People

A college professor once told me that "the places we go or the places we live don't matter as much as the people, the people make the experience." At first I was confused but once I figured it out, it made complete sense. It's the people that you make the memories with, the people you spend your time with and the people who's company you enjoy most. Yes I love places and they leave impressions on my heart...but I have no desire to go back to Lynchburg and spend 4 more years going to class and taking exams but I would love nothing more then to be surrounded by those people for another 4 years....its why when I go back to visit something is always missing, the people. Also when I think about home yeah I miss the place but I really miss the people....and I would never consider spending another moment in Wall Drug, South Dakota but if it meant being with Lauren and Gav for a bit, then sure why the hell not, again the people.

So today I was thinking a lot about my people here, how they greet me, how they make me feel and how I want more of them...I can now understand all the pre- cautious and anxiety I had in my first few months here...I didn't have people, almost the exact same feelings I had my first semester of college. I just needed people, but don't we all? We were created for community, and how sweet is it when we find it.

And I've found it. People are all around me and I want you to meet all of them but today I will tell you about one lady who I have been spending lots of time with recently-

Mrs. Julia is 52 years old. She has lived on the same street her whole life. She is married to Mr. Salvador. Together they have 5 kids- Myain who is 36 with a precious 5 year old, Carlos who is 32, Ceasar who is 29, David who is 25 who has a 1 year daughter and Julio who is 15. All but David live in the same house, there is not an open bed. David and his girlfriend Carol live in a house next door along with their daughter Pauli and Carol's 2 nieces. In the other house on the property is an Uncle and his wife, there is also a chapel on the property and we are building another house for Ceasar next month.

On the property Mrs. Julia has 6 dogs, 3 cows, 3 pigs, a parrot, a horse, a goat, ducks and chickens. Mrs. Julia runs the house, everyone calls her Momma and every listens to her. She is almost always in the kitchen cooking... on average 13 people eat lunch there each day and when I would like I am included, usually a big pot of stew, pasta or rice with really delicious pork.

Mrs. Julia and I set on her porch often and talk about cooking, she teaches me how to cook Paraguayan dishes and I teach her about American food. I sometimes help her feed the pigs, dogs, parrot and goat in the evenings. She never stops. She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a rock star! I am very thankful for her. She and her family are the type of people I think about when I think about why I like this place...when I'm not at her house, I'm usually thinking about going. I want to be around them all the time. There is energy, people, laugher and I am included in that always.

So who are your people? Are they giving you energy? Are you living in a community? If your not I would encourage you to seek that out. I can defiantly say my life is enriched by the people I place around me...both in America and in precious Paraguay.

This is Mrs. Julia and her family. From the left-
Mr. Salvador, Carol, Mrs. Julia, David, Ceasar, Carlos, Julio, Myrian, Pauli ( baby)
Missing a few but still a great family picture! 

For the fun of it- A picture of Lauren, Gav and I in Wall Drug, South Dakota...
or the middle of no where of the west, fun times had by all!