Feliz Navidad!

Happy holidays to everyone back home! I miss you and love you all. I'm headed to Chile tomorrow for some backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park, followed by some beach time outside of Valparaiso. It's going to be a great break from my time in Paraguay, having recently reached the '1 yr left to go' mark. But I'm also excited to get back and start some real projects during this last year. Overall, I'm really loving my time in Paraguay. As always, there is an open invitation to come visit me to see what it's like!

As we bring in the new year, I'll leave you with some photos that capture my time spent during these last few months. It's been a wonderful year for me and the people and places in these photos are what has made it so special.

Blanca, Lupi and Tati cleaning the cake batter bowl in my "kitchen" window



Upclose of my 4 yr old friends after eating cake batter


Eating with the family and neighbors for the big Virgin of Caacupe Day, December 8



Our new tatakua (brick, wood fired oven) cooking sopa paraguay,
Paraguay's delicious version of cornbread



Putting the 4 yr olds to work cleaning my patio. It was their idea, I promise.



The 'before' photo of the area behind my house



Pouring the cement floor for my new outside shady sitting area,
with the help of my host family, of course



The almost 'after' photo of my awesome new, chicken free, outside place. I haven't finished painting yet, but the hammock is already getting lots of use.



One of my legacies: the hula hoop. Since I made this one, it's been the talk of the town.



Swimming at the nearby forest reserve with my agforester friends who came to
visit after Thanksgiving



Crossing the sketchy bridge along the long walk from the reserve to my house



Along the same walk, surrounded by soy fields


My favorite cow picture. That's one of my host sisters, Andresa, doing the milking



My favorite picture of Tati


Best buds


This pretty much sums it up