Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Some free time at a retreat outside of Asuncion : 4


2-17-94
"Culture has given birth."  That is what the executive president of AFS Paraguay told us today at the beginning of our first orientation.  Such beautiful sounding words.  I really like it here.  Everything is so green and warm.  I hear thunder a lot.  We arrived at 2:00 in the afternoon, then came to this camp with a few main buildings and several straw roofed structures where we sleep.  Everything smells so alive here, it's all very fresh.  It's been raining a lot.  It stays dark till late, I think it's 7:00 now and it is still light out, of course it is summer, so that is not unusual.  Anyway, back to what the woman said, "culture has given birth."  She meant that as soon as we stepped off of that plane, culture was born, a new culture to me, and it is now pulsing through my veins, and with each new sight, smell, taste, word, experience, I learn more about this new culture being born inside of me.  It is such a beautiful thought, it makes me desire to learn even more.  I like it here in this camp.  Everything is peaceful and new.  Not only do I have new friends from the U.S. here, there are also two girls from Belgium, 2 boys and a girl form Iceland, and a boy from Norway and about 4 boys and 2 girls from Thailand, so many new people already, and everyone is so friendly.  As long as I don't let the homesickness demon strike too often,I will have a wonderful time, I can't wait to learn the languages, especially Guarani.



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