Documentary Anyone?

If you are looking for a good documentary to watch, or are interested in freedom and civil rights, please read on!

I was lucky enough to see the film "For the Bible Tells Me So" at the Lyric, a really cool old movie theatre that operates as a nonprofit historical site currently... and it was free! Doesn't get much better than that. Well, the film was a VERY good portrayal of the struggle gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgendered people go through just to live their lives. It goes into detail about how the Bible actually DOES NOT support discrimination against them, and follows a few different families in their discovery of the hatred some churches preach on the subject matter... It is really moving.

The next documentary is on the Sudan and the violence that 5 Americans witness when they go there to bring back the true story of the plight of Sudan "with open eyes" (which is also the title of the documentary). Unfortunately, I haven't seen it yet, but I have seen a promotional 15 minute preview on it, and in those 15 minutes I have already learned a lot about what is truly occurring in Sudan every minute that you and I are going about our daily lives. This is the kind of film that makes you want to do something to make a difference, because it is so evident that we can.



If you want to watch the preview yourself, go to this website (Sudancan.com).

"It looks fresh! like you're ready to go!"

Something I really wanted to do before I left for the Peace Corps was cut off my hair and donate it to locks of love. I cut it off one other time, which was freshman year of college, for the same cause, but I didn't like that haircut because it made me look like a soccer mom. I like this one better because it is more "me" and it doesn't require a lot of work to look good, unlike the last one.. And since I'm pretty lazy when it comes to my hair, that is probably why my other haircut always looked bad.

So here it is -- I think it ended up being about a foot that I cut off.

It's a pretty ugly place...

Well, just to give you a little update...I had a meeting this past weekend (Thanks to Granddad) with a nice man named John who did the Peace Corps in Colombia back in the day. While in Colombia he heard the Paraguayan harp and fell in love with it. Now he makes a living making harps in Front Royal and lives in this cool rustic house, with a wood burning stove for heat and an outdoor kitchen area. He has been back to Paraguay a good amount of times and these were his conclusions:

- It's a pretty ugly place and really flat
- The people are really friendly once you get to know them
- There's no need to learn Guarani (the indigenous language)
- It's the hottest place he has ever been
- It's really safe, for the developing world
- The tea (Mate or Terrere) that they drink religiously is bitter and gross
- The music is awesome and the harp is king!

haha, so pretty much confirmed what I had already suspected... However, I am hoping his opinion about the beauty is based on his limited travel (he has only been around Asuncion) and hopefully the attached pictures disprove the ugliness that he speaks of.. .However, I don't doubt that there are a lot of ugly places in Paraguay.. and being a lover of the mountains, the flatness might not be very appealling... but from what I've seen it gets better and somewhat hilly as you move north. Overall, I'm really glad I got to talk to him and hear him play, he is very good and I really hope that the harp still is King in Paraguay because I would love to listen to that all day! Especially the Paraguayan harp, which has a much smoother acoustic sound, not as metallic sounding as the average harp... very pretty!


Mountains of Ybyturusu


Lake Ypacarai


San Miguel Misiones

I hope there are more pretty places like this and less like the ones he described in Asuncion!