Despedidas (Goodbyes)

It's been a week of goodbyes.

• On Tuesday, I went to Gladys and Benedicto's house. Gladys is Mariana's sister and Benedicto invited the musicans from the church to play music with him at their house. He plays the flauta dulce (a professional recorder) and we had a jam session :) Eduardo on piano, Brain on Guitar, Me on flute and Natalia cheering us on :)
• Wednesday was my last meeting with my girls small group. Used our time to go door-to-door in 2 villas (kindof like a shanty village) advertising our Saturday program. I was very impressed by how bold one of my girls was. She didn't let a single person get past her and invited everyone from babies to grandparents.
• Thursday was our last Tecove presentation in San Lorenzo. It was a success and it was very fun to listen to the team talk about how their year was as a whole. I only experienced the last 2 months, but they've been doing this since February or March. They only had 1 rain day in all that time! WOW!
• On Friday we had an all night prayer vigil. The main purpose was to pray for the ministry of the Red (the College Christian group here in Asuncion). I've never spent a whole night praying and I didn't think I'd be able to make it without falling asleep! It was a great experience though! We sang a lot, prayed a lot (obviously), talked a lot, and ate a lot.
• Tecove came to San Vicente on Saturday! (Tecove is my Bible drama group and San Vicente is the group that I work with on Wednesdays and Saturdays.) We had about 200 kids show up and they LOVED the show! It was really special for me to mix my 2 worlds here in Paraguay. Afterwards, the team came over to Mariana and Dany's house and we ate together and had a great time :) Here's a picture of the kids watching the show...
• Sunday was my last day at Iglesia Independencia. They dedicated a song to me and then asked me to come up and say something to the church. I got stage fright and couldn't think of anything to say! oh well. Then at night, I sang a duet with Eduardo, "Te Veo" by Jesus Adrian Romero. It's one of my favorite songs. Afterwards, we all went out to eat (the group of friends in the picture at the top of my blog).
• Monday was a vacation day! We went to San Bernadino, a resort town about an hour away from Asuncion. Since Paraguay is land locked, the people go to San Bernadino to swim in the lake or go to a hotel with a pool. We were able to swim and go for a boat ride in the lake. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day and really fun!
• Monday night was another goodbye party. We (the same group in the pic + Kaite & Rodrigo) all hung out at Eduardo's house and they all told me what my time here has meant to them. It was a really special time together!
• Tuesday--- TODAY --- I'm packing! I'm driving to the airport! I'm getting on a plane! I will be in New York City at 5:30 tomorrow morning! I can't believe it...