It´s 2009!

That means I have had a birthday and have celebrated Christmas and New Year´s in Paraguay. I want to share all of this with you visually, but for the sake of efficiency, I am opting to send you to my Facebook album. Copy this address into your web bar and hit "enter": http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=560&l=cc9aa&id=162400025

(You do not have to ever visit Facebook again, nor "sign up." Just look at the pictures!)

Christmas was different but great! It was a big family affair, with a huge barbecue late in the evening leading up to fireworks. The idea is that the fireworks happen at midnight, but really they happen more or less perpetually after dark. :) The food was delicious, the wine and cider and pop flowed, and love abounded. What more could one ask for in a celebration?

I should mention that some parts of Christmas felt familiar and traditional. Those moments were really special because they were hard to come by. Many thanks to my friends Santiago, Scott, and especially Alcides, for helping me find glimpses of Christmas as I know it. Some of these included seeing decked-out Christmas trees, attending a candlelight service, and opening gifts from Canada.

My birthday was a big deal! In Canada, my birthday is totally overshadowed by Christmas -- and fair enough, Jesus should win that popularity contest -- but here having my birthday rocks. I got SO many calls and text messages! Plus e-mails from Canada. I felt pretty special. Thanks, guys. And thank you, Paraguayan culture, I guess, for being so relationally oriented!

I spent New Year´s in the Chaco with my host sister and paternal grandparents. It was pretty quiet, but that was good for me! I recuperated both my energy and my faith in the ethnic-and-faith group from which I come.

Now I am in Formosa, Argentina. Technically that´s because I need to renew my Paraguayan visa... but while I am here, I plan to have some fun. That should be easy! Lots of young people, beach, music, making our own food... Wooooooot!

If you´re worrying that I have forgotten about Ciudad del Este, don´t worry. I know that there is still English to be taught. That should get easier with a more specific curriculum being put in place, and with my group of students remaining stable now. Not only that, but I think that the countdowns that keep me stable on lonely days will accelerate. First my dad will visit, then there is a team vacation, then Jon visits, then Mennonite World Conference happens, then re-entry retreat, and then return to Winnipeg!

So many things to look forward to! May the days fly until August 1st... but may I nonetheless go slowly enough to savour the blessings coming my way.