Leap of Faith

The rest of our Journey home (We arrived!!)

2013-08-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

Day 3 (Thursday): Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Badlands NP and a flat-tire

We started the day at Mount Rushmore National Monument. There was a great tour/explanation in the sculpture studio about how the rock was actually carved. Over 90% of the carving was done using dynamite.
Filled up with gas (very good move) and drove the scenic route down Needles Highway around Custer State Park. This trip was longer than expected but we saw some amazing rock structures, prairie dogs, pronghorn deer, goats, mules and buffalo.
After 3-4 hours of scenic driving around Custer State park we drove backroads to Badlands National Park. The map we were using was a bit deceiving as many of these roads are gravel.... and LONG.
We drove all around Badlands National Park. I was struck with how similar it looked to Painted Desert in Arizona - opposite sides of the Country and similar geology.
When we were leaving the Badlands and Chelsey noticed that the driver side, front tire was going flat. I could hear the air leaking out. No surprise as half the day's roads were gravel. Upon closer inspection, the hole was big enough for me to put my finger in. I put the spare tire on and we creeped up the road at 50 MPH looking for a service station. We were informed that there were two service stations - one 20 miles to the West and one 20 miles to the East. We took the bet and headed East as it was in our direction.
We arrived in Kadoka, South Dakota around 9:00 PM, found a hotel and asked the clerk for a place to eat. He informed us of two options in town: the bar on one side of town or that shack on the other side of the interstate. The shack had a great Cheeseburger.

Day 4 (Friday): Flat-tire repair and driving

At 7:30 AM I went to JS mechanic shop in Kadoka, South Dakota. They immediately confirmed my fear - there was no patching the tire. I asked them if they had a new tire for me to replace it.... they started searching the used stacks. They did not have any tires. I got into a discussion with the owner of the shop and asked him if he had any suggestions. After a get to know you conversation (I think he was sizing me up) and a conversation about the virtue of patience (complete with stories of past impatient customers from New York City), I explained that we were missionaries returning home. This changed the conversation. The owner had gone to Bible College in West Virginia. He wanted to know where we had been so I told him about Paraguay. He would have been helpful without knowing our story but he was really helpful after knowing it... he said there were two more service shops - one 100 miles East and another 40 miles West. They called around and the shop 40 miles West had the tire. No luck with the store 100 miles East. He also offered to have someone else bring a tire in from Rapid City if we were willing to wait until 12:00 or 1:00 that afternoon. We decided to backtrack to Wall (40 miles West).
Wall, home of Wall Drug Store, is also home to one repair shop (De's Tire & Muffler) who luckily had a pair of front tires for our car. DISCLAIMER: Both tire guys said the puncture would have happened with brand new tires. We were not delinquent in our tire maintenance. We went and enjoyed a quick breakfast at Wall Drug Store while they replaced our front tires. Chelsey rode the rabbit at Wall Drug Store and we went back to pick up the car.
We got on the road about 11:30 AM - about 19 hours from Eminence.
South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa are covered with windmills (and not much else). Did you know that a farmer gets paid $2,000-$4,000 per windmill that they let the electrical company put on their land per year?

Day 5 (Saturday): Driving and arrival

We started the day about 7:30 AM with almost 9:00 hours to drive.
We re-entered the Kentucky a little after 5:00 PM. Feels great to be in the Commonwealth.
Little Bit was really happy to see us (we have a video that I am going to post). We had a nice, casual dinner with my family.

Sunday:

Went to Mass this morning with mom.
This afternoon, Mom and Dad threw a really nice welcome back get-together today and we got to visit with family and friends. It was great to catch up with everyone and to share a bit of our experience. Thanks to everyone who made the long trip to spend the day with us.

Total Mileage: 2.400 miles in about 40 hours

Coming Week: Many of you will be hearing from (or seeing) us this week. Tomorrow we will be looking at our apartment for the first time (yes, we rented an apartment without seeing it).

More reflection to come on Paraguay (as soon as we settle a bit).

Our (very indirect) Journey home

2013-08-15T00:39:00.004-04:00

We arrived back in the States last week and spent a few very good days with the Canossian Sisters in Albuquerque. My posts about Paraguay are not done.... but in the meantime (while still processing all my thoughts/feelings/emotions) I figured I should update everyone on our road trip.

Day 1 (Tuesday): Albuquerque, NM to Winter Park, CO

left ABQ and the Canossian Sisters around 8:30 AM on Tuesday (photo top right with Sister Christina)
visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado Spring, CO
looked a bit around Denver-- including a brief tour of State Capitol
enjoyed a great dinner at Mountain Sun Brew Pub in Boulder, CO followed by fresh baked cookies from Boulder Baked
backtracked a bit and ended the night at about 11:00 PM in Winter Park, CO

Day 2 (Wednesday): Winter Park, CO to Custer, SD

got on the road a little before 9:00 AM and looked a bit around Grand Lake, CO
drove the 45 mile Trail Ridge Road through the Park (see photo right)
had an amazing lunch at Village Inn (nothing fancy... just really good) and took off driving North on I-25
visited Fort Laramie National Park (see photo of rabbit taken on the historic grounds)
drove some really long, straight, State roads through some NASTY storms, up and into South Dakota. I cannot get over how much open space there is in the West. (photo below, too)
arrived in Custer, South Dakota around 8:30 PM. Amazing pizza for dinner from a local joint. Another long day of driving tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be visiting Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park. Likely arrival in the Commonwealth... Saturday.

Our trip so far... roughly 1000 miles.

View Driving directions to Custer, SD in a larger map

Sitting at the Airport

2013-08-07T18:38:00.001-04:00

We're sitting at the Airport in Buenos Aires. Doesn't feel real but we will be back in the USA tomorrow at 10 AM Albuquerque time. See you all soon!!!

Getting to know the Sisters (and their work) in Argentina

2013-08-05T22:41:00.004-04:00

On Friday we said all our "goodbyes" to friends (who now feel like family) in Paraguay. Much more to come on our feeling about leaving, but for now I will leave it at that.

We took an overnight bus across Argentina and are now in the Capitol City of the State of Buenos Aires, se llama "La Plata." There are multiple communities of Canossian Sisters here and they have had a presence in this community for over 125 years. We are spending our last few days in South America getting to know the Sisters and the work that they do.

Saturday, after arriving around lunchtime, we visited the city of La Plata a bit. Sunday, we went with Madre Ilda (from Mexico) to visit Buenos Aires. We are planning on going back tomorrow and I will try to post some Buenos Aires photos after tomorrow's visit.

Today, we had a very long day. We went to one of the Canossian schools (Berisso) in the area, under the false impression that we were just going to sit around and watch classes in action. Not the case. We visited 6 classes of students in Jardin, 5-6 classes of students ranging from age 10-18 and 3 different sections of recess. At all of these "visits" we told the story of our Mission to the students and fielded questions in Spanish. My head was ready to explode!!! I have never felt so much like a rockstar in my entire life. At one point, I was given a microphone and asked to talk to a group of 200 or so kids... totally impromptu... and totally in Spanish. On the playground we were literally surrounded by students who were shouting questions at us about America, pop-culture, sports and (rarely) our mission (see Chelsey getting swarmed at right).

Highlights included talking with the kid who, after hearing we were from KY, asked us if we knew Nerlens Noel. I explained that he was one of our favorite players but that I did not know him personally. The kid was without a doubt disappointed. After spending the day with the kids in school we went out to explore some of the other areas in which the Sisters work.

First, we visited a very poor barrio that is the Argentine' Sister's equivalent of the barrio debajo del puente. It was absolutely impoverished and we saw many of the same problems with drugs, unattended children in the streets and shanties that we have come accustomed to seeing with all our friends in Encarnacion. One distinct difference is the barrio here is much more spread out. Houses are bigger and have yards (covered in rocks and trash). Top left is a photo of public housing that was installed in the barrio. If you look closely you can see where people have built additions onto the houses with whatever materials could be found in the barrio. Top right you see one of the three chapels that the Sisters have in the barrio. They were all covered with graffiti but the people in the barrio seemed intent on trying to keep them nice looking. They were repainting one of them when we visited today.

One barrio, named "Nueva York" was particularly interesting. It is the definition of an abandoned place. It reminds me a little of what we constantly hear of Detroit. At the moment, people live in the stone homes but enter through windows and broken doors. Tin roofing provides cover for holes in walls and roofs for housing additions. The architecturally beautiful, ornate stone buildings are covered in graffiti. People have ripped out the marble floors to sell. The entrance of the neighborhood has a high standing arch with the inscription "Mansion de Obreros" (Mansion of Workers) with the date 1920. You can imagine well-to-do people walking the streets and enjoying the shopping and restaurants but, as of now, it is no more. A factory in the town closed and the city literally died. The housing now is only for very poor squatters and the streets are covered with drug dealers. Walking around the barrio called "New York" was probably once comparable to walking around the brownstones in the City but, now, the place is nothing more than an skeleton.

We concluded the day with a visit to the Hospital Italiano which the Sister's founded 127 years ago. They are still totally involved in the operation and actually live on the 4th floor of the Hospital. It was amazing to see the kind of operation they run. It is a privately operated hospital which employees over 200 doctors and 250 nurses!!! How many Canossians run the hospital??? There are 5 nurses that run the show (with the help of the other hospital administration). They had pictures up in the hospital showing the founders of the hospital 127 years ago.... pretty neat to know how deeply integrated they are into the communities that they serve. Another example of this integration --the school we visited today has been in operation for 70 years and many of the students are third generation attendees.

We could not have selected a better group of Sisters to work with than the Canossians.

Clothes - Round #2

2013-08-04T21:31:00.002-04:00

We are out of Paraguay (currently visiting with Sisters in Argentina) but I wanted to provide a quick summary on how we used the clothes provided by Nancy's visit (in June). In Round #2 of clothing collection, we received:

49 pairs of underwear and socks
49 pairs of boys pants
144 boys shirts
94 pairs of girls pants
102 shirts and dresses for girls
hair supplies and shoestrings (you would be amazed at our need for shoestrings)
10 pairs of shoes

This brought our clothing totals to (insert drum roll here)...

109 articles of clothing for babies (under 3)
150 pairs of boy's pants
340 boy's shirts
287 girls dresses/pants/shirts
28 pairs of pajamas
13 coats and jackets
35 pairs of shoes
bottles, socks and underwear, hair supplies and shoestrings
Over 350 LBS of Clothes in TOTAL!!!

Special thanks to our friends who donated in round #2:

McRae, Jonah, & Elliott Pennington
Bryce Shields & his Grandmother
The Morrison Family
Davanna Grubb
Brenda Tackett
Sue Riffe
Betty & Cindy Riffe
Billie Kirk
Miranda, Claire, & Ray McLanahan
The Madisyn Callihan Family
The Matt Davis Family
Mrs. Stephenson's 2012-2013 Kindergarten Class

And, again, a special thanks to Nancy and my sisters who have helped with collecting ropas.

Kids were SO proud of their new clothes. I even had a kid show me his t-shirt that we gave him on the last day of school... a whole 1 month after receiving it!!! We were not able to distribute ALL the clothes we received which is amazing because the kids are going to continue receiving clothes for the remainder of the year. Thanks again for supporting our mission.

Gracias por todos!!

2013-07-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Wow,

Bill and I are astounded at the generosity of our friends, family, and church families. Thanks to you all, we raised almost $5,000 and 500 pounds of clothes for projects here in Paraguay!! That far and away exceeded our expectations. When this all began, we told the sisters, "We might be able to raise $300, or it could be $3,000, but we won't know until we ask." We are blown away by your response.

We have stopped accepting donations to our personal accounts. You, of course, are still welcome to continue to supporting the Canossian Ministries through the Sisters in Albuquerque. If you do, we suggest that you consider sponsoring future VOICA volunteers. VOICA America sends volunteers to Paraguay, Mexico, and Brazil.

We are proud to announce that ALL of our proposed projects will get funded:

Housing

A house for Edu's family (pictured with us on the right)

Health Center

X-Ray Equipment for the dentistry practice
Dentistry equipment

Education / Jardin

Books
Playground equipment (if we can find any to purchase)
Toys

The "Chicas" - High school girls living and working at the Canossian House

Computers
Clothes Dryer
Projector

JOMICA - Youth Group

Sound Equipment -- They were really excited about this, btw. I'm pretty sure they have no other source of funding, and they worked hard last year to raise enough money to build a new house for another family in the neighborhood.
Sponsorship of two youth groupers for the trip to Brazil for World Youth Day (with the Pope).

Thanks again! We have the best friends and family anyone could ask for!

Saturday Six

2013-07-20T19:13:00.001-04:00

6. There's a circus in town. To promote it, they put their giant elephant and dog (maybe?) in a couple of lawn chairs on the top of the van. Later, they sent out these terrifying clowns. Due to my pathetic photography skills, you can't tell exactly how terrifying they really are, but I'm pretty sure they made a threatening gesture to the teenage boys selling chipas at the bus stop.

As a side note, Sister Elizabeth won't let us go see the circus, due to the "ugly" treatment of animals.

5. Dinner our first night in the rain forest. I asked for chicken and vegetables. Then I watched the chef go out to the garden and pick the veggies. B had the fish.

4. I got 47 bug bites as souvenirs from our trip to the rainforest. These aren't from Mosquitos, either. They are little black monsters that make your legs and feet burn like fire. Also, there's no way to make your legs look pretty in a photo showcasing your collection of swollen pox. I'll spare you my attempts.

3. Got home at dinnertime last night with three loads of dirty laundry to do before we leave tomorrow for Brazil. You guessed it, it rained all day in a country with no clothes dryers. We turned sala azul into a big makeshift drying machine with two fans going at full speed and an antique space heater. If this doesn't work in the next 12 hours, then I'm going on a ten day trip with three pairs of undies.

2. The other night I was sneaking around after dark looking for batteries in the pantry. When I opened the kitchen door I was greeted with a nasty scream from the equally nasty cat glowing in the darkness, alit only by the moonlight from the window. Scared the living daylights out of me.

I don't exaggerate when I say that this is a creature that only some nuns could love. It's black with a white face and its nose and cheeks are swollen all the time. Plus, it has big bald patches under its ears from the fleas (or fights with other creatures--this is up for debate). Sadly, cat was unavailable for photo, on account of its being missing from the house for the last several days. I swear I didn't do it!

1. We're off to Rio de Janeiro in the morning for World Youth Day. We'll say hi to the Pope for you!!

And Kim and Kanye if we run into them! It might be awkward though, because I'm def taking my Barbie pink maxi dress and acid yellow pumps.

The Rainforest - Reserva Mocona, Misiones Province, Argentina

2013-07-17T19:36:00.001-04:00

Tuesday:

1. Early Am Taxi. We left the house at 4:45am because we had to be in Argentina (1 hour time difference) by 6am Paraguay time/7 am Argentina. Long line on bridge stopped our taxi. We got out and walked through customs. Then we found the first can driver we could. This is when I made mistake #1 of the trip... Never tell a cabby in South America when your bus leaves. He was determined to get us there in the 10 minutes and its not close with many stop signs in the way. We ignored them all at a very high rate of speed. The bus left at 7:30 not 7:00. We had time for coffee and pastries. Arrived at the park at 3:30pm. Lots of bus riding!!!!

2. Amazing falls. We arrived and immediately went to tour the Saltas de Mocona. They are unique because they are not tall. Instead they are really really long (3 km). Google them and be amazed. The best view is from google earth.

3. Dinner. Amazing!!!! We are staying in a reserve/hostel in the middle of the Yaboti Biologica Reserva. The accommodations are humble but really nice. We only have a few hours of power a day (thru a generator) and otherwise this place is off the grid. We didn't expect gourmet quality food but we got it. I had fresh fish from the Uruguay river with organic greens from a garden here for a whopping 10 dollars.

4. It's really cold here. We weren't planning on it but it was a cold night. Warmed up quick inthe morning though.

Wednesday (Today):

1. Early hike deep in the rainforest. Amazing!!! Or guide, Enrique, spoke very good English and was in no rush at all. We hike about 5 km/3.1 miles but it took about 4.5 hours. Enrique cleared jungle with a machete as we went. More to come on this hike when I have pictures too. Enrique really knew the jungle and all the species of birds and animals. We learned why vines climb trees different directions in each hemisphere and many other awesome climate/environment/nature facts. We saw all kinds of birds and had an, all round, amazing time.

2. Lunch. Amazing!!! Followed by siestas. Chelsey took a nap inside while I snoozed in a hammock with hummingbirds and others swarming about.

3. More hiking around the property. I spotted 3 big green parakeets (I think) in addition to all kinds of hummingbirds. I need to refer to the bird book regarding the parakeets. Thanks to Chelsey's dad for the awesome Nikon binoculars.

4. Playing cards and preparing to eat right now.

Tomorrow:

More hiking, ziplining and repelling in the forest, bird watching and relaxing. Ciao!!!!

Building a house for friends

2013-07-15T09:58:00.003-04:00

I had been looking forward to building Edu’s house for weeks. “I really hope it does not rain tomorrow,” I said to the Sisters at dinner. The day arrived and it was cloudy but we did not have rain. We built for a couple hours and then the rain started. “Ah, shucks… cannot build more today”, I thought to myself. What a shame, I thought, I would be without entertainment for the next few hours… then I looked at the face of Fatima, the mother, and I looked at the boys standing under a leaky lean-too, getting soaked by the rain and it hit me. What was happening to them was real life… it was not a game. They were standing under a leaky shelter because they did not have a house. I repeat, this family of 6 did not have a house and the thought in my head was "aw shucks, its raining..." I felt guilty and selfish and it stuck with me all week.

I can provide a little background on the family and the project. The house belongs to Fatima, a 28 year old, hardworking mother of 5 who lives in the barrio debajo del puente. Her youngest son, Edu, is one of our favorite students in Jardin and has made many appearances on the Blog in past entries. The house for the family of 6 is not much bigger than a standard American bathroom… we’re talking 12 feet by 8 feet. It has not had a roof for the past 2 months because of a large storm that blew it apart.

When the house is in full, working condition there is no bathroom. The inside contains a table and a few shelves on the wall (see right). Water comes to the house through a garden hose. Stolen electricity enters the house through long extension cords draped through trees in the neighborhood. There are two graves immediately outside the home that, we assume, belong to babies who didn’t make it. This house is one of thousands in exactly the same condition but it is different because we have formed relationships with these people. They are our friends.

First, it is really important to establish that the following is all possible because of donations we have received from friends and family. Now, to the story... The project officially started with a "thud" when the hardware store’s truck got stuck in the mud while delivering bricks, sand and tin roofing. I should mention that this barrio is not accessible by paved road. When it rains, it is fairly inaccessible. After being towed out of the mud by a much larger tractor, we got the supplies down to the barrio and delivered.

Last Saturday we arrived to start work at 8:00 in the morning. Home construction is different here than what we have back home. Thank goodness for Rueben, who is the father of one of our friends here in Encarnacion, and works in house construction. It is a long story but he used to live in the barrio and has strong connections to many of the families there. He donated his time and made the whole project possible. Anyhow, to the construction, our first task was in demolition - removing and cleaning old, used bricks from the damaged walls. We took hammers and knocked old concrete off the bricks and sorted them into stacks – “real broke” and “kinda broke.” I could tell, up front, this was going to be a unique experience. Pieces of brick that were torn to nothing (and I thought were garbage) were making it to the pile to be used for the house (look at bricks on ground, at right). After sorting and cleaning some bricks, we started building. Reuben positioned long sticks in the corners of the house and connected the guides with fishing line, one brick height above the existing wall (you can see the guides in the picture on the right). This fishing line served as a guide so as to keep the walls kind-of straight and relatively level. We poured sand and concrete out on the floor of the house and added water to the middle of the compote. Who needs a bucket when you have a floor? It took a couple tries but I got pretty good at mixing concrete on the floor. The walls went up slowly but eventually we got rained out. As I previsouly mentioned, I was a little upset because my entertainment was over for the day. Then the rain really started and the Sister came to pick me up to take me to the house. “Put a coat on,” she said, “you don’t want to get sick.” And so we left Edu, and his family, outside and in the rain. All I could think about was how another week was passing without a house or a roof for that family. In the meantime they are staying with another family in, I can imagine, another very small house not suited to accommodate the normal residents, much less 6 guests. This is their life.

We were going to work again Saturday but then it rained. Yesterday (Sunday) we returned and picked up where we left off. After raising the walls it came time to find wood to serve as supports for the roof. We dismantled the wall of an old, neighboring structure and used lumber, which was partially rotted on the outside but, with a little cutting, turned out to be pretty good. We removed all the old and rusted nails but we did not throw them away. Quite to the contrary, I spent the better part of an hour hunting the neighborhood for other old nails in the hard-packed dirt (they were all over the place AND kids are always barefoot). I took the old, bent and rusted nails and straightened them out. We used everyone when putting the supports up for the roof. That is where the day ended – with walls up and supports prepared to hold a roof that will, weather permitting, be installed next Sunday.

There are a few bricks left over and they are planning on building a bathroom behind the house. This will be a huge improvement because right now they use a hole covered with cardboard right next to the house. We were in many a perilous position when building the house. You are cautious when falling off makeshift ladders means not only falling but taking a bath in a home-made latrine.

In addition to building the house, this experience provided the unique opportunity of sharing a couple days with a family in the barrio. Today a kid showed up with a live chicken. Fatima, bought the chicken and anchored it to a table sitting outside her house. She told me it would not be ready for Edu’s birthday (in August) but that it would be ready in September. I asked her how much it cost… 10 mil guarani ($2.50 USD). I also asked her how much a chicken in the supermarket cost… 20 mil guarani ($5.00 USD). I cannot imagine a situation where $2.50 is worth raising a chicken attached to a string for two months.

Inevitably, because it is Paraguay, home construction (or anything for that matter) involves sharing yerba mate. It is a rich cultural tradition and we did our fair share of mate sharing (left).

So, a few of my conclusions/things I learned/ or was reminded of through this experience and my relationships with families under the bridge:

1. If possible get out and volunteer with those who really need it. Building long-term relationships with people who are suffering provides them with support but it also provides you a point of contrast that makes counting your blessings or thanking God for your life situation much more meaningful.

2. Recognize that, when you are doing well in life, you cannot claim 100% responsibility for that position. You owe a lot of that to luck, family and place. There are other people who landed in other situations, through no control of their own, with the same inherent skills and smarts you got with a much different life result. I cannot tell you how many times I have said, "If this person were just in a different situation, they would be able to..."

3. Putting forth an honest effort, even when you aren't very good at something, makes an impression. I had no idea what I was doing building that house but I moved bricks, stirred concrete and tried to help. I have no idea how to speak Guarani and Spanish is not all that easy but people like it when you try.

This and That

2013-07-07T23:05:00.000-04:00

1. I have a new nephew!!! Reed Beckham Stephenson was born last Saturday in truly dramatic fashion. I am very sad to have missed his arrival, but look forward to officially meeting him in August. Reed, if you're reading this, please pencil in me and Little Bit for some serious couch-sitting when we get back.

2. Volunteers / Hair Stylists. We were talking to Edu's mom the other day and mentioned that he needed a haircut. She said, "You want to do it?" Umm, yes. Is there any question? So this is the result. He's one cute kid under that mop.

3. Thanks to donations from Crane Creek Baptist Church and our other friends, we purchased supplies to put a roof on Edu's house. Getting the supplies into the barrio was not without some drama. We started building this morning (Bill is going to elaborate on that tomorrow).

4. My career as a Pre-school Teacher's Assistant is officially over. Jardin was dismissed for Winter Break on Friday, and by the time it re-convenes, we will be sailing off (read: sitting on a bus) to Brazil for World Youth Day. Should I pretend to be sad? I really will miss the kids, but as the Sisters say, "Unlike your mother, teaching is not your vocation." (Now if only they had some wisdom as to what my vocation actually is.)

5. Sister Noemi is back after visiting her family in Spain. To celebrate, we pulled out a few hearts to decorate the dining room. I quit asking questions after the five identical Jesus pictures appeared.

6. Little Bit made her appearance at Mama Helen's Fourth of July breakfast in a couture party dress. Designer: Emily Brammell Callis.

Happy 4th of July

2013-07-04T22:38:00.001-04:00

We celebrated the 4th with a rain day (no Jardin) and fried green tomatoes. Sad to miss out on the family fried green tomatoes but they were pretty tasty here, too. It was a new food for the Sisters and I am happy to report they liked them. Happy Independence Day to all and we will see you soon... only 1 month left in Paraguay.

Kentucky Connections

2013-06-24T15:39:00.000-04:00

After searching for four months, I have so far found two Commonwealth connections in Paraguay.

Kentucky brand cigarettes are everywhere here. And by everywhere, I mean littered on the ground, everywhere. Someone should figure out who makes these and ask them to sponsor trash cans in the city. BTW, a pack of 10 costs $.25.

This poster of John Wall is on the outside of the local sporting goods store. They don't know that JW wears Adidas now.

Donations not tax deductible

2013-06-22T17:53:00.000-04:00

I just received some bad news from the Sisters in Albuquerque. According to the Sister, donations made to our mission in Paraguay are not tax-deductible. I make no legal representations about the status of the deduction (tax law ain't my thing) but VOICA (Canossian Sisters) cannot send letters/receipts to donors for purposes of proving a tax deduction as the money will not be used in the USA.

If you would like to reconsider your donation in light of this information or have any other questions, please contact me at WHBrammell@gmail.com. If you would like to donate then please check out the Donations page.

Again, my apologies for any trouble this has caused. Best,

Bill

This is why we are here...

2013-06-19T23:05:00.000-04:00

Not every day (or week) of mission work is fun. Some days you need a break... you want to check-out and be back at home. You want the liberty of driving your own car or the security of eating at a favorite restaurant. Yesterday we were feeling a bit sick, lazy and lacking in motivation. Days or weeks like this always end in a good way... you always get a spiritual lift.

Yesterday we overcame the temptation to play the "it's raining" card (which is a wholly valid reason to stay home from our visit debajo del puente as the mud gets really bad). Like many days, we went to visit the bario with no real plan as to who or where we would visit. As soon as we got within view of the neighborhood, the kids ran to us, shouting "Bill," "Chelsey," "look...its our professors." This is an awesome feeling.

Earlier in the day, Chelsey and I had purchased new flip flops for a girl (Pamela) who wears a flip-flop and a half. (The sole of her shoe from the ball of her foot, back is gone from heavy use). We also had some really pretty hair bows from Amy Morrison (one of Nancy's friends) to pass out. Pamela was so excited to get her new flip-flops and hair bow. She followed us around for an hour and explained to every person she passed that she had gotten presents from us.

For the better part of an hour, Chelsey and I played soccer, with a tire and stick and visited with a group of 10 or so kids. These groups always seem to materialize out of thin air. There are always a few kids outside. Then, you see a kid poke their head out from behind their wood house to see what is causing the commotion. Before you know it, half the bario is there. One of our fave's from Jardin, Edu (photo left) came prancing down the path solo (he is 4 years old) with a new toy. Take a close look... know what it is? If you guessed 'stroller wheel' then you are right. Kid had never been happier.

In the middle of playing, one of my favorite 4-year olds, Anahi (above) appeared next to Chelsey. She lives close to where we had been visiting. She agreed to take us to her house and so we got to meet her mom. She also got a hair bow and we let her mom know about the health center. The visit continued and we found another student's house... Rolando.

Rolando deserves a thorough introduction. He is 4 years old and has a major attitude. He only has one functioning arm because the other was broken during childbirth. Nobody realized his arm was broken and, as he grew, his bone fused in such a way that he has very limited mobility. This bad arm, however, does not stop him from landing a good punch. He has learned to adapt and, despite the setback, is one of the more aggressive kids in class. On two occasions he has gotten so worked up that I have had to pick him up and take him out of class (right). I got scratched and punched quite a bit in the process but, after a while, he settled down. I think he is a good kid but, when you grow up in the bario, you learn how to defend yourself. Eat or be eaten.

Rolando's house is situated off a side alley (think 2 foot wide, dirt path) off the main path (4 foot wide, dirt path). It is similar to all the other homes in that it is made of ill-fitting wood planks. There is a crib on the porch and his little sister, Anna Nicole, was in the crib, unattended. Rolando's mom came out to greet us and, after a couple minutes of talking, Rolando heard us and also came outside. He had a puppy in hand and his brother (Angel, age 3) followed close by. At first, Rolando was skeptical... he probably thought we were coming to talk to his mom about his behavior but after a few minutes of visiting he realized he was safe and started playing. We took pictures and chatted a bit. That was the entirety of the visit. We visited a few more houses and headed home for the day.

I walked into class today, again begrudgingly, because we have both been a little under the weather. I sat down at a table by myself. Rolando immediately walked over, and positioned himself on my lap. This is not a 'touchy, feely' kid. He listened to the teacher and just leaned on my knees, totally content. After the song was over, Roland walked back to his seat, picked his things up and moved to the seat beside me. This, too, is an accomplishment because normally Rolando will not ever pick a seat. He just floats around, starting fights with other kids.

It was time for our breakfast routine. First, we say prayers, then kids get little towels out that serve as territory marking, place mats. The kids put their cups on their towel and, occasionally, kids will share a towel with their buddy. A few minutes afterwards, I got up from the table to serve milk and bread for breakfast, leaving my Jonah and Elliott coffee mug on the table. I served all the kids and went back to find that Rolando had spread his towel out and moved my coffee mug onto his towel.... the deal was sealed... we are amigos. The day went on and Rolando was great. No guarantee he will be good tomorrow (chances are he won't be) but he was good today.

Anyhow, I got to thinking and this is why we are down here. We are not missionaries in the way you would (or at least, I did) think of missionaries. To be honest, this country has already been missionized. The people are way more devout here than they are in the US. Of those that participated in the census, 89% are catholic, 6.2% are protestant and only 1% do not have a religion.

We do not preach and, often, we don't even talk about God with the people we serve. We wear a cross on our neck and, beyond that, we help people... simple as that. We visit, talk with families and enjoy time with our friends. Often it is difficult to know if you are reaching people or if they will even remember you 2 months after you leave. But then a 4-year old comes to school, talking to his friends about how the prof visited his house. You can tell the kid is happy and they change their behavior a bit. All Rolando needed was to know others care about him and that we care about him enough to visit his house with his family.

I think, this is why we are here.

Opening hearts (and wallets)

2013-06-14T19:57:00.000-04:00

Friends and Family,

The time has come for us to ask you to generously open your hearts and your wallets, and make a donation to the mission of the Canossian Sisters in Encarnacian, Paraguay. As you know, Bill and I will be here for only six months, but we want to leave something (besides fond memories) behind when we go. Throughout our time here, we have explored the areas of our projects most in need. We have identified needs in a few distinct places:

Health (Centro de Salud)
Education (Jardin)
Housing
Youth Group

We just posted a new donations page with more details on the types of projects and on how to contribute. You would be amazed at how far even a small donation can go. Not long ago, in a guest post, Chelsey's mom referenced the Starfish Parable:

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was

littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore

by high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was

eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing.

Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, "I'm

saving these starfish, Sir."

The old man chuckled aloud, "Son there are thousands of starfish

and only one of you. What difference can you make?"

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning

to the man, said, "It made a difference to that one!"

We might not be able to change the world or the cycle of poverty for all the kids down here but, with your help, we can make a difference in the lives of some.

Thanks in advance and God Bless,

Bill and Chelsey

Thanks Aunt Tommie for the Soccer Goal for the kids!!

2013-06-12T16:53:00.003-04:00

Many of you have probably read about the toy situation here at our Jardin. In the last post, Chelsey's mom repeated Chelsey's often stated line that this is the place where toys come to die. I was watching Toy Story last week and realized that our toys look like they came from Sid's room.

Anyhow, last week, after receiving a generous donation from my Aunt Tommie (Houston) our kids' toy situation took a turn for the better. With the donation in hand, Chelsey and I ventured to the hardware store to inquire about PVC piping. Hardware stores here are not as complete as Home Depot but after a little looking we found what we needed.

We have some all-star soccer players in Jardin and they often played in the yard but they did not have a goal. One evening of work later, with the help of some internet instructions, we had this awesome soccer goal.

Chelsey's dad, Glenn, went shopping and found us a net. A net is something you only typically find on nice (pay to play) or professional fields.

We have some very happy kids in Jardin. I put together a compilation of some of the football footage from last week (below). One final note, I am pretty positive that Leondro will be a professional. He is 4 years old. Enjoy.

Guest Post from Nancy (Chelsey's mom)

2013-06-11T22:27:00.001-04:00

Before I left my small world in Worthington, Kentucky, I was often asked how I could go so far away to South America. I have to admit the main draws were 1) seeing my Chelsey and her Bill, 2) seeing the world that Chelsey and Bill were experiencing, 3) seeing the preschool and how it functions and 4) an added attraction would be to see the rainforest. As I pause to reflect on my time here, this is what comes to mind.

When I had to wait 3 hours to get my visa into Paraguay, knowing Chelsey was on the other side of the door, it was hard. The joy when I hugged her brought to mind other times we celebrated: her birth, her baptism, tennis games, graduations, her wedding. Then there was Bill, taking pictures, taking charge of transportation, and not complaining about the wait, as my dear husband would have.

After the six hour bus ride, we arrived at their home in Encarnacion. The house that was to be my home for the next 10 days, was very nice and large, getting to it was perhaps as eye opening as to what may be coming.

The preschool room was full of tables and chairs, many small tables and chairs. Enough for 30 children. A backpack, that hung on the back of each chair, contained notebook, cup, and towel. A stray toy or a change of clothes were in some. There was one small hanging shelf, a table holding supplies, teacher's desk/table, a small waste basket, and a bigger, unpadded, wooden chair. What a difference when compared to my well-stocked classroom and the collection of 40 years of "stuff".

A visit to Iguazu falls and the rainforest was spectacular. Toucans, monkeys, exotic plants, waterfalls, and other wonderful creations of God, took my breath away.

But the real part of Paraguay that stole my heart, was not the kind Canossian nuns, the beautiful scenery, the mouth-watering food, the time I spent with Chelsey and Bill, nor the idea of just being in South America. It was the kids. Pure and simple. Their smiles, their tears, and their laughter filled me with real joy. A smile and a word, and then laughter from a child that had not done these things before. Silly made-up games that let us communicate without understanding each others' language. Then I got to play with these beautiful little people outside with toys in what Chelsey calls "the place where toys go to die". I did not see one unbroken toy...but not one complaint. When they were fed bread every morning with warm sweetened-condensed milk and porridge with bread every day for lunch,
they never complained. And then I visited a few homes. I knew why they did not complain. When the kids come to school, it probably seems like coming to a palace--glass windows, tiled floors, running water, bathrooms, and plenty of fresh, hot food.

One more thought before I close. As many of you know, Crane Creek offered to pay for the airline backage fees so I could bring clothes for the kids here. American Airlines waived all the fees after I explained that they were going to serve kids in Paraguay. The money that was saved from baggage fees will go to repair the house of Eduardo, one of Chelsey's students (the cute kid in his mom's hands at right). His home was badly damaged in a recent storm (see pictures below). Right now, his mom and four brothers are staying with family in a place not big enough for the people that live there. Not having an engineering background hinders my judgement, but I do not know if the four brick walls could even hold a roof. The lean-to next to it was missing walls as well as doors windows and a roof. This too, had been a part of his house.

Remember the story about a boy throwing starfish back into the sea? Maybe this child will have a roof over his head, but a floor, a bathroom, a bed of his own may be out of reach for him.

As you tuck a child or grandchild into his bed tonight, say a prayer for all of the Eduardos of this world. I know I will.

Your Donations at Work... Clothes for Kids - Round #1

2013-06-03T21:41:00.001-04:00

As many of you know, one of the projects that we have been working on is getting clothes from friends and family in the U.S. for the kids down here in Paraguay. Katie and Emily brought a huge load (Round #1) and Nancy just arrived with more (Round #2). This has been awesome for our community here and I wanted to share some of the photos of the kids loving their new clothes. Not a day goes by where at least one kid does not grab my arm and show me his new pants or new shirts. The kids have been so excited about the new stuff.

First thing, we pulled the kids out of class to figure out what sizes they needed. The photo is of Emily and Katie (above) testing a dress on Ailen. Many of the kids were really excited and wanted to take the clothes with them back to class but we didn't allow it. Instead, we packaged them up with a note explaining they were donations (not just to borrow) and that they had been generously contributed by our friends in the U.S. After figuring our what clothes kids needed, we distributed the clothes in a few different ways.

We visited with some families in the barrio under the bridge and delivered the clothes to their home. On the right is a photo I took of the family during the visit and below that is a picture of the boys wearing their new clothes in my class. Victoria (photo below) was also quite happy to show off her fashionable new threads (polka dot dress and grey jacket). She wears the jacket everyday. We tried to deliver her clothes to her house but she wasn't home. We were lucky enough to run into her and her mom walking around the barrio and got to hand deliver her clothes to her mom, too.

For those kids we could not visit, we packed up bags with notes and put them in backpacks. On the right is a picture of Rolando who was super excited about his clothes. He kept asking me all day (after trying them on), "Where are my clothes?... Can I put my clothes in my backpack?... Do I get to keep them?" At the end of the day he was elated to get the present...look at that face!! He has been wearing new clothes ever since.

At the end of Round #1, we have collected:

109 articles of clothing for babies (3 and under)
101 pairs of boy's pants
191 boy's shirts
91 girls items
28 pairs of pajamas
13 coats and jackets
25 pairs of shoes
bottles, socks and underwear
200 LBS of Clothes in TOTAL!!!

We have distributed clothes to 13 kids in our school and 25+ babies that participate in nutrition plans at the health center. Tomorrow we are taking a trip to the barrio and are delivering more clothes then, too.

Special thanks to our friends who have donated:

Stephanie Braden and her boys
Jennifer Cowden
Tawnja Morris & Kylee (Kylee is 6 and picked out her own clothes to give away!!! Thanks Kylee!!!)
Katie Badgett
Toni Hall and Macy
Josh Clubb, Oz and Zane
Cassie Tingle
Stephanie King
Linda Callis
Jessica Walls
The Covington Baptist Clothes Closet
Anonymous donors at my dad's office, too!!!

And a special thanks my sisters (and Nancy) who have helped with collecting ropas. A few more pictures of clothes in action for you and your families to peruse. Thanks again!

Friday's Five

2013-05-31T15:03:00.003-04:00

5. We can take a hint. Being a volunteer means moving decorative props up and down the stairs to the storage room as needed. In most cases, we have no idea how this stuff is used, but during the holidays (read: every two weeks or so), we do a lot of transporting decorations and posters and such. This big heart has been next to the stairs for two days, but no one gave us instructions ("This goes in the floor to the left of the door, beside the wooden red heart...no the other wooden red heart, the big one"), so we hadn't moved it. Today, we came in from lunch to find this... We get the picture, Sister.

4. Does anyone know how to use one of these things?

3. Katie and Emily crocheted the Sisters scarves for thank-you gifts. They totally dug them, especially the sparkly ones from Emily. Not sure how we're going to top that come August.

2. No swimming? No problem.

1. Chatting with our besties, who may have una bebé nueva come this time tomorrow. Benvenieda al mundo, Ellie! We can't wait to meet you!

Guest Post from Katie and Emily

2013-05-30T23:00:00.000-04:00

Hola! Katie and Emily here. We have just returned home after an amazing, adventurous whirlwind of a trip! We met SO many kind and welcoming people in Paraguay and had so many great experiences. Last week we had the most eye opening experience we had on our trip and one I’m sure we’ll never forget.

As some of you know, we collected children’s clothing before we left to distribute to needy children in Paraguay. During our trip, we visited “the people under the bridge” to take clothes to a few children whose homes Bill and Chelsey had visited before. We knew that the barrio under the bridge was a very poor area, but nothing could have prepared us for the way these people live. The streets are covered in garbage and broken glass. These same streets are where we saw so many children running around and playing among piglets, chickens and stray dogs. The homes are just a few feet apart from one another and are tiny shacks without electricity or running water. Oftentimes they’re only one room structures and may not have a door, but some boards nailed together that can be moved in front of the doorway to create a bit of privacy instead.

We wandered around the barrio with Madre Magdelana, visiting with families and passing out suckers to children for a good while before coming to one of the homes with children whom we knew needed clothing. This family consists of 4 children, 2 of them being twin boys who are in Bill’s preschool class, an older sister, an older brother and their mother and father. They were showing us their new house, which was one small room, about 9 x 9 and had 2 twin sized beds pushed side-by-side in the home. Only one of the beds had a mattress. We were welcomed into the home by the twins (4 years-old), their 7 year-old sister and their mother. We chatted with them all for an hour or so and watched the boys jump on the bed, pretending to be monkeys and wrestle around with their sister, all just acting like totally normal, happy children. Towards the end of our visit Bill told their mother that we had a small gift for the boys. We didn’t have their sister’s clothing sizes at the time but she’ll get a clothing delivery soon as well. The twins each received 3 new pairs of pants and 3 shirts. They were so excited and thankful for their new “ropas” and I think we were equally as excited to see the pleasure they got from them.

We had two major takeaways from our experience with the people under the bridge.

1.) We had never seen such sad living conditions. What we saw was like a scene out of a movie that you don’t ever expect to see for yourself.

2.) Regardless of the environment in which these people live, they are still perfectly happy, normal people. The twins’ mom made a comment that will forever stay with us. She said, “It is good for you all to see this. You don’t have places like this in your country.” We were both struck and saddened by her statement because although she is absolutely correct, we had no idea that she was aware of how different her way of life is from ours here. Although her family has so few material possessions, they are still just a happy family who are grateful for what they do have.

Lost and Found

2013-05-25T18:15:00.000-04:00

It was the end (or so we thought) of a very long day.

We were at the other house for a Spanish lesson with Maria Louisa when it began to rain. Instead of walking the 30 minutes from the bus stop in the rain, we decided to wait a few hours until Delma could give us a ride. When Delma arrived to pick us up, she made an ill-advised three point turn on the road in front of the house (which is under construction), and got the little car stuck in two feet of pure, sloppy, red Paraguayan mud. The car was knee deep by the time she asked us for help. We spent the next two hours, along with a neighbor, trying to dig the car out... to no avail. This may come as a surprise, but they don't seem to have a "tow truck" section in the phone book... Oh wait, they don't have phone book!

In any case, we were covered in mud (B had mud in his unibrow), cold and exhausted when Delma broke down and called the Superior, who called some friends with a big truck and heavy cables, and we found another ride home.

Barefoot (our shoes rendered useless with sludge), we (Brammell) had to kill a tarantula in front of the front door. We were still outside marveling at the dead thing when the other sisters arrived and opened the gate to let the car inside. Our two dogs, Fida and Alma took off, screaming and barking, and before we knew what was happening, they were attacking a perrita who had wandered onto their territory.

We separated them, but Fida (read: alpha female, attempted murderess) had done some pretty serious damage. We were relatively certain she would bleed out before too long, but the little thing wouldn't budge. I expected her to wander off to die, but she stayed there, just outside the gate. We had no idea what to do, and please understand, being volunteers, we have very little power in these circumstances. B left the scene to take a shower, and when I went up, Hermana Susana was on the stairs distraught. Her big heart wouldn't let her leave the perra outside to die in pain.

Here's the part where I tell you how smart I am. After the porcupine incident (the second midnight trip to the vet), when we had such a good experience with Dr. Jesus, I swiped a business card on the way out, just in case we needed it. Well, we did. We convinced Hna. Susana to call, just to ask what to do (like a vet is going to say, "leave the dog to die.") This resulted in a THIRD midnight trip to the vet in just two months.

Dr. Jesus stitched her up, and all of the sudden we have a new little pet (who can't come in contact with the outside dogs).

We first named her Dirty, Hna. Ylse's idea, because sucio ("dirty" in Spanish), sounded "dirty," to her and Dirty, in English sounded much nicer. (There's no explaining that Dirty sounds dirty to us.) Whew! A few days later, I changed her name to Chiquita (short for Chiquitita, which I am told is the more accurate description of a very small dog. Chiquita is more a medium-sized small dog. Again, whew!)

The next morning, she got two baths and a haircut. I was anxious to see if she was actually a blonde under all that dirt. We were out of town that weekend, and the Sisters just didn't know what they would possibly do with her for a day and a half. When we came home, though, she had her own box and a rug, and an old blanket, and had left six pee spots in the office upstairs.

During the past two weeks, I tried not to think of what would become of this dog come August. We talked and prayed about finding her a new home, but none of our friends were interested. I maybe looked up the rules about bringing a new pet into the U.S. As it turns out, it's not so difficult. Living with an un-potty trained dog was getting a little easier. The weather warmed up, so when when we weren't in the room, she could stay in the courtyard, and she didn't seem to mind that too much. She still tried to get in the bed three times a night, and you had to get up and move her back to her box. Otherwise, she was great. Our amigita.

This morning, we got a call from Hna. Susana, who had been out visiting in the neighborhood when she noticed a bunch of Chiquita look-alikes at a blue house on the next block. She asked about them to the owner, and indeed, she had lost one of her brood a few weeks ago! As it turns out, the dog belongs to the family of one of our students in our Wednesday tutoring class, Ilse. We took the dog down, and she was thrilled to see her owner. (I'm not going to lie, it was a little heartbreaking that she preferred this lady over me.) After we said our goodbyes, and it was time to go, Chiquita took off, straight home, leaving her real mom, and us, in the dust.

Fish Tank

2013-05-23T00:03:00.001-04:00

A volunteer's work is never done...and very rarely what you expect.

Hna. Noami has a screensaver that she watches with some regularity. It shows an under water scene with fish of all shapes and sizes, swimming around and doing the cute things fish do. She's very generous about inviting you to watch it with her. She especially enjoys it when the crabs wander in and try to eat the smaller fish.

Tonight B went into the computer room to ask a question, and found her distraught. Instead of her usual perky fish collection frolicking in crystal blue waters, the screen was black and all that was left of the fish were their skeletons.

My husband spent the next half hour figuring out, translating the options, and adjusting the settings to revive the on-screen aquarium. "More crabs. Less sea horses. Make the bubbles bigger."

Add to resume: Screensaver aquarium repair.

We have visitors!!!

2013-05-19T23:51:00.003-04:00

We have visitors and we are really excited that they are here! Katie and Emily arrived in Asuncion early on Friday morning and we have been running like crazy ever since.

A brief recap of the weekend:

Friday -

7:30 AM girls arrived at the Airport in the capitol city of Asuncion
12:30 - 6:30 PM bus ride to Encarnacion
8:00 PM arrive at Sister's House followed by dinner and visiting

Saturday -

9:00 AM depart for Posadas, Argentina
10:00 AM arrive in Posadas and spend time shopping, looking and lunching
1:00 PM depart for San Ignatio Ruins, Argentina (photo right)
2:30 PM arrive, walk to the ruins and tour
6:00 PM depart for Jardin America, Argentina
8:00 PM arrive at the Sister's house in Jardin America followed by dinner and bed

Sunday -

5:30 AM breakfast and 5:00 AM depart for Iguazu Falls
9:00 AM arrive at the falls and walk around/tour for 6 hours
3:30 PM leave the falls, make a quick stop at some Mines in Argentina and head home
7:00 PM arrive in Posadas (right across the bridge from our place)
8:30 PM arrive in the Sister's house followed by dinner, visiting and bed...

A couple other facts about the travel...

1) Total travel time for Katie and Emily to Paraguay was around 31 hours...

2) The time changed in Argentina so a 5:30 AM breakfast was REALLY 4:30 AM (Paraguay time)....

Iguazu Falls was amazing!!! It is unlike anything that I have ever seen. It is so unlike Niagara that you really cannot compare them... although I will try. Iguazu is in the middle of the rain forest and it is surrounded by all kinds of forest trails. We saw Toucans, Butterflies and other forest animals (which I plan on writing about when things calm down a bit here and we have a little more time). There are also tons and tons of falls of all different sizes. The largest "Devils Throat" is so deep that you cannot see the bottom because of the rising mist. We owe a huge "gracias" to Gabby and Melisa - our friends from down here - who accompanied us on the adventure. They were awesome tour guides and a whole lot of fun, too.

Anyhow, more to come about the trip. I just wanted to let everyone know the girls are here, safe and that we are taking advantage of the time they have to visit. Tomorrow is a full day of work with Jardin starting at 8:00 AM.

Friday's Five

2013-05-17T11:21:00.000-04:00

5. Around the dinner table, the sisters were commenting on my rosy complexion, and about how the Paraguay sun suited me. I thanked them, and confessed that I was also wearing pinta on my caro. "Oh, she's a trampe!"

Found out later, after asking the awkward question, "Umm... Did you just call me a prostitute?" that it means I'm a cheater.

4. Last Sunday (maybe four Sundays ago, who knows?) was Election Day. Here are Maria and Christian sporting their fresh ink.

3. On any given trip out of the house, you are fairly likely to see a man relieving himself in the street. Going to church last night, we saw two. Need to go? Just pull right over (or, more likely, stop the vehicle in the middle of the road), put the hazard lights on, step right out and go. There's no need to make an effort to conceal your behavior by, say, using the car to block the view... just go.

2. Katie and Emily are on their way! They managed to cram all the goodies that were generously donated into enormous bags and get them into the country this morning. (Muchas Gracias to American Airlines for waiving the bag fees!) Their fifth and final leg of the trip is a six-hour bus ride from Asuncion to Encarnacion. It's sad, but the last photo of us together is at my wedding in 2010.

1. Dogs and porcupines do not mix. Our dogs, Fida and Alma fought porcupine and I'm pretty sure the porcupine won. We ended up at the vet's office at midnight plucking needles from their faces, noses, tongues, inside their mouths, and between their teeth. Un desastre!

A trip to the Zoo

2013-05-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

Tuesday and Wednesday were holidays in Paraguay, so we had some time off. Tuesday was Dia de la Madre and Wednesday was Paraguay's Independence day. A few notes about holidays here:

1. Nobody finds it necessary to warn us in advance. Saturday morning we had a meeting with the VOICA coordinator, who casually mentioned our two days off this week. We were so surprised, we didn't believe her and made her call the Principal to confirm. So basically, we had to mad-dash plan our mini-vacay (no easy task when you have to get other people to make phone calls and travel arrangements for you).

2. They always put holidays back-to-back. In April we had the Dia del Maestro (Teacher's Appreciation Day), which backed up to another Encarnacion holiday. In March the Birthday of Encarnacion was celebrated immediately preceding Holy Week.

3. There are a lot of holidays. See #2. Our ten paid holidays are puny in comparison.

As our hastily planned mini-vacay to the San Rafael Nature Reserve was cancelled due to inclement weather, we settled for an afternoon trip to the zoo with Clara, Virginia, and her hijos, Facundo and Alejandra.

Definitely not what we are accustomed to. Let's just say, B didn't need his binoculars. See for yourself.

The zoo is not run or funded by the government, rather it is the product of one guy with a lot of money and a penchant for keeping exotic animals in tiny cages.

Thoughts:

1. It smelled soooo bad.
2. You could actually see the animals going insane.
3. My emotions ran from sad to angry and back again.
3. I kind of want to put the zoo's owner in a cage with one of the leopards.
4. No worries, I emptied a bottle of hand sanitizer on Clara when we left.