Welcome Spirit, hey gurl heyyyyy!

Hello world outside of Paraguay! Sometimes I forget you are out there. It has been a while since the last blog and a good chunk of things have happened since then. We are now at the 3 month mark, one fourth of the way done.  Weird.  Since we last chatted, something big has happened for me.  Before we came down here, the great Julie, from mission to mission, mentioned to the group that something would happen when we were in our selected places. Something that was described to her as a ‘spirit catching up to the body.’ I finally understand what she is talking about. I think after some good time spent here, ups, downs, turn arounds, that I finally feel more grounded, more balanced, more me. The crazy Krystina spirit is arriving. Buenvenidos a Paraguay homegirl.  It is cozy here, I’m sure you will find your place.  Since then, things are making more sense. I want to soak everything I can out of this place. I feel blessed to have this opportunity. I miss my family, my friends, and my home like woah, but I am happy that they are living their own crazy lives and I get to be a part of if even from so far away. The FOMO (fear of missing out) that I was having for events at home, has now become a bit of FOMO for the things that I am missing out on within myself. I was too preoccupied to see the greatness, the opportunity, the light, and the life that is right in front of me.  I am not saying that I go around with a great big smile on my face and EVERYTHING is fantastic (because that would probably be more annoying to me), but I am saying that something has shifted and ‘I can see clearly now the rain has gone.’ Life continues to be life, moments continue to come that I want to scream, cry, kick some red dirt, but I am more understanding of those moments now and I let them sit and be and know that there is more to this experience than those not so happy times.

In other news, Jess and I went to Argentina last weekend. We have to cross the border every three months to renew our visa, which is kind of illegal, but we, along with our GSV family, decided to make the best of the border crossing trip. In short, it was AMAZING. We loved every moment of it.  Even the moment that we couldn’t cross the border and had to find a hotel in Paraguay, Hotel Tia Nancy, we made the best of. We spent our time in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina and went to see the great Iguazu waterfalls two full days in a row. It was breathtakingly beautiful.  It was just named one of the seven wonders of nature.  Some highlights: Jess and I walking through the jungle and ending at a natural pool that is made from a waterfall. We swam in the water and sat underneath the waterfall, incredible.  Seeing the main attraction, the devil’s throat, which I cannot even begin to describe here.  All I will say was we went there dry, left soaked, and just stared at this amazing sight that had a gentle, bright rainbow just sitting above it the entire time. It made me really want my dream of becoming a mermaid to come true so that I could swim under these falls and see what was going on down there. Beautiful. The next day, we took a boat ride under the falls. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little scared, but it was really cool. After that, we went to the San Martin Island and laid on the sand, surrounded by waterfalls. It made my precious Jersey Shore seem almost as lame as the show makes it look. (But it will always have a special place in my heart, duh) In summation, you should go check out the falls. Words and pictures do it no justice. Thanks Jon and Pete for sending Jess and I there, I am going to hold onto those beautiful, peaceful, fun moments in those times where I can’t seem to find any of that here.  (Although I’m probably not looking hard enough or in the right places).  Cataratas or bust!

Until next time, I will continue to make paper snowflakes and sing, or scream Jingle Bells to try and make it feel a little more like home for the holidays. I hope you are spreading cheer and finding your spirit wherever this universe as placed you. 

Just love.