Birds

A glimpse of the more practical challenges to living overseas...

I am a person who generally does not like birds. Yes, some of them look cool but for me they are good to have at a distance. Birds that are up close either scare or annoy me. For example, in Australia they have Kuckaburras that sound as if they are laughing. Without fail when we'd go camping these birds would wake me up around 5a.m. no matter what time I went to bed, and I hate mornings. Then when I lived on Vancouver Island I went on a hiking trip and they had Whiskey Jacks (Gray Jay) that were so used to humans that they would swoop down to eat your food. Of course the guys took advantage of that and scared me half to death as these birds would swoop down to get food near me . Then in Calgary I went out with some friends for din sum where they ordered chicken legs and after seeing/touching those I never want to feel chicken feet again.

Here in Paraguay, they have many birds. Most of them are up in the sky so we get along and after living here for 6 months I have also grown accustom to seeing and hearing birds that live on the ground especially roosters that crow at all hours...(I always thought it was a morning thing.) But I haven't grown accustom to having them in my personal bubble.

This weekend I went to the campania and got to experience life out in the country. They had free roaming pigs, horses, cows, and of course dogs walking around. People do not necessarily keep their animals closed in which is why there are so many deaths on the highways as cattle are not in contained areas but graze or sleep wherever they want. They also have their share of birds from parrots, and little pet birds to hens, roosters, geese, and ducks. Like Paraguayans, the missionaries also have these birds roaming in their yard. In fact, this weekend I stayed at a house where the missionaries have a pet goose that they have to train like a dog and say "get off the table" or "get off the porch" then scoop up its poop. So this weekend I forced myself to get over my fear of birds and hold my first hen now that they are no longer at a friendly distance. It took a bit of self-convincing but I did do it. Even still I am no where near to acustom to them.

On the way back to Villarrica from the campania, we picked up one of my best Paraguayan friends Isabel and her mother. As we drove in the dark, I was telling her all about my weekend and I was explaining how I had such a fun time and all the firsts I got to experience. I was explaining in Spanglish that I had picked up a hen for my first time. I did not know what the word for "held" or "hen" was in Spanish so I was using gestures and sounds. So I said "I got to" pretending to pick something up "a" then squaked like a hen using my hand as a beak. She said "what?" and I squaked again. She turned to her right and before I knew it she had a white bag in front of my face and said "you mean this?" Some light shown into the car and sure enough a little hen abruptly poked it's head out of the bag. I lost all control of my body as my arms went up and I pinned myself against the door. No one even knew it was in the car! After I got over the shock I started to laugh and thought to myself "only in Paraguay."

More and more I am falling in love with the culture and the lifestyle here. I catch myself thinking "this isn't that bad" or "I could do this" but I think that if I was ever to move here or a similar country to live full time there are still some things that I need to get used to... and birds are definitely one of them.

I'm Still Here

Sorry this update took so long, I wrote this Thanksgiving Weekend but part of me wanted to wait to send it as everything was fresh and I hoped that maybe things would have been easier by now and I'd be able to write a new post proving that I am no longer in a low place... But that isn't the truth almost three weeks later so here it is. Thank-you so much to those who have been so good to me during the last few weeks, your love and support astounds me!

Hello Friends and Family,

This post is not an easy one for me to write, but I know I need to write something because I am in need of so much prayer.

Thanksgiving weekend is normally a time where you go around the table and share what you are thankful for, eat stuffing and pumpkin pie, and be with those who you love the most. This Thanksgiving I lost the person who I have loved the most. After going through 6 months of long distance Carl and I broke up. For me this was and still is quite hard with the end in sight. It’s been difficult for me to be here in Paraguay as I have missed him a lot and during the first half of my time here I did not have any really close friends or responsibilities so my mind was not fully here but in Canada. Many times the only thing keeping me here was the fact that I couldn’t graduate and get my degree without staying until January. Now, it’s hard for me to be thankful as it’s because I’m here that I lost one of the most important people in my life.

Even though I’m at a low point right now I do have things I can be thankful for and I need to remember them. A couple weeks ago I was really struggling with liking the culture and being happy in Paraguay so I asked if my friend and mentor Kelly could come down for a visit from Asuncion and she did within a few days of my call. We were able to talk and babysit the missionary kids so that Greg and Renee could take off for their 15th Anniversary (it was the second time they as a couple have been able to get away for a night in their marriage.) That same week Pilar also asked me to go to the gym with her so we got a gym membership that cost me only $12.50 a month for 5 aerobic classes a week. That has been really good for me to practice my language, learn the culture from their side, and stay physically fit. It is also something I love and always have loved so it’s another way to get involved in something I enjoy

Another positive thing is that Greg took the grade 7’s back. This was a constant battle for me as many of them do not understand a word of English. It’s difficult as some kids have been taking English since kindergarden and some have just came to the school now and are just starting to learn English. They also have no desire to learn so it was tough to get them to concentrate and try to pass their exams. They are more scared of Greg so he took them back in hopes of getting them motivated. He also has Spanish so he is better at explaining things to them. I still have my grade 5’s and 6’s and I have been having a blast with them. My grade 6’s are quite chatty but some of the kids are just so funny that it wears off any frustration (for the most part haha). My grade 5 class is a zoo but I have always loved rowdy kids because at least they have energy and are happy to learn. They give me something to feed off of. Today I got them to say what they were most thankful for and one of the girls said “this class” and that is exactly what I think everyday I walk in.

Also, this past weekend (minus Sunday) was one of my best weekends in Paraguay as my friend Hannes came down. If you can remember, Hannes is the guy from Switzerland, he is the same age, and came to Paraguay at the same time as me. We were able to take the first month and a half of Spanish together so it is always exciting to see him and hear his Spanish and how good it is! I am quite jealous as he has learned past tense in school and I am still trying to figure it out on my own. So far that has been my task when I can’t sleep, learning the conjugations for past tense (woot woot!). When Hannes was here we were able to do a lot of firsts. We got to explore Villarrica, go to a kids club and youth group, hang out with some friends I had never hung out with before, and go to the river to swim. Since my visit with Kelly and especially when Hannes came I was able to walk around here and think “I love it here” and feel a sense of pride in my new city and the people here. Of course lately I am really fighting my hardest to keep that attitude that took me so long to build. The pictures posted above are from a park in Villarrica with Capybara's, which are the world's largest rodent, a trip to the river, and Pilar's birthday.

Prayer Requests:

1. Attitude: As with all breakups it just sucks. For me there’s a lot of “what if’s” and it is easy to look at the reasons why I am not needed here and how I threw out a great relationship in coming. Please pray that I would have peace and a heart of gratitude; that I would be able to live without regrets or bitterness towards South America and enjoy my last few months in this culture and fully invest in the people who I have come to know and care about.

2. Sleep/Strength: It is very hard to step into a classroom and teach when you only get a few hours of sleep a night and need to force yourself to eat in order to have energy. Please pray that I would be able to rest and that during the day I would be able to hold it together, keep my sanity, and walk with my head held high.

3. Language/Friends: Please pray that I would be able to communicate better and more clearly to my new friends. I am so thankful that I have been able to make friends this past month, especially Pilar and Miguel who took me around town last night to keep me busy. Paraguayans really care about how you’re doing and want to help. I am thankful for my friends at home but they aren’t physically here to talk to or hang out and that’s what I need right now.

4. Faith: Please pray that I would have a desire to grow deeper in my love for Christ and that I would focus on what he has placed before me. Please pray that his purpose for sending me here would be fulfilled and that this would be a good learning experience that will build character and mold me into his likeness.

Thank-you so much for everything. I feel so blessed to have such a supportive group of people who have been praying for me every step of the way. It gives me great joy to have you there by my side, emailing me, and picking me up when I feel knocked down. Paraguay has definitely been a trial of perseverance and staying focused on the goal and you have all played such a role in encouraging me to do that.

I love everyone of you,

Daneille

Cómo se dice ocupada en Inglés?

(This was blog post was written September 5, 2011. Sorry for the delays as I need to send them to someone else to read and approve so sometimes it takes awhile but here it goes...)

What a crazy few weeks this has been. Time seems to fly (for the most part) now that I am here in Villarrica and have started what I came to Paraguay to do.

To start out, I love Villarrica. It’s not as big as Asuncion so I can walk everywhere, I have things I can do like teach English and play with kids at recess, and I have been meeting people!

This past weekend I was able to hang out with another English teacher Hulda. She is Brazilian and English is one of the many languages she speaks and she is so excited to help me with my Spanish and be my friend. This past week she told me about a conversation she had with her friend about me, referring to me as her “new friend” and how she wanted to invite me to church. Right after she said the words “new friend” she stopped and looked embarrassed as we had not officially called each other “friends” before. I laughed and nodded in agreement and after she knew it was ok she continued her story. Well this story became a reality as on Saturday I went to her church and met her best friend Raquel and a ton of other people my age and we hit it off. It was awesome. After church we went to the park where they typically do a dance and hand out tracks and then we went for pizza. I am really excited about these new friendships! Finally, I have a Paraguayan friends my age! I have been waiting for this moment since I arrived. It is so perfect as her friend Raquel and I had a lot of fun trying to communicate as well so I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to hang out with her and her friends. They made it clear how happy they were that I came and they now have a “new friend,” so friends we shall be ☺.

As far as school goes, in the last couple of weeks some days I want to jump up and down with joy, other days I want to cry. One of the biggest cultural differences I’ve seen between Canada and Pargauay is in the classroom and how much the kids put each other down. I have never seen kids bully each other as much as they do here in Paraguay and it’s very disheartening. Respect for teachers is also low which doesn’t help the classroom situation when you try to stop the bullying. Last week four of my students, 1 in grade 5 and 3 in grade 6 decided to hop the fence and spray paint the school with profanities. Many of the kids here, like these 4 boys, walk around thinking that they and others are worthless and it shows in their attitudes and actions. It also shows how much they need to hear about the love of Jesus.

5 days ago was one of those days where I literally cried because of what I saw. On this particular day my grade 5 class was exceptionally terrible and at the end of class, one boy who is always teased stayed back to ask me a question. That day in my class he was kicked, hit, had his books stolen, and was called numerous names. Classroom control is difficult in Paraguay, if it even exists and he was not the only kid who had these things happen but this is what his day normally looks like. I walked up to his desk (he was working ahead on his English workbook), but before he asked me his question I kneeled down in front of his desk, looked him in the eyes, and said “I am so sorry your class is so mean to you.” He looked up at me and started bawling. He is one of my best English students, he loves to have fun, he is a loving boy raised by a good family from what I hear, but here he is getting treated as though he is worthless. I was able to tell him that he is worth so much more than what the other kids are saying and that he is one of my best English students. I was able to tell him to keep his head up because he is so special. After I encouraged him he finished crying, he looked up at me, and said “thank-you teacher.” Walking home I was in tears, how could this happen? How can I be in a class where if I help a student, write on the whiteboard, or ask a student a question, there’s a good possibility someone is going to get punched or kicked? I do not know the answer, but I do know that at that moment of sadness and frustration, I was able to encourage a boy who would not hear it otherwise and that is why I am in Paraguay. That is a day and moment I will never forget.

Here are my prayer requests:
1. Wisdom- For Greg (the Director) and Stela (the Academic Director), as lately they are dealing with great stress.
2. For me as I deal with 2 classrooms that are very difficult to deal with. Please pray that I would be able to maintain control of the classroom and that the kids would feel loved when they walk into my classroom.
3. Unity- in the school and church.
4. Patience- 10/18 of my grade 7 students failed their last exam. We had the re-write today with the exact same questions and answers and only 3/10 passed. It seems as though they have checked out and have no desire to try. Please pray that I would not lose hope for them and that I would be able to not discourage them in my frustration but to encourage them to live up to their full potential.
5. Friendships- That these friendships I have started would continue to grow with Hulda and Raquel. This weekend I am also going to Asuncion with Cherlynn (another SIM missionary) and Isabel, a girl from our church who I hope to have ice-cream with this week.
6. Clear Vision- that my eyes would be lifted upwards in awe of who Jesus is, so I can look outwards into the eyes of people who Jesus loves, and be stretched inwards to love them and treat them as Jesus would.