Alpelo!

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Hey Everybody!
We have made it safely to Paraguay and are settling in to our daily routines nicely. After landed in Ascunsion we traveled to Escobar and spent 3 days with the Bowen Family, learning the language of Guarani. We also did a ropes course as well, which was super fun! Guarani is the “love language” of Paraguayans and is used most commonly over Spanish. Our team was encouraged by Andy Bowen to try and speak it and show our host families our desire to learn it, because showing our desire to be teachable is one way to show Paraguayans our desire to learn their culture and assimilate into their everyday life. The Bowens’ hospitality was something we were all so thankful for and appreciative of. After we left the Bowens’ we headed out to Jataity, which is were we are currently, and will call home for the rest of our trip. A lot of excitement was building up as we got closer to Jataity and meeting our host families. All of our first and now second nights with our host families have gone well, despite the language barrier. Lots of laughs have been had, especially as we try to figure out how to ask the simple things like how to turn on the shower and where to put our dirty laundry. Jon and I’s host siblings particularily enjoy playing cards, we’ve introduced them to the game Uno, and have had lots of fun with that so far.
Ryan, Bailey, and Grace had their first day in clinic with Dr. Jeff yesterday. They learned and practiced blood pressures and were able to do ultrasounds on each other, in between seeing patients.
Jon, Tyler, and I went visiting people in the community with Amy yesterday as well. We went to visit a woman who was an amazing example of Paraguayan hospitality. She told us about her family’s history in Paraguay and about her milk cows. She also helped us with our Guarani and let us practice some of our phrases and pronounciation on her. We were also able to try chepa, a Paraguayan version of a tortilla that’s sometimes also filled with cheese.
As I look at the Paraguayan countryside every morning (it’s absolutely beautiful and will take your breath away) I’m reminded of the greatness of our God…
“How Great You are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like You, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears.” – 2 Samuel 7:22



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