraguayan heat and lost in the mix of the Guarani language with Spanish, I nonetheless managed to find my own apartment, start Guarani lessons, learn the basics of ñandutí and ao poi, and make new friends in the young single adults group. Romance came and went as the novelty of a beautiful blond American wore off in light of a strong personality and moral dedication to the gospel. Constantly suffering from needle pricks and back pain, I worked alongside various elderly women in their homes and in my apartment master the basic outline and design of the beautiful ñandutí lace. I listened for hours as various new friends sought confidence in me and commented on the pains of machista society, corrupt governments, and changes threatening the humble, country lifestyle of Paraguay.

Preparing for Christmas was an emotional challenge as the traditional Christmas carols, shopping outings, and decoration parties were now tinted with the blazing heat of the Paraguayan lowlands. No snow. No pine trees. No apple cider and sugar cookies. No family. Instead, I got a glimpse into South American Christmas with giant glowing balls made from cut up 2-liter plastic bottles, life-size and miniature manger scenes in every home, along the sidewalk, and in front of the major businesses, and a 5-hour sacrificial walk up the hill surround Lake Ypacarai to celebrate the mythological miracles of the Virgin Mary.

Joining my good friend Mimi, I escaped the rays of the tropics for a while and took in the cultures of Argentina and Chile. In Buenos Aires, I went to my first-ever tango show, enjoyed my first taste of fresh fish from the Rio Parana in Rosario, tasted fresh-squeezed grape juice from the world-famous vineyards of Mendoza, darted through the busy streets of urban Santiago, Chile, dug into the sand of various beaches including Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Lenga, Laraquete, and Lota, collected a ton of beautifully perfect white seashells from the freezing cold water, and spent Christmas contemplating the vastness of God’s creation while tucked into a secluded alcove along the coast where the Bio Bio River meets the ocean. Then, I had to head all the way back…after long hours of nauseating bus rides and a short stop over in hot springs outside of Mendoza, I got back to Buenos Aires on the 28^th and immediately changed my plans of touring the city to attend the funeral of the wife of my second manager. While briefly, I got to say hello to other managers and friends, while blessed by the help of one of the office’s volunteers who lugged my backpack around so that I could chat. Heading back to the city center, I visited with two of my best friends from the young single adults group in my old ward and got caught up on ward news. I went shopping in the buy-in-bulk section of El Once, Buenos Aires, before heading to spend the night with a dear friend Zulema, the office secretary.

Whew. I’m sorry that I couldn’t put this into some cutesy Christmas card to send to everyone, and to be honest I had planned to do more before Christmas, but as you are all feeling I’m sure, time just flies. There have been a lot of emotional ups and downs, heartaches and euphorias, new cultural lessons, constant linguistic whirlwinds from Spanish to K’iche’ to English to Guarani, and a growing desire to find my place in the world and participate in something a little more permanent than a temporary internship. I am increasingly grateful for the health and physical strength to keep roaming the globe, but moreso for the incredible blessing of the Church network to provide an instant home and instant friends wherever I am. As I am swept into more personal questions and ponderings about the nature of the human experience, I am blessed to be grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ and know that, despite the lack of permanent answers now, someone much more qualified than I will sort things out in due time. I know that God loves His children all around the world and has provided each one with an individual potential regardless of surrounding injustices, suffering, and exploitation. I hope that I can make a dent in helping remove some of those obstacles to facilitate that personal potential and somewhere down the road realize my own. Tentative plans for the coming year? Paraguay until August of 08 and then grad school wherever the Lord sees fit to send me…

Thanks for accompanying me along whatever part of the journey you were part of and I hope to keep your company in this coming year. May God bless each one of you with a successful, happy, and exciting 2008 alongside friends or family, colleagues or strangers and may we all work to take advantage of every renewed day of life that we are given to grow closer to Him. Lots of love,

Kristine

HEY GANG... I'm going to go a little out of order because, well, the pictures got uploaded weird. I am currently writing you all from a sprawling suburban of Argentina, Rosario. I had been here once before while doing my internship in Buenos Aires but now coming back with Mimi has given me a whole new perspective of the place. I met Mimi because she works with the interns going out to work for teh Employment Resource Centers and, since she is native-born Argentine, my internship in Buenos Aires brought us to get along really well. She's now coming back to visit childhood friends, do some follow-up family history work, and SHOP on her month'long vacation that she planned for more than a year. I was really touched when she invited me to accompany her along part of her trip and so I had planned to come down for a week and then head back to Asuncion for Christmas and New Years. But, after coming to meet her and getting out of the desiccating sun of Paraguay, I was quite easily convinced to accept her invitation to extend my journy and go on with her to Santiago Chile via Mendoza Argentina. I had to spend more than a few dollars and some frustrating phone calls to Buenos Aires and Paraguay to finally get my flight changed, but I'm going to Chile!!

Anyway, I flew into Buenos Aires on the 14th and spent a fabulous afternoon returning to my old apartment building, taking Mimi on her first subway ride in the big city, and then going to a $50 a seat tango show that was worth every penny. Incredibly sensual, quick-stepping, talented dancers and musicians entertained us for a full hour and a half while we sipped coca cola in the candlelit colonial theater. We then went to the bus station Saturday morning and after a crazy wait for a late bus while nervously guarding Mimi's 3 suitcases and numberless bags of goods for her sister and family, we finally made it on a bus to Rosario where we were met by one of the most amazing and hilarious men I've ever met...Mimi's cousin Miguel. With an air of one used to be in charge and with a dry wit and strong Argentine accent, Miguel chaeuffered us around the entire city and wined and dined us while instructing us in the recent history of Rosario and the screwed up culture of his fellow Argentines. He's GREAT! And he makes friends wherever he goes because he is incredibly intelligent but not pretentious, comfortable with himself, and dedicated to making things happen for those around him. I'm going to miss my "taxi driver" always ready to teach me Argentine slang!

Sunday we went to church in Mimi's old ward and met up with her old high school friends. They came back to the hotel with us and we had lunch while they caught up with each others' news. I was feeling really sick with the most unattractive hacking cough I've ever had in my life so I wasn't exactly the most lively or participatory and ended up leaving to take a nap, but it was really fun to see them talk like...well a bunch of older opinionated, uninhibited Argentine women. There are a lot of things that I don't like about Argentine anger and disinterest and corruption, but there are definitely benefits to a society that is capable of making fun of itself and being brutally open about how they feel about each other. In the group of 4 women, 3 were divorced and the 4th a widow, then I was the little guinea pig being told all the confirmed weaknesses of the male species. It was entertaining to say the least.

yesterday I had a WONDERFUL re-encounter with the elder missionary that was in charge of teh office when I first came to Rosario. One of the most kind and thoughtful grandpa types, he told me of his current activities writing an action-adventure novel and the changes in his life since he was released LAST WEEK from his position as manager of the office. I felt bad though because he is currently suffering from dizzy spells and worries that he has a brain tumor though it's more likely that he has an inner ear infection or something of that nature.

I also took advantage of having a nice hotel and urban center to dye my hair and even out the dark dishwater blond growth creeping into my curly locks. So, Merry Christmas to me.

We are now finishing our time in Rosario and will be heading out to Mendoza tomorrow night...a town famous for its wineries where you supposedly get drunk just spending too much time breathin in the wine-tainted air. From there we head on to Santiago Chile to spend Christmas with Mimi's sister. I am committed to seeing some of my friends in Buenos Aires but had to change the dates since I had planned to go directly from here in Rosario but now that I'm going on to Chile I won't see them until the 28th, but I hope to make things work out!

Enjoy the pictures and since I probably won't be back to the internet until after Christmas, I wish you all an incredibly Merry Christmas. I am in another corner of God's creation in a climate that won't come anywhere close to a White Christmas, but I know nonetheless that this is a special time of year to remember the sacred gift of our savior to the world more than 2000 years ago. I am grateful for my knowledge of His birth and more importantly His perfect life and His self-given death and expiatory sacrifice for our sins leading to the miraculous resurrection and eternal continuation of His leadership over His creation. I pray we can all individually come closer to our Redeemer in this special time of remembrance and give economic gifts in memory of His gift and not because of cultural or social pressure. I miss the snowballs and pumpkin pie, but I still have the Spirit of the Season with me. Take care and merry Christmas to all of you!!

ME and Roque, the missionary recently released from the Rosario Employment Resource Services center.


This is me in front of Che Guevara's first home, downtown Rosario.











Getting "turkish empanadas" or pastries fried like an empanada on the roadside in Rosario....



































I don't know how this got into the Fine Arts Museum of Rosario, but I snapped a photo before the workers informed me that such behavior is strictly forbidden... Luckily I chose my picture carefully before I had to stop taking them!















The only picture I currently have of cousin Miguel...Mimi has more of us together but I haven't swapped with her yet. One of the most wise yet sharply sarcastic and entertaining people I've ever met!














As we took walking trips around the city, we ran into all SORTS of surprises, including a lively Jack Sparrow imitator, taking 2 pesos for the privilege of a photo....



















One of Rosario's historical sites, this is what the mansions of the good old days looked like...one day I would LOVE to have one and fix it up!














This is my old apartment building entrance on French Street in uptown Buenos Aires!! I was so happy to be able to go back and visit even if I didn't have a key to go inside or see my actual apartment.

















This is me in the subway at my old subway exit...




















Taking a picture outside the tango show joint with a quite eccentric doorman...they got mad at me for trying to take pictures inside the building but I took some clandestine videos that I'll upload one of these days. I am looking a lot more robust these days...blame it on the Argentine pastries and fried Paraguayan everything.



















Our first day in Rosario, visiting the world-famous Flag Monument displaying the site where the Argentine flag was conceiveds

another week and lots of blisters!

I went to a youth activity with the young single adults which included a tour of a wimpy but interesting stuffed animal museum and got a snapshot of Paraguay's world-famous anteaters... I really think they should have a national movement to reintroduce more anteaters...there are miles of open countryside overrun by ginormous anthills and not just any ants but scary fire ants that will devour you alive if you try to disturb their home. These anteaters are their only known predator and yet humans have been treating them like pests for the past few hundred years. Pretty smart huh...


This is me dancing, don't ask what I'm trying to do, but I thought it was a funny picture. I lent my camera to one of the girls in group and rather than go around and take pictures of the animals like she said she would, she decided to stick around and snap pictures of me getting my groove on...















This is me an my new friend...Dora. That's my bike's name. Dora. In honor of Dora the Explorer. We went on a journey all around Itaugua to gather pictures of places that use the word Ñandutí in their business names. One of the businesses is 3 kilometers out of town and so we rode down in 100 degree weather to get the pic and then had ice cream that basically steamed away before getting to our stomachs. Typical Paraguay. This is Alba my cultural guide these days. we met at a ñandutí workshop and she has been a great friend ever since. 15 years old, evangelical Christian and really interested in learning about the world around her and especially taken with the idea of being friends with an American.


This is the road sign introducing you to the urban center of Itauguá where I currently reside. Don't pay too close attention to the sweat ringing my armpits...it's a good thing you can't see my back in this picture!!








Finally we have my group of students from the latest Career Workshop that I taught on the 1st. All of these youth are looking to apply for loans from the Perpetual Education Fund and one of the requirements is attendance at a Career Workshop to help orient them towards careers that they can put into practice in their communities once they finish schooling. It was BY FAR the BEST group I've ever taught and I loved every minute of it. It's interesting to be teaching people your same age but they were the most attentive, kind, and interested group of students I've ever had and we had a great time.















Then we have my journey by foot on the famous Pilgrimage to Caacupe. In Paraguay, they celebrate the Virgin of Caacupe (just like the Virgin of Guadelupe in Mexico) and every year people walk from all corners of the country to visit her and seek a miracle or wish. This little girl was dressed up like the Virgin with her blue cloack and crown and so I had to get a picture. Rather than shying away like I would have expected, her whole family encouraged her to smile for the camera and cooed over the resulting snapshot. I wish I could have given them a copy right there, but I found them in line for the bathroom and we didn't exactly have a chance to exchange information.




















This is our group of Pilgrims.
I tried to get a shot of the MASSES of people walking along the side of the road, but there was no way to get a good indication of the journey.

This is me in front of the Basilica after fighting our way through the crowds to get within 300 feet of the stage. They closed the church and moved Mass outside under the canopy...the virgin is on the right on the pedestal. I had envisioned a large life-size statue, but the foot and a half image was the center of all the fuss. That statue is actually a replica that they take out to put nearer to the crowds. On the other side of the stage (that you can't see in the photo) is the real image guarded behind bullet-proof glass.



















So, this week was full of crazy days and cultural activities. As you can see from the photos, I made a successful pilgrimage from Itaugua (well we actually took a bus for the first 10 kilometers and then walked the rest of the way from Ypacarai) to Caacupe...walking more than 5 hours starting at 8 at night we finally got into Caacupe at 1:30 in the morning to find hundreds of thousands of people sleeping out, selling all sorts of food and replicas of the virgin of Caacupe and others sleeping out on mats made from sugar cane. It was incredible to walk inside a fluid mass of pilgrims. According to the legend, an indian was being chased by a rival tribe and stopped at the church to pray for protection from the Virgin and she appeared to him and saved his life and ever since people have made the pilgrimage to the site to plead for miracles or to be healed or whatever else. In order to have their wish granted, they have to show sacrifice and so you have to walk from your hometown to Caacupe, some people do it on their knees to show their devotion, others do it backwards or carrying weights or all sorts of variations. The tradition is somewhat more lax these days in that you don't have to start from your hometown but come from the nearest town, Ypacarai in our case which still meant a 25 kilometer walk uphill. 5 hours of walking took its toll on my feet and I was exhausted but it was a great experience. We packed ourselves into a bus for the ride home and I got into my apartment a little before 4:30 in the morning, slept for an hour and then jumped up to go to a Saturday activity with the young adults in the stake. We went to a private zoo/recreation place with a small pool and nature tour. I got burnt across my shoulders but loved getting a dip in the pool. I was frustrated with the leadership though because they had told all the youth that the Church rules state going to the pool means wearing knee-length shorts and a t-shirt. The guys had been told to wear shirts too. So, many of the girls opted not to get into the pool. I had brought my tankini with board shorts and got a lot of dirty looks like I was setting a bad example for the other girls but I told them that it was NOT church doctrine not to own or wear bathing suits!! No, we don't wear bikinis and nasty stuff, but a one-piece or tankini is more than acceptable. I get frustrated with the Church outside of the States sometimes because they take their own interpretations of things and assume that it is doctrine...well I guess that's not just out of the States but it's a lot easier to maintain due to the distance.

In other news, a professor Warner Woodworth from BYU came down to give a fireside for the youth and it was great to see a familiar face and talk about development. He works in the Marriot School and would be involved in my education in the MPA program should I end up going back to BYU for grad school. He was talking to the leaders of the Employment Resource Center to get them to submit proposals for development in Paraguay and he would help get funding. Sinthia got really excited and said that she and I already had our project (I have been talking about the idea of building a cultural center and textile tourist museum here in Itaugua and she wants to combine that with a youth center) and that way I would stay in Paraguay. She is bent on me staying in Paraguay...preferably to marry her wayward brother and put him back on track but as a single gringa even if not with her brother.

Next week I will be Argentina visiting an old friend Mimi who works with the ERS internships and was my main contact and adopted intern "mom" while I was in Argentina. She lives in Salt Lake but was born in Rosario Argentina and is going back to her homeland for the first time in more than 25 years. She invited me to accompany her along the trip and I am taking advantage of the opportunity to get away from the heat for a few days and also review my visa. I'm super excited to get down there and also catch up with some old friends in Buenos Aires.

Christmas decorations are going up all around the country though it's definitely not going to be the same without a good snowpack. I hope all is going well, hope to hear from you all soon, lots of love

Itaugua's youth dancing to Rock and Roll in the yearly closing ceremonies for their "culture workshops"












This is what brought me my air conditioning....after dying 3 times and repeated adventures having to push the car down some "hills" that were really anything inclined near the road...or the flat road too. The guy that was going to install it for me is a member of the Church and so they recommended him to me to do the work for less but I had no idea that his "transport" would be special. He thought it was hilarious to have a blond push his car, so he wanted to take a picture. I think I taught him good lesson that being a princess doesn't mean I don't know how to work!!
















This is me with the Rodriguez bunch at the birthday party of their now 1-year-old neice. I had to get a picture of little Enriquito sucking on his chupa-chup. They liked the idea and took a shot of me! Then, we all decided to make funny face :) They are a really great bunch. Typical Paraguayans though...the men are lazy and absent.











Well, I am going to keep things short and sweet considering the internet place is going to close in 5 minutes! This week has been fun so far. After the trip to Caazapa I went to a birthday for a little one year old girl. They make a HUGE party for the little tikes and give away prizes to every kid in the audience, food to all the adults, and candy by the handful. They rented decorations to make everything princess-themed and there were about 100 people there! It was crazy. I then went to the clausura for the local elementary school kids and it was fun to see the mix of traditional folklore and Paraguayan polka alonside rock and roll and modern jazz dance.

In other news, I hit a real wall when it got so hot that even taking an ice cold shower didn't stop me from sweating and melting away in my house. I sincerely decided that either I had to invest in an air conditioner or I would have to leave this country. Telling the natives that I was starting to hate this place and it's climate didn't exactly go over very well, but hey I'm an honest person. So, on Tuesday after my final Guarani lesson, I went with a "professional" to get an air conditioner. We shopped around and the cheapest new one was over $300. I didn't trust getting anything without a guarantee, so I bought the bullet, and had to pay for the delivery and installation on top...more than $400 thanks to the ever-falling exchange rate that is eating away at my bank account. But, as they keep telling me that it hasn't gotten to the maximum heat level yet, I have to be able to survive and while I don't think I'll adapt well having AC in my room, I just won't be able to survive without it. While the US sources are putting things at 99 and 100 degrees, with the humidity, it definitely feels a lot hotter. Today it rained...HARD...and made me start to calm down and get back into a normal emotional state. But, even with the cloud cover and the rain to cool things off, the humidity in the air kept things feeling very warm. I sincerely don't understand why God would create such a climate. Call it a lack of faith, but I'm starting to wonder if we really should get working on that whole global warning thing because you don't want this to spread!!

I had a huge adventure to get the air conditioner to my apartment. I could have bought one right across the street from my apartment, and there definitely are nicer vehicles that people use to deliver goods, but the contact I was given for a professional in installation and maintenance volunteered his services which happened to include a front-seat ride in his 1980 VW combi. Every time we came to a stop, it stalled out and we had to jump out and PUSH!! Luckily things like that happen even in urban Paraguay and people weren't too angry at us scurrying across the four-lane traffic during rush hour and thousands of cars whirring behind us...comforting I know. But, at last we got it to get going up the main route just as it started to rain. The guys stayed until almost 11 o'clock to get everything installed and working and so I slept icy cold last night and completely CONTENT with my purchase. Despite the investment, the guy promised me he would want to buy it when I leave the country and would give me $250. It's a good bargain I think...hopefully he follows through!

I have been using my kitchen a lot and getting some baked goods out to my friends, as well as getting to finish some of my ao poi and ñanduti projects. My friend Cristina that first got me going is currently in the hospital with her newborn baby...something. I don't know yet what it is, but I am hoping to visit her tomorrow and see how things went.

I am getting ready for my jaunt to Argentina on the 14th and super-excited to get a break from the weather and get to visit some old friends and make some new ones. I hope all is going well in the States. Sincerely, Christmas preparation without final exams and falling snow just isn't the same. I don't know how jolly I'm going to be all by myself on Christmas Day, but the most important thing is to remember the birth of our Savior...probably the most lonely job ever created. BE grateful for the snow and the mountains, not everybody has the luxury! Lots of love to everyone!