Swimming Lessons

I made it back safely to Paraguay, with some new perspective, new comforts, and new countdown. 11 months! As another new idea, I'm going to start A Picture A Day series, although I don't know if it'll really be quite that often, due to power outages and other technical difficulties. The idea comes from a few years back, when I remember my friend Rachael's dad doing a photo blog like this as a way to stay in touch as she left for college. Thanks Mr. Button.

It was difficult coming back to Paraguay, but this afternoon marked a real high for the past few days. It's been about 100 degrees and 100% humidity here for the past couple of days, so my neighbor girls Vio, Silvia, and I hit up the nearby creek for some chill time. Let me tell you though - it took almost an hour of trudging up the rocky, holey creek bed and crawling through/over/under overhanging vines, tree branches, and bamboo to find a good spot. But it was worth it. Almost no one knows how to swim here, and Silvia really wants to learn, so we did some basic swim lesson practice for over an hour. I had the girls practice holding their breath and sticking their faces under water (pretty scary for them). There are two different words in Guarani for "swim" - one to swim on top of the water and one to dive under. Kids always ask me if I know how to do the former, and then the latter, which is even more impressive. We also practiced kicking, some basic arm strokes, and trying to float. They ate it up and are anxious to go back! (As am I, especially if this weather keeps up.)