Yesterday we woke up at 6:30, which in case you are wondering it is about a five hour time difference from the United States, so it would be like waking up at 1:30am. The time change has been a little difficult for me. I think I am almost used to it. Waking up is hard and going to sleep is a little hard. Hopefully within the next couple of days I will get used to it.
After we ate breakfast we met up with Brother Shaw and his wife. We then made the adventure to church. We stopped at one building and their church met too late for us, so then we adventured to another building. It was very interesting going to church in a language you don't quite understand. I could definitely feel the spirit there! No one could carry a tune in the congregation, so I guess I fit right in!! Every building that we have been to there have been American missionaries. Every time I see one my heart jumps for joy, because I can talk to someone who actually understand me although, the missionaries don't really talk to us. I think they are just in shock of actually seeing an American.
(Us at church!)
After church we adventured to airport to pick up our luggage! Okay, there is like NO security whatsoever in this airport. We walked right up to the terminal and showed the man our passports. We then signed a paper and he gave us our luggage. It was the best thing ever when he handed us our bags. I have never been so grateful for shampoo and conditioner in my entire life!!! Thank you for all the prayers on behalf my luggage. I super appreciate it.Now onto our next adventure (or should I say near death experience?) We traveled to Filadelfia which is about 14 miles away from the village that we will be working in everyday. This is where our hotel is. The total travel time from where we were to the capital is about seven hours. Just before we had to take off Brother Shaw informed us that their car was too small for all of the luggage and Kirsten and I to travel with him, so he told us that we would be taking a bus. We went to the bus station and purchased our tickets. We then walked down into a subway looking terminal. Our professor told us to sit there and wait for our bus. Once the bus came we needed to get on it. Let me remind you...Kirsten and I speak no spanish, so we were kind of freaking out!!! So for about an hour Kirsten and I waited in this super ghetto bus terminal. I have never held onto my possessions so tight. Our bus then pulled up. We asked if it was going to Filadelfia? About half the people said yes and half the people said no, so we just got on the bus.
(Us at the bus terminal, please excuse our sweatyness)
(The ghetto bus terminal)
We started on this old rickety bus! We quickly realized it was going to be a LONG ride. The sun was shining right through the windows. I have never sweated so much in my life. In about ten minutes mine and Kirsten's shirt was dripping wet! Sick, I know. The roads out to the city were very rough and had a ton on potholes. I am pretty sure for the entire bus ride all four wheels were on the ground for about twenty minutes. The rest of the time the bus was literally tipped on one side only on two wheels. If this happened in America I would demand to get off that bus, but somehow I felt pretty safe. Once again all of the people on the bus stared at us for about the ENTIRE bus ride. It was like they had never seen an American before. Although, I may have been starting at a few of the Paraguayans ;) Some of them are mighty fine!
There was also a water cooler right next to us so we had lots of visitors. There was a stack of plastic cups right next to the water cooler and no joke everyone took the top cup, drank, and then put it back on top. At least 10 people used that cup while we were on the bus. I'm sure there were even more people who used it on other rides. Sick.
(Here is the water cooler)
The roads just kept getting worse...we were driving on the left side of the road, off the road, and we almost tipped over quite a few times (the bus would sway really far back and forth). Brother Shaw said there were giant pot holes that could swallow a cow...guess that's what we were avoiding haha. We knew we were supposed to get in at 8:30 but it wasn't until around 8:45 that we stopped in a big town so we had to ask around if we were in Filadelfia but then we weren't sure which stop in Filadelfia to get off on. So we started getting off but then we asked the bus driver if this was the stop for Hotel Florida and he told us to get back on the bus. So we got to hang out in the front with the bus driver and his assistant. Somehow we were able to have a conversation with them, and they were super funny. They would say "hello my name is" is English and then ask us how it sounded. I think they actually made a special stop to drop us off at the Hotel Florida, they were so nice.
(We got a little crazy by the end of the night)
So then we got into the hotel and had to ask if Brother Shaw was there. He was supposed to be driving behind the bus the entire time. She told us no, so we had to explain to her that we took the bus and we weren't sure where our professor was so we had to wait in the lobby for him. I'm seriously amazed at how I'm able to communicate at all, most of Kirsten's Spanish is coming back to me. It really helps that German people speak Spanish really clearly and they're much easier to understand haha. So Brother Shaw showed up about 30 minutes later and I guess that they had hit a pot hole about 15 minutes out of town so they had to repair a flat tire and then track us down since they lost sight of the bus. Luckily he was able to call the bus driver and he told him he dropped off two Americans at the hotel. The hotel isn't too bad. The beds are super small, I was nervous I was going to fall off during the night. I found spiders in the closet and Kirsten found a GIANT cricket in the shower...I still think it might be a cockroach its so big. Needless to say, he's still in there and we still haven't taken a shower. We don''t know how to get rid of him haha. Today we'll fix Brother Shaw's spare since we'll be driving into town everyday and we don't want to have more problems. Also we're supposed to meet with the Branch president. Tomorrow we'll meet with the elders of the tribe and then hopefully we'll be able to go into town after that. Except, Brother Shaw is taking the car back to Asuncion in a couple days to pick up the other people from the airport. So maybe not. We may not even get into town until next Monday. Everyone still keeps trying to speak to Kirsten in German. Last night they gave everyone else English menu and gave Kirsten a German menu!!! 
(here is the bus)
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