Trece

 Ah this week has flown by and I don’t have anything written yet. Oh well, maybe I won’t send it today.  

 

Sunday, January 31, 2021

 Due to our company, (Rachelle’s friend Raquel, her little sister Vanessa, and their friend Lisandro) I made the hammock in the living room my bed and actually got cold due to the rainy weather happening outside the open windows and door. Also due to the rain, church was cancelled. Some of our company slept in (because that’s what you do in Paraguay when it rains) and some came in early and chatted and drank mate, which is pretty much like terere except with hot water and some sweetener added. It’s definitely not my favorite. If they were disappointed about not going to church they didn’t show it, and we had a little song service ourselves after breakfast. Afterwards the chess game was hauled out and some of us gossiped or read or colored and soon it was lunch time. I’m a quiet person when it comes to new people’s, especially in Spanish. But it’s fun to be able to understand most of what people are saying even if I have trouble talking. It’s also fun to hear the word ‘snowboarding’ as in ‘I want to go snowboarding’ thrown in to an otherwise only Spanish conversation. Our company left not long after 2 and I logged in to Steinbach Sunday morning service to hear my Dad talking! That came rather as a surprise to me and I got to listen to his impressions of Paraguay.  A few hours later we welcomed more company thru the gate. Shayla’s sister Cindy and Ty (from Alabama somewhere I think) and their 2 boys, were visiting Karlins. We did the normal things like eat and talk and then we sing for awhile which I enjoyed immensely and after it was good and properly dark the fireworks were brought out and drowned out the neighbors music for a few seconds.  

 

Monday, February 1, 2021

 I again slept in the hammock and slept late much to the dismay of the little people who were desperately longing to play with some of the toys in the living room.  Karlins and company left soon after lunch and we shortly followed them. We took a scenic route to Asuncion and did some shopping before heading to Paseo La Galería (shopping mall between the Twin Towers of Paraguay. Picture below) to eat a delicious supper of build-your-own pasta on the 3rd story balcony overlooking the city. We even got to watch the sun finish going down. We live in style here.   

 

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

 Eric worked at getting my visa renewed this morning and then we (I) spent more money and drove around and eventually met Karlins and company at another mall food court and then all trooped down to underground parking to exchange vehicles. We’ve been using the pickup for the last 2 weeks and the van now feels luxurious with lots of space.  

 

 Thursday, February 4, 2021 

The long awaited day for the girls came today. Rachelle made a jug of lemonade, 2 cakes and a colorful sign and the girls set up a table outside the gate for a few hours to vend their wares. Thais came to supervise and brought her little brother Cristian. I mostly stayed inside and made buns and cinnamon rolls but most of the neighbors stopped by (Rachelle had done a status update) and 2 vehicles stopped. Apparently one vehicle only wanted the cake which had sold out and had their own drink and apparently were quite happy due to their drink. All in all it went quite well and they warned enough to go buy ice cream afterwards.   

 

Friday, February 5, 2021 

The electrician neighbors came for supper tonight. I’m not sure if I should leave it at that or give you more details.  

I’ll start on the details. First of all, apparently this has happened to all the teachers that have been here but the lady loves to jokingly pair her son (Jimmy) with the teacher and that makes it a bit awkward for both of us. Anyways. I’ll tell this in order. The mom and her daughter (Emily) were going to come early to learn how to make hamburgers with us. Well, we thought, since there wasn’t a time given, they might come around 1600. Well, 1600 came and we weren’t quite ready for them so we breathed a sigh of relief. I was doing a rather large renovation on my dress and was glad they didn’t show up in the middle of that. Five o’clock came and we were all ready and we started playing games on the living room floor and they didn’t come. They finally arrived just after 1900. But that’s Paraguay for you. Gotta love it. And, oh, the godfather of the girl and his family is coming to their place from Asuncion yet tonight and they might suddenly have to go home when they arrive. Ok. So we make the hamburgers. The dad and Jimmy arrive sometime after 2000 and we drink terere and eventually Eric starts grilling the hamburgers and then suddenly it’s time for a ride in Jimmy’s car. There’s definitely reason for that as it’s a 1985 VW Bug. Four speed manual I found out. So some of us got a ride much to the delight of some and the dismay of others but we won’t go into that. It turned out to be a rather long ride; I’m used to going a block or 2 and then returning home when testing out someone else’s vehicle. But no, almost to the end of town one way, then the next and then stop at a store to buy pop before going back home. By which time the hamburgers are ready and we sit down to eat a hardy meal and everyone’s to full to eat cake but the godfather’s call that they’ve arrived saves us from having to stuff ourselves with cake yet and the 5 of them pile into the tiny interior of the bug with a tray of hamburgers and half the cake on their laps and they’re gone. And we have just enough time to clean up before the clock strikes 2300 and we head wearily to bed.   

 

Saturday, February 6, 2021 

A few weeks ago, the call of ‘Combine!’ brought everyone to the front of the house to watch the massive beast roll down our street and over the speed bumps. Obviously harvest is now beginning and  the last 2 mornings I’ve seen them on our street. Now I’ve seen combines before and even ridden in one (que guapa Miss Addie!) but I feels it’s rather uncommon to see one rolling thru town.  

Doce

 Sunday, January 24, 2021 

I can’t believe it’s the end of January already.  

I’ve written a bit about what the church yard and building are like. Now to tell you about the service itself. To start with, Everybody arrives via the missionary vehicle. We stop to pick up Perla at her hair salon on the way to church, and then once most of us have been dropped off to unlock and set up the Sunday School benches and make room in the vehicle, Eric goes to pick up Felicita and whoever wants to come from her compound. Usually it’s Felicita’s daughter Gloria and her 2 children Thais (14) and Cristian (2.) Another on of her daughters, Nimia, sometimes comes with her daughter Marivel (17). Once everybody has arrived we stand around talking or listening to voice messages or run around. Eventually, when Eric has deemed it time (maybe he checks the time?) we all walk into church and find our seats. The ladies seem to have an unwritten rule about who sits where, while Eric has about 4 different spots to choose from. Church starts, Eric leads a few songs out of the books that we spread out across the room while we wait for the aforementioned second load of congregationalists. (I don’t know if that’s the right word.) Most Paraguayans don’t know about following notes and are not necessarily melodious singers. There books with no notes that they can use while we follow our little notes. We sing only soprano in church although other voices are added by those who don’t sing on tune. It truly is quite beautiful tho. After a short opening Eric, the children are dismissed and the adults scoot they chairs around into a semi circle and proceed to read the Sunday School lesson and having a lively discussion. Perla and Felicita don’t run out of words very often and discussions with them can get pretty interesting. Meanwhile, outside the children are pretty much playing musical chairs while supposed to be having Sunday School. First we read the lesson and do the exercises, then we spend a while coloring the picture with assorted sizes of pencil crayons before opening the Cantemos songbook that may or may not be missing 10 or 15 songs. We might sing one that we already sang in church that morning or we might sing Oh Come All Ye Faithful as it seems to be a favorite, even after Christmas. Back in church after I’m not sure how long, half an hour or longer, we recite our verse from the lesson and sing a song in front of church. Finally back in our seats we sing a Guarani song or 2, someone might comment a few words on it from the benches, or ask what certain words mean and then the sermon is brought by (drum roll, please) Eric. Throughout the service, Christian will be running in and out and around, Rachelle might be translating for me out loud, and someone might volunteer a thought from the benches. A song, a prayer and church is over. But we walk around, eat fruit, visit, because that’s what you do after church. Even if we’ll all squish into the van and make only one trip to drop everyone off. Before Covid, they used to drink terere together after church and sounds like we might be starting that again soon.  Monday, January 25, 2021 We visited Julian’s tonight. I love being with them. There’s never a dull moment, always fun and laughter and craziness and singing. The oldest few love to practice their English and the 16 year old twins are a highlight with Eric’s girls.    

 

Wednesday, January 27, 2021 

I’m afraid the bugs have gotten me again. I mean, not afraid. Mad. There was a stretch between then and now (then being the week or 2 after I got here) that I didn’t have many bites and thought I was getting used to the bugs here or something. What a joke.  

 

Thursday, January 28, 2021

 At breakfast, the mist that was misting down on us turned into a drizzle and then suddenly turned into rain and pretty soon we vacated the table as the grass roof on the quincho was starting to leak. Breakfast came to an abrupt end and we got on with our day a bit earlier than usual. Actually it’s still raining as we speak; I’m sitting in my desk getting ready for school and the time reads 0733. 

 

Friday, January 29, 2021 

We were invited to (Jacob I think his name is) Miller’s for supper tonight. We went to see them last week and they wanted to have us over for supper yet. Did some shopping along the way as some of the shops we shop in are in their direction. We ate a delicious supper of mashed potatoes and meatballs and  jello and pickles and pickles beets and buns and I forget what else. Reminded me a bit of going to my grandparents and trying to help with prep and cleanup and eating however many cookies you want  cuz they’re Grandma’s and you don’t always get Grandma’s cookies. Later in the evening some of their children and grandchildren came to sing with us. There were some strong, beautiful voices there; 2 of the little boys sang a duet for us and one little 4-year-old belted out the chorus of his favorite song when we came to it. I found the languages very interesting tonight. The men conversed in Spanish but the women had to try to make each other understood thru all 3 languages. Mrs. Miller speaks English and 2 of the other ladies there definitely understand some English and they’d all understand some Spanish but speak neither. So if Mrs. Miller wasn’t around it for quite interesting. Rachelle had the ability to be fluent in Plautdeich when she was young. She lost that along the way but can understand some and tries to talk some much to the delight of some Mennonites.  I don’t even know what I’m writing anymore. It’s barely still Saturday and I still have today to write about and I want to sleep yet. 

 

 Saturday, January 30, 2021

Rachelle’s friend Raquel from Campo Nueve asked if she could come for night tonight. Well sure of course! Then she asked if she could bring her sister, and later she said there was a youth boy coming along too. They were at a wedding on one of the colonies and needed a place to sleep. I find it very interesting. They’re from some sort of plain church, they wear plain colored cape dresses and white lacy head coverings. Raquel is maybe 40 ish, her adopted sister is 15, and they brought along a 22 year old guy who is of no relation to them as far as I know. The guy is a teacher in Guatemala at some sort of school for boys who’s parents don’t want them or something. They all seem quite relaxed here and want to come to church with us tomorrow. Who knows how long they’ll stay. I’m hoping to play ball with them tomorrow as apparently Raquel is quite the ball player. 

Anyways I’m not feeling very happy about how this letter is written but this is what you’re getting this week.  

Addie