Orange Limes

Did you know that there such a thing as an orange lime? Neither did I till today! I was very sad because my roomie and I were making fajitas (a shocking thing because it involves actual cooking and no pasta) and I couldn't find a lime on the lime tree. I finally found one on another tree, but of course, being my short self, I couldn't reach it. I went and got my roommate, who couldn't reach it either. As we wandered around our veritable orchard of random fruit trees  we noticed that a bunch of them were getting some nice little orange fruits on them.  We figured "hey, it's not like we make recipes right anyway, might as well use orange juice instead". We shook one down, took it inside, and tasted it.  Turns out all those oranges are really limes.  Orange limes...who'd've thunk?

 

 

So, *cough* this week *cough, cough* has been crazy *cough, cough, cough*.  Between having a cold that by this point is irritating both me and my roommate, Friday being Field Day, and next week being the Parade of Nations and the school's 50th Anniversary celebration, I've felt a little like this last week has flown by.

Field Day was a lot of fun.  It was essentially an entire day of competitions for all the students from Pre-K on up to 12th. The Pre-K teacher and I hearded our group around the campus and cheered for them as they ran races, kicked balls, and put people in danger with frisbees. We got plenty of exercise what with chasing down stray kids and running all the races with the kids (otherwise they tended to get stuck halfway through). Thankfully, all the kids had fun and there wasn't a single injury, except the damage done to my poor hoarse voice!

Next week is the school's "Parade of Nations". Basically every grade researches a country and creates a presentation with general information about the country and themajor mission needs in area. This includes decorating the room, learning songs, ect. Then on Friday, in a highly orchestrated manner, classes give the presentations to other classes and go around to see other classes presentations. It's quite the undertaking!  Pre-K/KG are doing the Netherlands.  I can't wait to see all of our little ones dressed up in their hats and attempting to explain the Netherlands, tulips, windmills, and missionaries to six other grades in Spanglish. It should be...interesting.

Fall Break/Easter Break was fun and very relaxing, if only because there wasn't much to do.  Jacqui and I went to Encarnacion during the break. We stayed in a very nice hostel, saw the ruins, sat at the beach and played a LOT of cards.  During the Semana Santa or "Holy Week"  cities kind of shut down on Thursday and Friday.  As a result, we were basically forced to relax because nothing was open.  Thanks to Jacqui, and about 150 rounds,  I can now play cribbage and another card game I can't remember the name of , quite competently.  The hostel was probably one of our favorite parts...hot showers at any time of day, hot water in the kitchen sink, air conditioner we didn't feel like we had to turn off after 15 minutes...ahhh luxury!

The Jesuit ruins near Encarnacion are the world's least visited UNESCO site.  Which is a shame.  They really are very incredible. The ruins in Jesus are very well preserved and, as you walk around, you can practically feel the history breathing and see the priests and Guarani residents walking around. I couldn't get over how incredible the handbuilt church was.  It's amazing the skills that God has given to people, that they could build something so huge without the aid of cranes or modern tools!

 

The beach in Encarnacion is small, but nice.  During the holy days, Jacqui and I spent quite a lot of time sitting in the shade of the restraunts playing cards for several hours. It was very peaceful and a needed dose of boredom.

 

All in all, I'm definitely enjoying my life here in Paraguay.  I can't believe how close to the end of the school year we are!  The last day of classes will be June 20 and all my little Kinders will be off into that bright shiny world of first grade! Sniff, sniff...but gosh have we got a lot to do in those few weeks!

Please keep praying for the teachers, staff and students of ACA.  Dengue is going around the city and several of those at our school have family members affects. Also, as the school works this week to get ready for two major events, please pray that the teachers would have patience and energy to get everything done!