A Day in the Life

I’ve been in Paraguay for past two weeks now, and praise God things are starting to have some sense of familiarity. The time I’ve spent here has been jam-packed with so much: from a wedding I got to attend a week and half ago to campamento -- a youth camp that Ben and Vivi led through the church, I’ve had plenty of experiences to share in learning about Paraguayan culture.
Before I talk about these extra ordinary experiences, though, I’ll let you know how typical life goes. I’m staying with the Caballeros right now, so much of my day is shared with them and normal family activities. I get up around 5:00 every weekday morning to roosters crowing and exotic birds singing outside my window. There are no screens here, so everything sounds and feels as if it’s very close and very real. I look out my window to Oscar’s magnificent backyard, enjoying the happy purple orchids growing in the trees, the magnificent perennial hibiscus, and other plants that I’ve never seen before.
Around 5:30 I get to take part in breakfast with the Caballeros, which many times includes a fresh savory sort of pancake made with mandioca (a very starchy plaintuber) flour and cheese. After morning family devotions, we get into the car at 6:00 and head to school. 6:30 finds me at Colegio Privado Adonai with the other teachers, administrators, and directors for a pre-school devotion. I try to listen and pray along as best I can, but most of the time I only understand what’s going on when I can read along with the morning’s scripture in my bilingual Bible.
Classes begin at 7, and that’s when the real school day starts. Right now, I’m mostly helping Ellen, the Canadian teaching most of the lower grades, and Monica, a Paraguayan-taught-English-by-a-Texan, who’s teaching the higher grades. I generally just smile at the kids and act like I know what they’re saying while working on becoming their friend even before I know how to talk to them. I also get to work with the kids one-on-one with individual classwork, tutoring first graders with the English names of animals and the older kids with points of grammar that I hardly understand.
There’s a recess break around 8:30 when I grab a snack -- if I’m feeling skinny a fried empanada (like perogies, only with fried, flaky dough and most-often meat fillings) or, if I’m feeling healthy, a vegetable (with egg salad, too) sandwich. Lunch is an hour at noon, then, and several teachers stick around to eat together. I’ve only stayed twice for lunch, but everyone is friendly to share what they have. I wish I could have brought a little to share, too, but I’m just getting used to the culture of sharing everything.
Afternoons are much like the mornings, although this week I’ll begin tutoring sessions with two students at a time for half an hour each. The largest number of kids from any one class comes from 7th grade. I’m not sure if they especially need the extra help, but the class has a bunch of teenage girls who like to giggle and smile at me. I don’t especially mind, though, because it’s much easier to practice talking to someone in broken Spanish if you know they already like you.
Around three I hop in the Caballero car for the ride home. We arrive to a wonderful meal that Karen cooks every day and devour it very expeditiously. After dinner devotions and helping clean up, it’s time for a siesta and break from the day. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights find us back at the church (which, very conveniently, is connected to the school), and other nights find Brandon and Gabby (the Caballero boys) doing homework and me reading about culture or studying Spanish.
All in all, I’ve found another family and church family here in Paraguay. I’ve jumped right into Lamabare life and have been safely caught by a whole community of wonderful folks. I’m committed here, and so many here have also already committed to me. And through it all, I bless the name of God. As the Lord says to this Asuncion Church and the Caballero home, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”