For the past two weeks I have been able to show Thad around Paraguay and my community of Yukyry Central. He arrived on the 6th of May and we spent about a week and a half in my community working on getting my house and outdoor space ready to go. We both took a bunch of pictures so we decided to just tell the story of his trip with the photos, so I hope you enjoy them. Sorry they are in no sort of order since we were combining them from multiple cameras.
One of his first nights in my site we made nachos for dinner. Since I can only find the chips in Asuncion, we brought them back with us. Don't worry mom, we also had veggies and beef with them.
This was a cool weevil that we found outside one day with a cross on his back.
This picture is of Thad making fresh pomelo juice one morning.
Another night we spent about two hours making homemade enchiladas. From the sauce, to the tortillas, to the filling, it was a lot of work but worth it in the end.
One morning after we had cleared up a bunch of brush, we had a small fire with Thad overseeing the operation with a hoe and bucket of water.
One morning we collected abono (manure) from the cattle corral then filled up toilet paper rolls that I had been collecting and planted some winter seeds like lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, basil, etc.
This was the big project of his time here was working on making a garden so Thad was very busy working on the garden. Here he is taking a break and watching a big truck of logs go by.
Another cool insect that we found.
Thad was here for Mother's Day, which was June 15th. So the Monday before, the school put on a performance for the mothers and we were able to go and watch. This is the 6th grade dancing in traditional clothes with pots full of flowers on their heads.
This was another group that told a story about mothers.
This was another group that did a traditional dance.
This was 1st grade that said a small poem and my host niece is the third from the right in a cute little jumper.
While walking around my community, Thad was very impressed with the huge termite mounds so he wanted his picture taken with it.
This was some crazy fruit structure we found growing on one of the trees.
We ate with my host family for lunches so he could get a taste of Paraguayan food while he was here. This was a beef soup with bean salad, fresh orange juice, and mandio (which is like a potato that he LOVED!)
This was a picture of us sitting out on my porch one afternoon while I was sewing together my new curtains and he was working on the garden.
This was another picture of us on one of our nightly walks around my community.
My family has an asado (BBQ) every weekend so Thad was able to participate with us this time. My sister Rosa is sitting on the right with her family and my brother Maximo with his family is on the left with Thad at the end.
Here was another Paraguayan lunch which was mashed up mandio with meat which is always great.
For Mother's Day my host brother killed a young pig to cook up for dinner so this was just a picture of it cooking on the grill.
This is a picture of one of the huge toads/frogs that we have in my community. Thad was impressed by the size of it (next to it is a bottle cap for size reference).
One evening we walked down to the wetland in my community.
On Monday, we left my site and headed to Villarica to visit for a couple of hours on our way back to Asuncion. This was just a picture we took of the landscape.
One of the many hills in this part of the country.
On Monday night, we visited with my old host family and my mom had a starfruit tree that we were both very fascinated with.
On Tuesday night Thad took me out to dinner and I had a wonderful 'Miami cheese steak' sandwich.
Thad, one afternoon after he worked a little too hard hoeing the garden, taking a short nap.
Another dinner one night with roasted chicken and vegetables.
A small little moth we found on my patio.
Thad hoeing the garden and corralling the chickens to go in behind him because they did a great job of scratching up the ground and eating the insects.
The beautiful moon that we had most of his stay here.
Another night for dinner, I made a homemade pizza and Thad made a wonderful salad.
This is a small piece of the wonderful chocolate cake that I made for Mother's Day that, of course, my host family loved and wanted me to start selling them for birthdays (which I can't do as a PCV).
One night we had breakfast for dinner, which was great with my favorite, chocolate chip pancakes, and scrambled eggs.
My completed compost pile, it leans a little to the right but oh well. In a few months, I will have some great stuff to add to my garden.
Once we got the fence up, we put Junior to work collecting all of the small rocks.
For an appetizer one night, once we got the garden done, I made dough baked with green apples, craisins, and blue cheese with honey on top.
Dinner that same night with homemade pasta and bread sticks.
One morning when Thad was working on putting the gate together, I was trying to keep Junior occupied so we laid in the hammock for awhile with the cat.
The completed garden! It was amazing how long it took without machines, but we got it done!
Dinner our last night in site using the rest of my veggies making a veggie bake with leftover bread sticks.
A cool moth we saw by the light one night.
A beautiful church we saw on our way into Villarica.
Thad standing by a statue of a tree playing a harp in the park.
A beautiful flower we saw.
Thad standing in front of the municipality in Villarica.
The last full day we walked down to the river front in Asuncion.
A view of some 'important' building from the river.
Thad standing in front of a naval ship that was docked.
A picture of us at the beach in Asuncion.
Overall Thad had a wonderful trip here. I worked him hard so he wanted to call the blog "14 Days a Slave (Just Kidding)" but I think he had fun along the way. We were able to get A LOT done on my new house which feels like a home now. I can't wait for more visitors!
