A Small Piece of Peace: I'm so pretty..... Just like you

Beauty. It's everywhere. Blah blah blah Paraguay Paraguay Paraguay. Everyone here is obsessed with prettiness. Obsessed. In the same way I'm obsessed with burritos. People clean their houses on the daily, do laundry at least every other day, iron their clothes, sweep their dirt yards, bathe twice a day, braid their hair, only wear flip flops in the shower (how not respectable of a fashion choice) and all in all are constantly thinking about how lindo something is. And now I do too. And it's a little bizarre. For instance, I currently judge people on their floors. I walk into a new home and my first thought is "tiles? Sweet floor! How pretty!" So I'm falling into the beauty trap. Or maybe it's not a trap.

Por ejemplo, I moved to another community for this week with a few other people to get a campo feel of the Paraguayan countryside, practice our Spanish and guarani, and give charlas (lessons) in the school and health post. And so I had another host family and upon meeting my mom this was the opening conversation:

Me: Hi! My name is Arianna.

Mom: Hi! What a pretty name. I'm Lydia.

Me: What a beautiful name!

Mom: This is my beautiful home. Isn't it pretty?

Me: yea! So pretty!

Mom: You're just so very pretty... Just like me.

Me: Yea! We're all just so pretty!

And that was 148% normal. Didn't think twice until later. And I kind of like it. I can't say I'm a horribly observant person. Not so beneficial in the science field of things but in my general life I don't mind. I think it's actually quite helpful to not be stressed about the little things... Or should I say the pretty things.

But maybe this is a way of getting me to notice the pretty things. The beauty around me. Cuz there truly is a ton of it! I'm much better at seeing the beauty in people rather than objects or nature. But, now I'm hoping to see the beauty of tile floors, the crazy cool monkeys, my sister's painted fingernails, the red dirt roads, the gorgeous sunrises, my freshly ironed shirts, my mom's perfectly braided hair, the arranged rice and chicken on my plate, and my freshly raked dirt lawn. And at the very least I will be observant of the world around me.

Now, look at these gorgeous pictures of my trip 4 hours south to San Ignacio. I'm just so unbelievably pretty.... Just like you :-)