6 months!!

How do you measure a year in the life? Or half a year? I just passed the 6 months in Paraguay mark and as always it has me thinking! Life is so slow in Paraguay yet 6 months has flown by.  I went from a little helpless girl who couldn't wash her clothes or boil water nevermind communicate in the least to a strong independent young lady with her own dirt lawn to sweep and teaching in a second and third language.  I can't usually see my day to day progress but looking back to the beginning to where I am now, it's crazy to see how far I've come.  So I've decided to summarize with one word each of the months I've been in Paraguay thus far.

February: Friends.  Everything was new and exciting in the peace corps life and although I missed my friends and family back home a lot of my time was spent getting to know and making friends with my gmates.

March: Travel.  This month we did a couple of volunteer visits and trips to asuncion so I became acquainted with traveling on buses with massive bags and no street signs anywhere.  

April: Shock. This was definitely my toughest month. I felt so alone and isolated after being sent to my community and had no idea what I was getting into. 

May:  Brave.  I did a lot of uncomfortable things this month like meeting new people all the time, putting myself out there with my language and trying to become a part of my community.  

June:  Explore.  I went to a lot of different places in my community and surrounding communities.  I explored my options for work and also went for "long" runs to the fields just to get away from it all and explore.

July:  Comfort.  I felt wanted in my community, moved into my own house, got to know more people and got past the awkward stage with a lot of relationships.  I feel confident in who I am here in Paraguay. 

And that's a short but sweet summary of my first 6 months in Paraguay.  I've definitely had my ups and downs but I am so unbelievably excited for whats to come!  Thank you all for your constant love and support!  As the song says, you measure your life in love :-).  I couldn't do it without you!!! Lots of love headed your way!