Monday, August 3, 2015

A Birthday Celebration in Argentina

So this year to help celebrate my birthday which just past (July 25th) and Alcides’ which is Oct. 20th we decided to take a much needed vacation to Argentina.  This was the first time that Alcides had ever left Paraguay but we didn’t go too far from home, only about 5 hours by bus from my house.  It was a fantastic and fun three days filled with beautiful sites, wonderful food and drinks, and just great company that we didn’t want to come back but we decided we would just have to go back again sometime soon.  Below you will see a few of the hundreds of photos we took over our three day trip, enjoy.

I just wanted to start out with a beautiful poem they have at Iguazu Falls looking out over the section they call Devil’s Throat.

Natural Wonder
Devil’s Throat

Let your soul be sated
with the odd beauty of this landscape
that although the world scrolling through on your travels
you can never find anything like this

Good and bad dynamic and changing
find here since your name
takes in your humble heart of man
truthful and consistent message

meditate and feel the deep emotion
watching the vibrant paroxysm
Eternal mists that is circled

and do not try to describe it with your voice
just leans his forehead against this abyss
which is the mirror of the word God.
~Alfonso Ricciutto

We started out the trip traveling to Cuidad del Este and visited Itaipu Dam.  This was the fourth visit for me to the dam, and the first for Alcides.  Even though this was my fourth visit I always seem to learn something new.  In the case of this week they had on display information about some new biodigesters they have installed as a demonstration farm of production swine.  I was so excited and kept asking a bunch of questions which of course our tour guide didn’t know anything about but I was able to get some information about their very large biodigesters and took some photos of the display they had.  

Alcides and I standing in front of Itaipu dam.  Even though we are in the middle of winter here the weather this week was just fantastic getting into the mid to upper 80’s which were perfect for our “winter” vacation.  

By the time we finished at the dam we took a bus to the area called Tres Fronteras where we got a quick lunch and got stamped out of Paraguay and got on a bus to take us through Brazil and into Argentina.  When we finally arrived into our destination in Puerto Iguazu we were completely exhausted and hot so we decided to get some wonderful ice cream which we can’t get here in Paraguay.  So this is Alcides eating his first bit of decent ice cream which he loved and we ended up there every day during our stay.  

The beautiful place we stayed located right on the river with Brazil on the other side.  This was the first time for me staying here, but I would definitely go back.  We had a beautiful room and it was isolated surrounded by nature, a little bit of a walk from town but worth the walk, and great exercise to walk off all of the wonderful food!  

Our first night in Argentina and Alcides wanted some good fish so we got the recommendation from our guest house and they didn’t let us down.  I had a wonderful cut of salmon with grilled veggies and Alcides got fresh river fish that was all meat.  Here in Paraguay the fish are so small and so they just gut it and cook up the entire thing (head and all) which is filled with countless bones so he loved just being able to eat the meat!

The first morning in Argentina we had one of our three wonderful made to order breakfasts with a fantastic view and wonderful omelets, fresh juice, and local jams/jellies.  

For our first full day we decided to visit an animal rescue center that takes in and rehabilitates many different animals to then release them back into the wild.  Of course not all of the animals can make it back into the wild so they keep them to use as educational tools for visitors to learn about and see.  This was my first time here but probably one of the best places I have ever been full of fantastic information, passionate volunteers, and wonderful array of animals.  

Alcides and I on the tractor ride through the forest as we went to the first stop of the tour and watched a video about the center and its mission.  

Standing with one of the beautiful toucans pausing for a beautiful photo opportunity.  


A photo Alcides decided to take as we walked through different parts of the center to see each of the different animals located throughout the forest reserve.  

Me with one of the many different monkeys we saw.  Many of the monkeys at the center had been found as babies next to their dead mothers most of which who were hit by cars or killed by poachers.  

Just a fun photo next to one of the many incredible paintings they had throughout the center.  This specific dial moved around in a circle and talked about the life cycle of one of the endangered birds they currently are breeding and introducing the young back into the forest.  

It is a bit hard to see but this is me with one of the beautiful owls they had.  


We had quite the serenating by a large group of monkeys who have made the center their new home taking advantage of the free fruit and food I guess but providing great entertainment for the visitors.  

Overall we got to see a diversity of animals ranging from many bird species, monkeys, caimans, and so much more.  They evidently have a lot more animals at the center that are not available for public viewing because the animals they want to reintroduce back following accidents, hunters, etc they don’t want to be accustomed to humans.  So rather they keep them and rehabilitate them in ways that allow them to be successfully put back out in their natural habitat.  They also do some breeding of some of the more endangered animals that are too injured themselves to be reintroduced. 

After the wonderful tour of the animal center we went to what they called La Aripuca which just means an animal trap.  It was a very large “trap” made out of many types of wood with the main goal to try and raise of conservation and the sustainable use of resources.  They also had many local indigenous there sharing many different crafts, traditional bows, and traps.  This is a photos of Alcides standing in front of the impressive bamboo structure (sustainable “wood” product) that contained a lot of information about the Atlantic Forest of Alto Parana as well as information about local flora/fauna.  

Me standing in front of the impressive “trap” that includes 30 different trees species.  

A view from inside the Aripuca and they had each of the woods labeled with the species.  

Me practicing taking selfies which I guess is the new fad these days.

After the warm afternoon tour we decided to cool down with some fresh yerba mate and flower petal ice cream.  At first I was a little hesitant to try these as they are two new flavors of ice cream for me but they were both good but my favorite being the flower petal ice cream that they also use to make delicious jam with.  

Standing inside of one of the thousand year old trees.  

Later on in the afternoon we decided to just get even more sun burnt and go and visit the Tres  Fonteras monument which is the junction of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina that you can see each of the countries here with me standing in Argentina, Paraguay behind me on the left and Brazil on the right.  

The official monument with everyone sitting in the shade to try and stay cool.  

Another monument with each of the three countries flags represented.  

Even though it was the middle of winter down here we had a heat spell come through which made it a bit hot for our tours but perfect for swimming.  Although the water itself was quite chilly we jumped in anyway, this was the first time Alcides had ever swum in a pool and he had a blast, can't beat swimming outside in the dead of winter!


Our second evening in town we had an early dinner before heading to our moonlight tour of the falls.  We enjoyed wonderful pizza and sangria that evening.

So I was not able to take very good photos at the moonlight tour of Devil’s Throat but rather just enjoyed the falls with the full moon shining down.  This is just one of the half way decent photos that turned out.  The falls were breathtaking at night with just the blue moon to light our path.

A photo of the two of us during our walk back to the train. 

When we got back to the main area of the park we each got champagne to toast to the great evening and beautiful moonlit waterfalls.  

So after our night tour we got up early the next morning and were the first ones in line to get into the park so we were on the first train back up to Devil’s Throat (the same place we visited the night before) but it was still spectacular in the light of day.  

A few other pictures taken at various points around the park, the weather was fantastic and even got a little hot but I will not complain since we are in the middle of winter.  


After we had walked two of the trails into see the main falls we then took a 7 km hike to see another smaller fall (still 20 m).  Sadly the final leg of the trail down to see the waterfall from the bottom was closed but we still could see it from the top and took a few minutes to get our feet wet and cool down before our hike back.  



Two of the different wildlife that we saw during our day at the park, we saw a lot more animals but unfortunately were not able to get good photos of them but below you can see one of the birds and coatis.


We decided to also take the boat tour and go up under the falls which we saved for the last part of the day so we didn’t have to walk around in wet clothes.  Unfortunately by that point it had clouded up and gotten a bit chilly but we made the best of it and just enjoyed the experience.  This is just a photo of us before our water adventure

During our water adventure after going up under one of the many falls that make up Iguazu Falls.  

Just a few of the many breathtaking views of the falls!


Our last evening we went out in search of the best steak in the town and once again we were not let down.  I had a fantastic filet mignon topped with wild mushrooms and a wine sauce with three different types of mashed potatoes on the side, Alcides had more river fish cooked with veggies wrapped up in foil.  It was sad that this was our last big meal during our vacation since we both enjoyed the food so much but it was a great evening to round out the trip.  

We ended up stopping for dessert after a little bit of shopping on the way back to our room.  

Taking the ferry back from Argentina into Paraguay at the Tres Fronteras.  

Just a beautiful Paraguayan flag we saw on the bus ride back to Caaguazu before we made it back into site.  We had a fantastic vacation and such a great way to celebrate our birthdays!

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.

~Anonymous 

Monday, July 27, 2015

A Quarter of a Century

It is hard to believe that I am a quarter century old now.  Earlier today I was thinking about all of the beautiful places I have celebrated birthday from Thailand, various mission trips across the US, Olivet Float Trips, Costa Rica, and then my second birthday here in Paraguay.  It never seems to be easier  celebrating so far from home but I was blessed enough to be able to talk to both of my parents today and helping someone else celebrate their birthday was a great way to celebrate.  This year I was able to celebrate my birthday with one of Alcides’ nieces who shares my birthday, but she only turned 5 while I turned 25.  So we went into Caaguazu with Alcides and his sister, mom, and many other nieces to help her celebrate her 5th birthday.  Below you will be able to see just a few of the many photos of her birthday celebration. 

On Friday I spent the entire day baking making 48 cupcakes, 4 loaves of whole wheat bread, and a couple of other desserts.  I had some great helpers though 2 of my nieces Adriana and Diana who were a big help and we had a lot of fun both making and decorating the cupcakes.  This is a picture of them taste testing the icing to make sure it was edible for everyone else.

A photo of Adriana and I making up the icing for the second batch of cupcakes, we ended up making 24 white cake cupcakes and 24 chocolate and then had fun making chocolate frosting as well as dyed pink and blue frosting.  In the end we ended up with very colorful and festive cupcakes with enough to go around.

In the afternoon we had a wonderful visitor from Annie (my closest PCV) that came over and helped us finish decorating cupcakes.  She also brought me a wonderful carrot and coconut cake that we took over to Alcides’ house to have a little mini early birthday celebration.

Alcides getting his hair cut in preparation for the traveling into town.  It was very interesting to me how much work everyone went to before we went into town.  They collected mandioca, all the women washed their hair, collected corn and fresh fruit, and just generally got all cleaned up for the trip into town.

So this doesn’t have to do with my birthday but those are the two baby pigs that Alcides worked a week in the field for and his brother made a very nice pen for them and we are starting to feed them so they will be nice and big for Christmas/New Year’s celebrations.  In the US we don’t think nearly this far ahead but just go to the grocery store and buy a turkey or ham.  Here if you want meat for your family for the holidays and you are smart you buy various animals now (calves, chicks, piglets, ducklings, etc.) and then grow them out yourself because if you wait to buy just the meat around the holidays the prices skyrocket.  So needless to say at least one of these piglets we will be butchering and eating for the holidays!

Just a cute picture of me with one of my kittens that is almost all grown up now that lives with Alcides and his family.  At first they hated cats and didn’t even want one but now Raul (the kitten) is a large part of the family and is spoiled more than any animal I have seen in Paraguay.  It might be due to the fact that he has eaten all of the rats they used to have but whatever the reason Raul is in good hands and is part of the family.

For our birthday celebration we came into Caaguazu and for lunch we had a wonderful duck and rice stew but in order for that to happen we had to kill the duck.  I didn’t really help too much but rather used the excuse to take photos so I wouldn’t have to be the one to kill it.  This is just a photo of Alcides with his mom plucking the duck.

As per Paraguay traditions for birthdays the people hosting the party (or their mother) makes a whole bunch of food to give to everyone else.  It isn’t the US where people throw parties for you and you just show up and enjoy.  Anyway so Edie (Alcides’ sister) had already made up all of the food the day before and then I spent about 4 hours frying it all.  

Alcides and our niece Diana standing in front of all the little plates of food that we made up.

For the birthday girl, Janina, her parents had a bounce house brought in so all the party goers had a fantastic time playing around.

Just a picture of me with one of the cupcakes I made that I called my birthday cake, complete with my dollar store purchase of cupcake molds and little flags that read Happy Birthday!

Alcides and I with my cupcake.  Although it might not look too cold it was in fact only about 60 degrees with a cold southern wind (we are in the middle of winter), not the 100+ temps that I am normally used to in the US for my summer birthday.  

Just a family photo with Alcides and his family standing in front of the themed party she had of Pippa (which is a popular cartoon pig here in Paraguay).  

On Sunday we had a small celebration for my birthday since I didn’t want to take away from the 5 year olds party, so we had a wonderful asado (BBQ) filled with lots of yummy grilled pork, rice salad, and leftover sopa.

So overall I had a fantastic birthday filled with good company and great food.  This week I will be heading on a short vacation to Argentina to help celebrate my birthday with Alcides.  So stay tuned for a blog post our trip to visit Iguazu, the third trip there for me but the first for Alcides ever outside of Paraguay, so it should be a lot of fun!


In the blink of an eye, everything can change.  So forgive often and love with all your heart.  You may never know when you may not have that chance again.