Only Three Days Left in the U.S.A.
Our time in the USA is coming to an end and I realized that I have posted almost nothing about what our day to day is like here and what we know about the main event. Last weekend Chelsey and I took a whirlwind tour of the West (nearly 1300 miles in 4 days). I am going to try to get that post up soon, too. The picture to the right is of the sky in Albuquerque. This place is beautiful.
Some of this might take a little explaining:
We go to San Jose Parish four nights a week to practice spanish. San Jose is a spanish church in the South Valley of Albuquerque. On Monday and Thursday we help teach Kindergartners about the bible in 'Catecismo' (i.e. Bible School/CCD). On Wednesday we attend youth group for the teenagers and also for the young adults. On Friday we sign in the choir... in Spanish. Anyone that knows me well knows I do not sing well in English so my Spanish singing has to be terrible. Nonetheless, it is one of the most fun things we do. EVERYONE at San Jose is so loving and welcoming...we have been a bit overwhelmed by their kindness. We have great friends from there now and are really going to miss them all.
On Fridays we volunteer in Sister Marilu's Kindergarten class at Annunciation, the local Parish. We only met these kids like 5 times but we really liked them and are going to miss helping in their class. We self study spanish at local coffee shops in our free time (Chelsey loves this part). Our Spanish Lessons are also worth mentioning. When we arrived in Albuquerque we were meeting with a Sister Marisa and she was giving us wonderful lessons but she had to leave for Rome and we did not know what we were going to do. We have the most wonderful neighbor ever - Senorita Geisler who is a lay Canoissan (member of the community who has subscribed to the Canoissan way of life without joining the order) and a former spanish teacher. She has taken us into her home for 2 hours a day for nearly a month and taught us so much!!!
Our schedule has kept us out late most nights - especially Wednesdays when we don't arrive home until 10:30 or so. As an example, we were out late on Valentine's Day at church and so we celebrated with a green chile hamburger from a local chain, Blakes LotaBurger (right).
ABQ has been great. We love the West but we are ready to go. Only 3 days left!!!
We leave for Paraguay in tres dias... on Tuesday (February 26). We were originally slated to fly into Buenos Aires and hang out in Argentina for a few days, not arriving in Paraguay until Saturday (March 2) but we had a slight hiccup with our Visa situation and so we are going to arrive in Asuncion, Paraguay on February 27th. We will leave South America via Buenos Aires so we will still get to see Argentina - it will just be later in the year.
Our travel plans look something like this: Albuquerque --> Dallas --> Miami --> Asuncion, Paraguay --> Encarnacion, Paraguay. It will take us about 30 hours to get from ABQ to the Sister's place in Encarnacion.
The reason for the change in itinerary, as I mentioned, is a Visa issue. We can get a Visa at the airport in Asuncion, Paraguay, when we arrive (fingers crossed). After trouble-free interactions with the custom's officials, we will be greeted by a Sister at the airport and then we are making the Journey to our base in Encarnacion - which is 5-6 hours away from the capitol city, Asuncion. We do not know if we are making that trip via bus or car but we have faith that we will get there somehow. That is pretty much all we know for sure about travel.
Our spanish has gotten much better but I am not positive it is up for the challenge of communicating with a custom's officer. I will know how it holds up in said situation by next Wednesday and will be sure to let you know. We are busy with last minute preparations (i.e. filing taxes, eating last america-centric meals, etc.). Tonight we are hosting the nuns for a completely homemade, from scratch Kentucky themed dinner with a menu as follows:
Our travel plans look something like this: Albuquerque --> Dallas --> Miami --> Asuncion, Paraguay --> Encarnacion, Paraguay. It will take us about 30 hours to get from ABQ to the Sister's place in Encarnacion.
The reason for the change in itinerary, as I mentioned, is a Visa issue. We can get a Visa at the airport in Asuncion, Paraguay, when we arrive (fingers crossed). After trouble-free interactions with the custom's officials, we will be greeted by a Sister at the airport and then we are making the Journey to our base in Encarnacion - which is 5-6 hours away from the capitol city, Asuncion. We do not know if we are making that trip via bus or car but we have faith that we will get there somehow. That is pretty much all we know for sure about travel.
Our spanish has gotten much better but I am not positive it is up for the challenge of communicating with a custom's officer. I will know how it holds up in said situation by next Wednesday and will be sure to let you know. We are busy with last minute preparations (i.e. filing taxes, eating last america-centric meals, etc.). Tonight we are hosting the nuns for a completely homemade, from scratch Kentucky themed dinner with a menu as follows:
Appetizers
Pimento Cheese
Benedictine Spread
Main Course
Fresh Greens accompanying
Kentucky Hot Browns
Dessert
Derby Pie
I just put the turkey in the oven for this dish and you can bet there will be a post about the party. Preparing for this meal, in addition to watching our final bit of college basketball and travel preparations will occupy our day. Tomorrow we have a going away celebration and mass hosted by the Sisters. They have invited past missionaries and our friends from San Jose so it should be a great celebration.
While we were in Albuquerque.... we had a have had a very structured schedule.
Monday
|
8:30
mass (prayer)
Breakfast
11:00
Spanish Lesson
12:30
Lunch + Clean Up
|
13:00
Spanish Self Study
16:00
Music Therapy Casa Angelica
18:00
San Jose
19:30
Return Home
|
Tuesday
|
8:30
Mass (Prayer)
Breakfast
10:30
Formation w/ Mary
11:30
Cook
12:00
Lunch
|
13:00
Spanish Lesson
13:30
Spanish Self Study
15:30
Drive to South Valley
16:00
Casa Angelica
18:30 Prayer and Dinner with Sisters |
Wednesday
|
Breakfast
8:30
Mass (Prayer)
9:30
Missionarity w/ Sr. Antoinette
11:00
Spanish Lesson
12:30
Lunch
|
13:00
Study Paraguay History
15:00
Formation with Mary
17:30
San Jose Ministry
22:30
Return Home
|
Thursday
|
8:30
Mass (Prayer)
Breakfast
10:30
Formation w/Mary
11:30
Cook
12:30 Lunch
|
13:00
Self Study Spanish
15:00
Spanish Lesson
18:00
San Jose
19:30
Return Home
|
Friday
|
8:30
Mass (Prayer)
9:30
Kindergarten at Annunciation
12:00
Lunch
|
13:00
Spanish Lesson
15:00
Self Study Spanish and Paraguay History
19:00
San Jose Choir
21:30
Return Home
|
Saturday
|
8:30
Mass (prayer)
Breakfast & Clean House
11:00
Sr. Christina – formation
|
Free
|
Sunday
|
10:30
Mass (usually)
|
Free
|
Some of this might take a little explaining:
We volunteer at Casa Angelica two days a week, which is a home for severely developmentally disabled children. We participate in music therapy. Most of the people are bound to a wheelchair and so on Monday and Tuesday a specialist comes in and plays guitar and sings while we help them move their arms and legs. This helps them with circulation and also is entertaining. People magazine published a story a few years back about one of the kids there, Patrick. It is a very moving story about a police officer who worked a case where Patrick, two years old at the time, was hit by his mother's boyfriend and thrown into a cast iron tub resulting in Patrick going into a coma. The investigator got very attached to Patrick and adopted him at the conclusion of the case. If you have a few minutes, it is worth the read as it 1) explains the situation for Patrick and 2) gives a good overview of what the Sisters do at Casa Angelica. Check it out here.
We go to San Jose Parish four nights a week to practice spanish. San Jose is a spanish church in the South Valley of Albuquerque. On Monday and Thursday we help teach Kindergartners about the bible in 'Catecismo' (i.e. Bible School/CCD). On Wednesday we attend youth group for the teenagers and also for the young adults. On Friday we sign in the choir... in Spanish. Anyone that knows me well knows I do not sing well in English so my Spanish singing has to be terrible. Nonetheless, it is one of the most fun things we do. EVERYONE at San Jose is so loving and welcoming...we have been a bit overwhelmed by their kindness. We have great friends from there now and are really going to miss them all. 
On Fridays we volunteer in Sister Marilu's Kindergarten class at Annunciation, the local Parish. We only met these kids like 5 times but we really liked them and are going to miss helping in their class. We self study spanish at local coffee shops in our free time (Chelsey loves this part). Our Spanish Lessons are also worth mentioning. When we arrived in Albuquerque we were meeting with a Sister Marisa and she was giving us wonderful lessons but she had to leave for Rome and we did not know what we were going to do. We have the most wonderful neighbor ever - Senorita Geisler who is a lay Canoissan (member of the community who has subscribed to the Canoissan way of life without joining the order) and a former spanish teacher. She has taken us into her home for 2 hours a day for nearly a month and taught us so much!!!
ABQ has been great. We love the West but we are ready to go. Only 3 days left!!!
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