Hey, alright, some good stuff...

Hi friends. Just stopping by with some good news.

-There was a slight gossip situation which made me feel really kind of crappy. Oh no! But then it kind of turned around with my friend told me how she was giving this chick who was talking about me the evil eye. It just showed how much this friend loved me to see how mad it made here. Then someone else said that this person talks about everyone anyway and to not worry, that she is just a horrible horrible person. That made me feel great!

-I bought the third book in the Twilight series in Spanish, because now my Paraguayan friends have seen the first two movie versions and they're dying to know what happens next. "Ha ha! I will trick them into reading for pleasure," I thought. I bought the book, which was damn expensive if I do say so myself, or $20 in English. I used a twenty my aunt sent me. It was worth every penny as soon as I showed it to Mariela and Leidyd. They love it and swoon every five minutes talking about Edward Collin. Mariela told me she didn't sleep last night because she wanted to stay up reading.

-I upgraded my podcast service to include stats, to see how many people are using it to learn Guarani. Guess how many downloads I have? Almost 1,000! Holy crap, I said to myself. That's about 5 times more than I would have thought. It makes me feel good that I'm creating something people will actually use and something that will make service that much easier for other volunteers. However, it kind of makes me want to say: In my day we had to learn Guarani by overhearing it on our way to the river to wash clothes, 10 miles, uphill both ways, without virtual flashcards.

Can you buy a book for Yataity?

I always go to the co-op and tell my friend Mariela about whatever I'm reading. Mariela is so great. She's curious about the world, has great ideas for the co-op, and is learning English. When I talk to her about the books I'm reading, so always gets kind of a sad face and says, I wish I could read those books.

Or any books. There's no library in Yataity. And the price of a book is maybe half a month's rent. Can you imagine wanting to read and not being able to?

There's a new movement to start a library in Yataity, and I'm helping. But in the short run, I want to get some books in Yataity. I made an Amazon Wish List of some of my favorites and some other books that are needed here. It was fun looking through all my classics. Where would I be without Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl or Shel Silverstein?

I really want to be part of introducing a reading culture into Yataity. Can you be part of it too?

If you'd like to donate a book (used is great), the link to the Wish List is at HERE. If anyone can add on a book for Yataity the next time they're ordering from Amazon, it would be awesome. I'd love to have some books to read to little kids!

Thanks on behalf of Yataity.

(And thanks to Mateo for some inspiration. He's reading Anne Frank's Diary with a girls group and will be passing the books on to me next. To think that I'm going to help some girls (including my host sister) read their first book ever just for fun!)