In January I got to welcome my dad to Paraguay
and show him around for a couple of weeks.
Below is the story in his own words followed by pictures and my
commentary about his wonderful trip here, the time always flies by but we got a
lot accomplished and had a great visit!
What a great time of
year to get away from cold weather and travel to visit my daughter in South America.
I have never traveled to this part of the world and it will always have a
special memory in my heart and mind! It was amazing to see Kaitlyn again
and had been way to long since she left us. She is very blessed with her school
house that she has made here home and close knit neighbors and community. After
seeing her home I can only imagine what it looked like before she moved and the
hard work required making it her home.
I enjoyed our time
together doing a few projects that she wanted done and amazed at what it takes
when you’re working without tools that we have her every day. No power tools:
drills and bits, saws and even finding lumber to make a little table. I was
able to make a stand for Kaitlyn’s new wash machine out of a tree for legs and
nails that she had purchased in town. You can most likely find stuff you need
but it is a 2 hour bus ride and you can find a hardware store but you have to
tell them exactly what you need. Not as simple as getting in vehicle and
running to Lowes or Westlake’s hardware. Things can be done but it takes time
and patience!
I am amazed at the
little money the locals make and the physical labor required to make a living!
The men work fields all day, hard and physical labor, and make maybe $8.00 and
that's if there lucky to find work. Most of the times they are working own
fields of cotton/ sugarcane/ mandioca and other vegetables they eat or sell in
town.
I really like Alcides who
is Kaitlyn’s boyfriend and very hard working young man. It has been a long time
since I have seen Kaitlyn so happy. He is a provider and great with all the
neighbor children.
His parents who live a
few minutes’ walk from Kaitlyn’s home have a beautiful yard/farm with banana
and numerous fruit trees to share and live on. It amazed me that every day the
women would rake the sand to get every leaf out of it and how well they took
care of what little they have. You can say they are poor but take care of
what they have. I love Alcides’ parents and family they made me feel very
welcome and part of family. I will always remember drinking terere, cana and
drinking beer with his mom. I am not used to sharing my beer and there you take
a sip and pass it around. If you’re worried about germs Paraguay is not the
place for you.
The night sky is
remarkable with big sky and different stars. No dippers but you have the Southern
Cross!
You never know from one
minute to next if you going to have power or water so you keep up with it
daily. Here in the US we have 2 fridges and chest freezers and usually full of
something. When power goes out you keep fridge closed for days so things
do not spoil. Kaitlyn has it figured out and is able to cook on two burner
stove and has a small oven for baking. She makes her own bread from scratch and
better pizza then shakespears. I found out for the most part even when power
goes out that she is able to fix a great meal and not be hungry.
I am totally amazed for
such a poor country where only 1 in 4 have a fridge how everyone has a cell
phone and majority have television. It blew me away one morning to see man on
back of an oxen team probably surfing internet on his cell phone going down the
road. I guess being connected is important for everyone.
I miss the roosters
waking me up every morning starting @ 2am. Setting around for hours daily
drinking terere and watching children play. I did not know that children still
played outside all day and really no toys to speak of. No inside water for
bathing or teeth brushing! All children
play football which is soccer and very happy kicking the ball.
Needless to say how
proud I am as a father to see Kaitlyn live her life like this. She has and will
continue to be able to do anything that she desires and put her mind to. You
can tell that the children love having her as a teacher and friend.
I miss my time playing
bingo with children and throwing around football. Having fresh fruit for breakfast,
and soup for lunch. But most of all will always miss Kaitlyn!
Our first photo together taken in a café in Caaguazu. When we got into Caaguazu that day the
intention was to go straight to my site but due to the large amount of rain we
ended up staying in Caaguazu for the evening, luckily I have some good PCV
friends that we were able to stay with and then we got back to my site first
thing the next morning.
The
afternoon in Caaguazu of rain but we still managed to get some good fruit and
veggies from vendors that were brave enough to be outside selling in the storm!
The wide selection of “meat” you could buy in the local
grocery store. To me I guess it is just
normal by now to see the various things ranging from pig heads, cow hearts,
stomach and many other things. I guess
if this were in a super market in the US though some people would have some
problems I think!
On
the bus finally being able to head back to my site. I think one thing dad was able to take away
from here was just a new sense of the word patience and that you can’t ever
have a set schedule here because it is completely dependent on many things, but
most of all weather. But we made it back
without any problem and he got to experience the campo bus ride!
The
first evening back to site we had a large asado (BBQ) with Alcides’
family. This picture is of Alcides’ mom
and my dad making up sopa. Here there
are more defined gender roles, meaning the men, for the most part, don’t help
with cooking so she had a good time when he was willing to get his hands dirty
and covered in pig fat to make up the fresh sopa for dinner!
The
completed meal with lots of great chicken and pork with fresh sopa, rice salad,
and cucumber and onion salad. As always
not enough chairs and plates to go around but we all made it work!
One
of the many large toads that we have around here, I guess I have just gotten
used to the size but my dad was so amazed so we took a picture using my hand as
a size comparison. I also have one of
these that lives on my porch and I encourage it to because it eats so many
insects at night under my light so saves me a lot of trouble every morning
sweeping off my porch!
Some
of the handy man projects he helped me complete while he was here with help of
course from Junior, my three year old nephew who practically lives at my house
as well!
Dad giving my adopted dog a much needed bath. He is actually my sister’s dog but ever since
I moved in has decided to become my protector, even in his small size, but he does
a great job and never ventures far from my porch!
Dad
with one of the family cows!
One afternoon we walked with some of my friends to the local
waterfall. It was a hot afternoon so by
the time we got there the water felt great.
We also picked up some fresh mangos off trees along the way so dad got
his very first taste of fresh mangos!
Standing under the falls for a nice photo op!
One day we decided to go fishing with Alcides and his uncle
which involved an hour walk to a nearby community before walking through a
wetland and into the forest. The weather
was very spotty and many strong storms around us but provided some great
photos!
Standing
around in the wetland while the others were turning over termite mounds to find
worms to use as bait. I never realized
how hard they worked to find bait, it isn’t like at home where you can just go
to BPS or a store and buy a dozen night crawlers!
Well
the storm finally came in while we were out but luckily only lasted about 20
minutes. Luckily I had brought my
umbrella so I set up camp under it and helped keep everyone’s stuff dry.
The
mess of fish that was caught. I sadly
only caught one to add to the pile but at least the other guys knew what they
were doing so we had plenty for lunch!
This
is an experience that I will never forget.
Once we got the fish cleaned they made a small bonfire in the woods and
before I knew it we had fresh fish soup complete with my homemade bread and
were sitting in the woods eating. It was
just such a wonderful experience and one that I had never had before!
Alcides
and my dad laying a brick pad in front of my bathroom. Before when it rained I just had a huge mud
puddle in front of the bathroom which was then tracked on the porch and into
the house. Now I have a wonderful brick pad
that allows the water to run off and keeps my house a little more dirt free!
Dad
and Junior working on making the stand for my very own washing machine! Even though they spoke two different
languages they still managed to communicate fine and had a great time together!
Life
changing! My very own washing machine
that saves me a lot of time and energy, something I for sure took for granted
in the US.
Dad
holding one of the neighborhood babies that I spend a lot of time with in his
brand new outfit courtesy of my mom.
Me
with two of my students and Alcides’ nieces Diana and Adriana.
One
of the other large projects dad helped me with which was cleaning all of my
windows in my house, which there are a lot of.
So we got all the windows cleaned both inside and out and new window
decorations put up.
The
completed brick patio in front of the bathroom!
His
last night in my site visiting with Alcides’ parents at their house.
When we left my site we took a bus into Cuidad del Este and
went and did a tour of Itaipu Dam. This
was my third trip to the dam but a first for my dad so we both had a great
time.
From
the dam we went and walked through the chaotic mess that is the border crossing
of Paraguay into Brasil and Argentina.
They sold anything and everything you would ever want. Unfortunately they were doing construction on
the bridge so it took us a couple of hours before we finally got a bus that
took us into Argentina.
Our
first fabulous dinner in Argentina filled with their wonderful steaks!
Dad
so happy with his very large and juicy steak!
The
next morning we got up early and caught the first bus to Iguazu Park so we were
there ready to go when the gates opened to see the falls. Below you will see many of the hundreds of
wonderful photos that we took that day!
This
was taken from Devil’s Throat which is a lookout that looks right down into one
of the largest drops of water. Last time
I was here with my mom this area was closed due to flooding but luckily this
time it was open and ready for us to explore!
Another look at Devil’s Throat which was just so beautiful
with the sun reflecting off the water.
A
view of the falls as well as a boat that you can take to go up underneath the
falls which we did later in the day when it was nice and hot out.
A
coti family which we saw all throughout the park sadly because many of the
other tourists were feeding them but this mom had taken up on the boardwalk to
nurse her babies.
Dad
and I on the boat with the falls in the background just a few minutes before we
got absolutely soaked. Such a fun and
memorable experience!
Just
a picture perfect falls with the sun shining and the trees. We picked a great day to go and were there
early so were able to avoid most of the crowds around the park.
One
of the other smaller falls but really beautiful with the rainbow midway
down.
Dinner
the second night full of wonderful salmon, I want to go back just for the food
alone!
Dad
and his second wonderful steak of the week!
While we were in the park this man was carving these
beautiful wall hangings out of wood and we watched him for a while and learned
a lot more about it. So that evening he
came to the hotel and brought dad one to take home as a souvenir which was just
so unique and worthwhile.
So I hope that you can all see that I had a fantastic trip
with my dad when he came down. We had a
good couple of weeks in my site with him getting to know my community and
certain people better. He also helped me
out with many projects that I needed to get done around the house thus making
my life that much easier. It was sad to
see him go but I know he learned a lot and I’m sure will be back to visit at
some point!
