TOO much to say!!!

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WELL i sooo dunno where to start, too much has happened and i think its gone out the other ear already!

Ok, so on Tuesday night, Kathy and Gilly told us they were taking us to a barbeque. Eh, this wasn´t just any old barbeque. We got to this restaurant, had to be the poshest thing ive seen so far in Paraguay, it was posh even by British standards! It was sort of like a buffet, (mum etc - like at the radisson baypoint except much bigger) with lots of salady stuff with fancy names but was basically just potato salad and sweetcorn. The waiters, dressed like penguins, come round all the tables with heaps of different kinds of meat and carve it there and then like at a carvery, weird! Also lots of pasta dishes, some good, some not! The puddings were ACE, they´re big on their passionfruit here. Haha, in the toilets they even had padded seats (!) yet a bit of string for the flush! made me laugh hehe.

OMG, TOTALLY forgot to say in the last paragraph GUESS WHAT - i tried SUSHI!! dunno where that bravery came from cos i usually wouldnt go within 5 miles of it but wowee! didnt like it lol but hey thats nae the point!! :-D

Woke up on wednesday SO nervous about meeting my family, totally thought i was gonna get stuck as a mute. Packed up and left the hotel, then went to the Anglo where we were left for aaaaaages. Everyone apart from me and hugh had an individual interview where Kathy basically had a more personal chat, made sure we were okay and gave us a chance to ask any questions. They took aaaages though so i was quite worried that there was no time for me to get one.

ANYWAYS, eventually we were picked up one by one by our familys. I was picked up by what i later found out to be the son, and his girlfriend who thankfully speaks english, PHEW!! They took me back to the house and showed me around, it looks quite big and old fashioned, but it´s very nice and easy to find my way around. My rooms hard to explain, it´s not in the house, but up a tiny spiral staircase thats outside, so i´ve got my own little ´bitty´with a wee bathroom and my bedroom (double bed kirsten haha!!) At this point was really unsure what to do so i just unpacked then had a wee nap. OMG, im soooooo happy, there´s this medieval cd player in my room that i can listen to emma´s cd on, made me feel SO much better to hear all our songs again girlies!

Went downstairs at what i guessed was dinnertime, when i met the rest of the family. The mother and father are called Christina and Caesar, they have a son and a daughter who im guessing are around late twenties early thirties, who are also called Christina and Caesar! The mother can speak a little english but can´t really understand it, so with her english and my spanish we can get by. Father can´t speak it at all, son is learning but is quite shy! The house is quite busy at nights which is good, the son´s girlfriend and daughter´s boyfriend seem to be there quite a lot cos they don´t move out till they´re married over here, seem to find it really strange that a lot of people in britain move out at around 18 for uni etc, and that im all the way over here by myself at 18! Think i´ve got quite lucky with my family, Danielle´s can´t speak any english at all and she can´t speak a word of spanish so we´re quite worried about her, but Helen´s are rich with their own pool!!!

This morning I was also mega nervous cos i started my placement today! Luckily Caesar dropped me off, but im really nervous about tomorrow cos im gonna get the crazy bus! In the mornings I´m working at a place called Alegria Educacion Fundacion which is a school for disabled kids. When i got there i eventually found someone who knew who i was, lol, and was introduced to the english speaking teacher. I´m gonna be with the kindergarten level class who are the youngest or most disabled kids. First we went for walk and a bit of exercise which was good to get used to the kids. The youngest is about 5 and the oldest 11ish, its hard to tell though. None of them can speak apart from two, who can only say the odd word, but oh me they´re hard work! They´re lovely though and i can tell im gonna enjoy working with them. The morning passed really quickly and before i knew it it was quarter to 12, when the kids go home - the school can´t afford to stay open in the afternoon.

In the afternoon´s im gonna be working in Casa Cuna 2, a nursery for kids whose single mums need to sell things on the streets to make a living - the kids are there from 6 in the morning til 6 at night, crazy. First i had to get there though!! oh me what a trackle. You can´t take a normal route from A to B cos it´s not safe, so i had to go on a big detour to take the main roads. I managed fine by following the map, but when i got there, Kathy had only circled the street it was on and i couldnt find it ANYWHERE, was so scared. lost already!! stopped to ask someone but luckily i saw helen & danielle at the other side of the street, god knows what i´d have done if i hadn´t seen them. oh and kathy had circled the wrong street, lol. anyways, the kids were sleeping apparently so we grabbed some lunch etc then headed back. SO many more kids than in the morning, about 25-30 in our bitty, and they´re only about 2/3. they all started waking up at once, cranky kids woohoo!! spent the rest of the day playing painting hugging etc then it was 4 oclock already. (emma - kids loved ur bracelet by the way!!)

THEN i had to find my way back to this unknown house, didn´t help that caesar had marked it wrong on the map, really was petrified at one point!! the streets are really dodgy around here and i looked so naive and foreign with my map, flip flops, white skin etc, soooo scared!! eventually found it though thank god, spose by using my head! maybe it does work then haha!!!

Well this is where ive ended up so i´d better go, keep thinking of more things to tell everyone though and keep forgetting! Please keep in touch, am missing everyone so much and i´d love to hear from everyone, even if it´s just the usual stuff that´s happening!

Love love loooooove,

Lisa xXxXx

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Comments

[Steph]

Miss you!
Hey! Just read al three of your blogs, think your worse than me with the essay writing!! Haha, just kiddin, you actually have things to say where i simply babble about nothing! We miss you sweetie! All have bebo countdowns on our pages! Altho mine is the best, oh yes :D Still cant get over what you did for us in Tenerife...amazed! And im blaming you for any drunken antcis that may or may not have happened while on holiday since you bought the sangria! Will email you the hol goss, not for public viewing!! Anyhoo, sounds like Paraguay is a bit of a culture shock! Sounds nice though, well some parts. As long as your at home with the family and theyre nice too you! Im sure you'll begin to settle in more soon. Well done on the sushi by the way! Wouldnt catch me trying that. The work your doing over there is so good, we are all so proud of you! As for getting lost, really should of payed more attention in the orienteerin part of DOE eh!!! haha. Anyhoo i better scoot just now but promise to email soon and i will be a big blog geek and read eery single one!! Love you millions, miss you so much already xxxxxxxxxxxxxx