Asado

A while ago now, I spent one of the best Saturdays in Asuncion. My Spanish teacher, Maria Elena, invited me, Jesse, Danielle and her fiance Kagan to their house for an asado. Jesse, unfortunately, had a basketball game that day so he could go, so Danielle, Kagan, and I took the 18 bus out to the Jardin Botanico where Maria Elena came to pick us up to take her to her house. We had a wonderful time, just sitting, talking, and eating. Their yard made me incredibly jealous, as there were lemon, lime, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, mango, and papaya trees. The fresh squeezed mandarin juice was amazing! It was a simple afternoon, but one spent in a great, Paraguayan way. We hung out with Maria Elena, her parents, her husband, and her son, and really got to get to know some great people.

Tierra Nuestra

For the last two days, I went on an overnight trip with my fifth graders to an estancia (ranch) called Mamborei, which is about two and a half hours outside of Asuncion. The goal of the trip is team building and nature appreciation. The group that runs the activities is called Tierra Nuestra, which means our earth. They do team building activities for schools that can afford it to fund their other environmental programs in poorer neighborhoods and schools. The group was great, and my students really enjoyed their time. The highlight of the trip is the campfire and the night games, which include two Guarani myths, the Pora and the Pombero. Both are spirits that cause bad things to happen. The Pora is a white spirit, that will capture those who are alone at night; the Pombero is a spirit that does naughty things, like lift women's skirts or steal babies. During the night games, the students tried to stay away from the Pora while catching the Pombero.

I didn't take any pictures this year, but I did with last year's group, so here's the link http://wanderingwisconsinite.blogspot.com/2010/06/tierra-nuestra.html

Some of the activities were different this year than last year: the students tie-dyed shirts, tried passing water balloons without they breaking using tarps, made campfire skits. My personal favorite activity from both years is the nature hike where the students learn about the native plants and animals of Paraguay. It never fails to surprise me how little the students know about their own country.

Bicentenario Downtown Celebration

On May 14th, the night before the official independence day, the downtown area was completely filled with people celebrating together. Many government buildings were lit up for the festivities and were absolutely beautiful. Different stages were set up in the various plazas where music was being played or demonstrations of Paraguayan crafts, and even a light/video show on the Presidential palace. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night.

The harp is one of Paraguay's traditional instruments. This was a beautiful concert of harp students from a local music school.


If you can't tell what is happening in the above picture, she has at least 8 bottles stacked up on her head. This was one of the demonstrations I mentioned earlier.
After spending some time downtown, we went to a rooftop bar to enjoy the night. There was a nice surprise at midnight, when a beautiful fireworks show started and we got to see it all!

El Bicentenario de Paraguay!

200 years of independence from Spain. We were lucky enough to be in a country when they were celebrating a this wonderful occasion. There were events going on all week long all around town and our school also celebrated this wondrous occasion with many different presentations and activities. One activity that the whole school did together was a flag raising of both the U.S. and Paraguayan flags, and the singing of the Paraguay national anthem.
On that same morning, the elementary had their Folklore Day. This day happens every year, but this year it was done as the culmination of the Bicentenario activities. The indigenous language of Paraguay is Guarani, and students are required to pass a proficiency test in Guarani before they can receive their Paraguayan diplomas. Guarani is the main language outside of the city. On Folklore Day, the students all learn traditional Guarani dances, wear costumes, and perform the dances for their family and peers. The students are really quite adorable in their traditional outfits!
As a prelude to the festivities, the Paraguayan department and the PTA had gotten together and had decorated the school in celebration.

Paraguay Video

With the 200th anniversary of Paraguay's independence from Spain, there have been a lot of tourism and culture videos created to spark patriotism for the celebration in a few weeks. Here is one video that our librarian shared with us. It shows some beautiful scenery and things to do in Paraguay. We actually haven't been or done most of what is displayed, so it was informational for us too! Click on the link below to enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URch_tOeVlo&feature=player_embedded

Dengue Fever!

For the last few weeks, there has been an epidemic of dengue in Paraguay. For those unfamiliar with this disease, it is spread by mosquitoes and is accompanied with high fevers, headache, rash, joint and muscle pain, and with some strands, hemorrhaging, especially in the gums. It can be life-threatening, especially if you've already had dengue before.

There has been a lot of rain lately in Paraguay, which helps the mosquito population. Once a mosquito has bitten an affected person, they can spread the disease by biting another person, and thus, an epidemic has spread. Last week, soldiers and health officials started house searches, looking for stagnant water in some of the neighborhoods with the highest number of cases. Families are liberally spraying their students with Off! before coming to school, and local pharmacies are selling bracelets that have citronella to ward off the insects. At the local park where I run after school, there have been ladies offering to spray patrons with Off! before they enter.

I had one student who had it at the beginning of March and now, many people are afraid that they have it when they exhibit any of the symptoms. My Spanish teacher, Maria Elena, has been telling me that on all the Paraguayan TV stations there have been commercials educating people on dengue prevention. Hopefully, Jesse and I can escape this year without any severe illnesses.

Shakira, Shakira!

Live music is always a good time, and living abroad can sometimes make it difficult since musicians like we like aren't always coming to Paraguay. Jesse went to a Franz Ferdinand concert last year, and this year, Shakira came! It was her first time in Paraguay, and there was excitement in the air for weeks. Here's a few photos of her concert.
Ziggy Marley (Bob's son) opened for Shakira.
Only downside of the concert, it was on a Tuesday. And we had to work the next day. It was worth it.

Travel Woes

Sometimes, the travel gods look down on weary travelers and give them flights that leave on time, upgrades, and friendly personnel. Sometimes, I think the travel gods look at some people that travel a lot and say, hmm... I'm a little bored, they haven't had too many travel snafus, let's see what I can do!

Our travel plans over the last few weeks have been so crazy, its a miracle that Jesse and I are still together! First, on our way back to the U.S. to visit family for Christmas, our flights leaving Asuncion and Montevideo were delayed, so we arrived 30 minutes before our flight to Miami. That was not enough time for LAN airlines, who had overbooked the flight and gave our seats away. This led to about two hours of arguing with both Pluna airlines and LAN to discuss who was at fault and who would get us on a new flight. We had to spend a night in the Santiago airport and then were put on an American Airlines flight back to the U.S. the next night.

Now, normally, that would be enough for some people. Not for us. On our way back to Asuncion, our flight out of Dallas to Santiago was delayed. No big deal for us; we had a big enough layover in Santiago. However, our luggage never made it to Pluna airlines and our connecting flights to Montevideo and Asuncion. We had one extra day in Asuncion, so we thought, yeah our stuff will make it in time before we have to leave for our vacation. Nope, it didn't. American never gave our stuff to Pluna; our luggage was sitting in the Santiago airport for three days, before American finally released the bags not to Pluna, but to Tam airlines. We learned this after our fourth call to American Airlines. We were not notified when they arrived in Asuncion.

So, we were supposed to fly back to Chile, go up to the northern part and visit the Atacama Desert and the Salt Falts in Bolivia with some friends. When our luggage was continually delayed, we told Pluna airlines that if they could change our flights and just get us to Bariloche, Argentina on the 4th, we just wouldn't go to northern Chile, we would cancel that part of our vacation, and everything will work wonders. Well, we are leaving tomorrow, the 5th, after more than 10 calls to the Pluna personnel, four trips to the airport, and one trip to the Pluna offices.

To add insult to injury, we got stuck in a rainstorm on our way out to the airport for the fourth time. We have a motorcycle.

To add a second insult to injury, when we finally got our stuff, we discovered the Chilean customs people had gone through our stuff (even though we never went through customs). They took and destroyed my 3lb. bag of craisins, some crushed red pepper, and a can of shaving cream. Really?? That's what you take and destroy?

I hope this is the last issue we have for a while......

Christmas!

As most of our Wisconsin family and friends know, Jess and I are returning to the state to celebrate Christmas with our families this year. Well, that doesn't mean that we can't bring a little Christmas cheer to our apartment down here! While it is hard to get into the spirit of the season when its almost 100 degrees out, but here's my best shot!

Thanksgiving

As I've said before on the blog, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No pretenses; just a good meal shared with close family and friends. With every year that passes where I am away for the holiday, I find that I value the day more and more. I've really learned to appreciate those around me and be thankful for all the opportunities that I have.

Well this year was spent again with close friends. Summer has finally hit Asuncion, unlike last year when it arrived in September, so the hosting house decided to throw a pool party/Thanksgiving dinner to take full advantage of the sunshine.
And it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a little football.
The food was absolutely delicious, with everyone bringing a favorite dish from their family traditions. I think that might be my favorite part; hearing and eating everyone's traditions.
Of course, the Green Bay Packers had to be represented during the meal.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are truly thankful for all of our family and friends, near and far.

In Your Face!

While Jesse is away at Rancho (will be explained later), I thought I would take this opportunity to share a high school event. As an elementary teacher, I don't often get to partake in high school events, but last week, there was a pep rally, and it happened to be during my prep time. So I went. And I'm glad I did. I think the pictures speak for themselves

Spa Day

After the past few weeks, I decided I needed to take a personal day. Along with my neighbor and another teacher at school, we made spa day appointments. Along with the required hour massage, I also got a de-stressing facial, and a pulido.

What's a pulido you may ask? Good question. It is a complete body exfoliation. Let me describe. I put on my swimsuit, then was asked to get into a small room, with a plastic massage table. I climbed onto the table, then the employee, wearing a swimsuit herself, started to hose me down with a shower head. After that, she put on scrubby gloves, and proceeded to scrub my entire body. Hard. I turned over, and the scrubbing process started again.

After both sides had been scrubbed, I thought a quick rinse and we'd be off. Well, that's just not how thing happen here in the 'Guay. She rinsed me off yes, but then, I was washed by her. Soap was poured onto my body, and I was lathered up.

That wasn't everything. After the lathering, a quick massage ensued, then she started slapping my body to stimulate blood flow. It sounded really hilarious with the slapping sounds reverberating against the walls, and especially since my friends were next door and we could hear each other being slapped.

Good massage, good facial, interesting to say the least exfoliation. Overall, a successful spa day!

Jorge Gayoso, Remansito

Three years ago, a teacher started a Sunday program of going to an area, just outside of Asuncion, and feeding the students there and playing educational games with them. Well this little project has expanded into the Jorge Gayoso School, in the area of Remansito, becoming our school's sister school. The high school sends a community service group out there a few times a year, the middle school started a school supplies drive, and the elementary student council organized a clothing drive.

I'm not a student council leader, but I was asked by the teachers to help out on the day of the drive. The purpose of the drive was to collect gently used clothing from students and their families, go out to Remansito, sell the clothing for 2-3 mil (roughly 30-70 cents) a piece, then use the money to purchase books and other supplies for the school.

Nothing ever seems to go smoothly in Latin America, so of course, 15 minutes into our trip, the bus breaks down. So we had to unload the bus of all the clothes for the drive, and wait on the side of the road for another bus to come.
But we did make it there, with all the student council students safe and sound, with plenty of time to set up shop.
There were a lot of people waiting for us to open shop.
We had native Spanish speakers manning the registers, just to make sure everything went smoothly. We also weren't sure how many of the parents would speak Spanish or Guarani (native indigenous language) so Lorenzo was a big help in making sure it went great!
The elementary school had collected over 2000 pieces of apparel. This is a picture of the baby clothes/toy room.
It seemed as if everyone from the community came out to shop. Here, a little girl and her big brother!
All in all, the student council collected plenty of money to put back into the same community, through books, notebooks, a lock for the office door, and other miscellaneous school supplies that they need.

On a side note, our school also just purchased new desks and chairs, and the old ones are being donated to Jorge Gayoso as well. So our school is definitely giving back to those in the community who are in need. Our elementary students did so well during this event, that I'm sure more events like this will come.

Halloween

Can you guess who Jesse and I are?
The Big House had their traditional party, and all big house inhabitants dressed thematically, pirates and gypsies.

Laguna Blanca- on the water

During our camping trip, we wanted to spend as much time in or on the water as possible. This was a little difficult, since the weather didn't cooperate for half the time. But we were still able to keep ourselves busy. The ranch had a rowboat, a canoe and several kayaks left over from the 70's available for rent. The decision was made to go fishing.

The poles that the ranch had to offer were the classic Tom Sawyer style- a stick with a string and a hook on the end.
What to use for bait? Well good thing Jesse and Danielle are such good grasshopper catchers! They caught plenty for us to use.
We all climbed into the boats to head out and try our luck in catching supper.
Jesse was the only lucky one to catch a fish. Since we only caught one, we threw him back. But the fish was a tilapia, one of my favorites!

Laguna Blanca

Last weekend we had a much needed, five day spring break. In our effort to see more of Paraguay, we hired a driver, packed up the tent and supplies, and headed to the elusive Laguna Blanca. Teachers had spoken of hearing of a white sand beach with a lake of crystal clear water, but some thought this was a myth. Its not. Paraguay does have a spring fed, crystal clear lake, surrounded by a nature reserve. In fact, there is a team of scientists there right now studying the flora and fauna of the area, and have found what they believe are two new species of frogs.

Anyway, we went with three other couples, Kathryn and Lorenzo, Jac and Guille, and Danielle and Kagan. All of our supplies barely made it into the van, but soon we were on our way. The laguna is partly owned by a man who runs a ranch nearby and rents out cabins and offers camping as well. It is incredibly hard to get to. Three hours on paved roads, and then another hour on dirt roads, that include four of the sketchiest bridges I've ever been on . Think planks of wood across little creeks. Super scary in a big van!

We got there, set up our tent, and explored the lake a bit. We spent three days there, and it was a wonderful way to get out of the city and enjoy the nature of Paraguay.
We played quite a few games of sand soccer. They resulted in injuries for almost everyone.
We also took a few hikes around the lake to look around. Jesse will be doing a post later on some of his findings.
Since it is anaconda mating season, we were hoping to see one, but alas, we didn't find one. We didn't even see a tarantula. Maybe we'll have more luck on our next camping excursion.

Newest Piece of Furniture

We went downtown a few weeks ago and came back with this! A little Paraguayan stool to be our souvenir. Surprisingly, its pretty comfortable!

What is he doing? What is that?

The arm you see is Jesse's. What he is doing is cutting is the layer of skin off of a slab of bacon before he slices it himself. Yup, we are starting to slice our own bacon. This is supposedly the best bacon our middle school principal has found in Asuncion. We'll let you know after we eat it.

Club Mbegua

In an effort to get out of our suburbia bubble, I spoke with a few teachers who are married to Paraguayans to get a few ideas. One of those ideas was to take the ferry across the Paraguay River/Asuncion Bay to a place called Club Mbegua (pronounced Bay-wah- is Guarani for a type of bird). Apparently Paraguay is the birdwatching capital of the world, with more species in the country than anywhere else. The teacher that I spoke to said that it would be a good time to cross the bay because all the migratory birds are currently migrating and we might be able to see some cool birds. Well, we did see some birds, so she was right. But more than that, we saw a glimpse into Paraguay's past.

Remember the resort that Baby and her family go to in Dirty Dancing? Kellerman's? Fifty years ago, Club Mbegua was the Paraguayan version of Kellerman's. Now it is a decrepit, falling down, country club-esque area that could be absolutely beautiful. Walking around was almost eery. Visions of horror films at the abandoned country club definitely went through our minds. I imagine that when the country was under the control of the dictator, this place would have been an ideal place to go for a family picnic, to host sporting events, weddings, special events, everything. But it appears that no one has really used the place since the dictator fell out of power.
We did get to take an amazing/scary/how-is-this-boat-actually-moving-this-might-be-the-first-engine-made-in-Paraguay boat ride across the river. This picture doesn't quite do the boat justice. The engine was right in front of Jesse, and we paid the driver $4 to take us across.

Back to the club, there were a few people laying around by the kiddie pool, and it appears as though the local crewing team uses the club to store their boats and use the river to practice, but the rest was deserted.
The big pool. Jesse and Kagan are practicing their front crawl.
The nice thing about the area was that we got a pretty decent view of Asuncion from the other side of the bay.
Who knows what we'll see next time we leave our bubble!