Ciao, Adios, Nos vemos....

In one week, we will be leaving Paraguay and moving to Kuwait (with a short interval in the US!).  As with every major change in life, the transition is overwhelming, sad, exciting, and scary all at the same time.

I'll be leaving friends that in just a short 2 or 3 years have made a huge impact in my life.  I've discovered that growing friendships internationally (especially in a small community like ours) is like speed dating; you decide quickly who you have something in common with and you spend a lot of time together over a short period of time.  You share experiences of living abroad that only you understand and the result is a bond that is just as strong as if you had been friends for 15 years.

Celebrating Thanksgiving in 95 degree heat

The Zombie Mud Run

The Beer Olympics-Team Jamaica

Our weekly Ultimate players

Paraguay has been an incredible experience. Living in a developing country has given me an appreciation for where I come from, while at the same time some perspective as to how the US is viewed abroad.  Living in another culture and dealing with its idiosyncrasies (like the way they push grocery carts out the back of the line instead of through the checkout...who does that??!!)  has made me a more flexible and patient person. While on the surface, Paraguay does not have a lot to offer, I have grown to love this country.

We have had the unprecedented opportunity to travel widely in the last 3 years and for this I'm incredibly grateful.  We've seen the world in a way that we were never able to while living in the US and this has, for me, been the best reason for continuing our journey of international teaching.


As a teacher, I've had the opportunity to work with an entirely different population of students and to have an emotional break from the heartbreaking work of teaching kids in poverty.  While I know my journey will take me back to public school some day, teaching in a privileged community has been good for my mental health and sustainability in my career.  I've also had the opportunity to experiment in my practice, which was not always possible in the US.  I will miss my students, who are funny, thoughtful, and have so much potential to be agents of change in the world.

 
These are my students playing games they created themselves and then taught their classmates to show their learning.  I loved learning how to implement project based learning.


One of the highlights of my time here was my weekly visits with my friends Ali and Adrianne to a small orphanage.  We visited most weeks for over 2 years. The kids were all under 7 and I got to play and color, something I don't get a chance to do very often.  It was also how I learned a lot of Spanish, as I was at about the same level as the oldest girls!

 

They can't stand still for a photo, but they sure are cute. 

While I will not miss the heat, the mosquitoes, or the driving, I will miss Paraguay and the life we built for ourselves here.  Hasta la proxima y Rohayu Paraguay!