The rest of our Journey home (We arrived!!)

Day 3 (Thursday):  Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Badlands NP and a flat-tire

• We started the day at Mount Rushmore National Monument.  There was a great tour/explanation in the sculpture studio about how the rock was actually carved.  Over 90% of the carving was done using dynamite.
• Filled up with gas (very good move) and drove the scenic route down Needles Highway around Custer State Park.  This trip was longer than expected but we saw some amazing rock structures, prairie dogs, pronghorn deer, goats, mules and buffalo.  
• After 3-4 hours of scenic driving around Custer State park we drove backroads to Badlands National Park.  The map we were using was a bit deceiving as many of these roads are gravel.... and LONG.  
• We drove all around Badlands National Park.  I was struck with how similar it looked to Painted Desert in Arizona - opposite sides of the Country and similar geology.  
• When we were leaving the Badlands and Chelsey noticed that the driver side, front tire was going flat.  I could hear the air leaking out.  No surprise as half the day's roads were gravel.  Upon closer inspection, the hole was big enough for me to put my finger in.  I put the spare tire on and we creeped up the road at 50 MPH looking for a service station.  We were informed that there were two service stations - one 20 miles to the West and one 20 miles to the East.  We took the bet and headed East as it was in our direction.
• We arrived in Kadoka, South Dakota around 9:00 PM, found a hotel and asked the clerk for a place to eat.  He informed us of two options in town:  the bar on one side of town or that shack on the other side of the interstate.  The shack had a great Cheeseburger.  

Day 4 (Friday):  Flat-tire repair and driving

• At 7:30 AM I went to JS mechanic shop in Kadoka, South Dakota.  They immediately confirmed my fear - there was no patching the tire.  I asked them if they had a new tire for me to replace it.... they started searching the used stacks.  They did not have any tires.  I got into a discussion with the owner of the shop and asked him if he had any suggestions.  After a get to know you conversation (I think he was sizing me up) and a conversation about the virtue of patience (complete with stories of past impatient customers from New York City), I explained that we were missionaries returning home.  This changed the conversation.  The owner had gone to Bible College in West Virginia.  He wanted to know where we had been so I told him about Paraguay.   He would have been helpful without knowing our story but he was really helpful after knowing it...  he said there were two more service shops - one 100 miles East and another 40 miles West.  They called around and the shop 40 miles West had the tire.  No luck with the store 100 miles East.  He also offered to have someone else bring a tire in from Rapid City if we were willing to wait until 12:00 or 1:00 that afternoon.  We decided to backtrack to Wall (40 miles West).
• Wall, home of Wall Drug Store, is also home to one repair shop (De's Tire & Muffler) who luckily had a pair of front tires for our car.  DISCLAIMER:  Both tire guys said the puncture would have happened with brand new tires.  We were not delinquent in our tire maintenance.  We went and enjoyed a quick breakfast at Wall Drug Store while they replaced our front tires.  Chelsey rode the rabbit at Wall Drug Store and we went back to pick up the car.  
• We got on the road about 11:30 AM - about 19 hours from Eminence.
• South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa are covered with windmills (and not much else).  Did you know that a farmer gets paid $2,000-$4,000 per windmill that they let the electrical company put on their land per year?   

Day 5 (Saturday):  Driving and arrival

• We started the day about 7:30 AM with almost 9:00 hours to drive.
• We re-entered the Kentucky a little after 5:00 PM.  Feels great to be in the Commonwealth.  
• Little Bit was really happy to see us (we have a video that I am going to post).  We had a nice, casual dinner with my family.

Sunday:

• Went to Mass this morning with mom.
• This afternoon, Mom and Dad threw a really nice welcome back get-together today and we got to visit with family and friends.  It was great to catch up with everyone and to share a bit of our experience.  Thanks to everyone who made the long trip to spend the day with us.  

Total Mileage: 2.400 miles in about 40 hours

Coming Week:  Many of you will be hearing from (or seeing) us this week.  Tomorrow we will be looking at our apartment for the first time (yes, we rented an apartment without seeing it).

More reflection to come on Paraguay (as soon as we settle a bit).  

Our (very indirect) Journey home

We arrived back in the States last week and spent a few very good days with the Canossian Sisters in Albuquerque.  My posts about Paraguay are not done.... but in the meantime (while still processing all my thoughts/feelings/emotions) I figured I should update everyone on our road trip.

Day 1 (Tuesday):  Albuquerque, NM to Winter Park, CO

• left ABQ and the Canossian Sisters around 8:30 AM on Tuesday (photo top right with Sister Christina)
• visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado Spring, CO
• looked a bit around Denver-- including a brief tour of State Capitol
• enjoyed a great dinner at Mountain Sun Brew Pub in Boulder, CO followed by fresh baked cookies from Boulder Baked
• backtracked a bit and ended the night at about 11:00 PM in Winter Park, CO

Day 2 (Wednesday):  Winter Park, CO to Custer, SD

• got on the road a little before 9:00 AM and looked a bit around Grand Lake, CO
• drove the 45 mile Trail Ridge Road through the Park (see photo right)
• had an amazing lunch at Village Inn (nothing fancy... just really good) and took off driving North on I-25
• visited Fort Laramie National Park (see photo of rabbit taken on the historic grounds)
• drove some really long, straight, State roads through some NASTY storms, up and into South Dakota.  I cannot get over how much open space there is in the West. (photo below, too)
• arrived in Custer, South Dakota around 8:30 PM.  Amazing pizza for dinner from a local joint.  Another long day of driving tomorrow.   

Tomorrow we will be visiting Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park.  Likely arrival in the Commonwealth... Saturday.

Our trip so far... roughly 1000 miles.

View Driving directions to Custer, SD in a larger map

Sitting at the Airport

We're sitting at the Airport in Buenos Aires.  Doesn't feel real but we will be back in the USA tomorrow at 10 AM Albuquerque time.  See you all soon!!!

 

Getting to know the Sisters (and their work) in Argentina

On Friday we said all our "goodbyes" to friends (who now feel like family) in Paraguay.  Much more to come on our feeling about leaving, but for now I will leave it at that.

We took an overnight bus across Argentina and are now in the Capitol City of the State of Buenos Aires, se llama "La Plata."  There are multiple communities of Canossian Sisters here and they have had a presence in this community for over 125 years.  We are spending our last few days in South America getting to know the Sisters and the work that they do.


Saturday, after arriving around lunchtime, we visited the city of La Plata a bit.  Sunday, we went with Madre Ilda (from Mexico) to visit Buenos Aires.  We are planning on going back tomorrow and I will try to post some Buenos Aires photos after tomorrow's visit.

Today, we had a very long day.  We went to one of the Canossian schools (Berisso) in the area, under the false impression that we were just going to sit around and watch classes in action.  Not the case.  We visited 6 classes of students in Jardin, 5-6 classes of students ranging from age 10-18 and 3 different sections of recess.  At all of these "visits" we told the story of our Mission to the students and fielded questions in Spanish.  My head was ready to explode!!!  I have never felt so much like a rockstar in my entire life.  At one point, I was given a microphone and asked to talk to a group of 200 or so kids... totally impromptu... and totally in Spanish.  On the playground we were literally surrounded by students who were shouting questions at us about America, pop-culture, sports and (rarely) our mission (see Chelsey getting swarmed at right).


Highlights included talking with the kid who, after hearing we were from KY, asked us if we knew Nerlens Noel.  I explained that he was one of our favorite players but that I did not know him personally.  The kid was without a doubt disappointed.  After spending the day with the kids in school we went out to explore some of the other areas in which the Sisters work.

First, we visited a very poor barrio that is the Argentine' Sister's equivalent of the barrio debajo del puente.  It was absolutely impoverished and we saw many of the same problems with drugs, unattended children in the streets and shanties that we have come accustomed to seeing with all our friends in Encarnacion.  One distinct difference is the barrio here is much more spread out.  Houses are bigger and have yards (covered in rocks and trash).  Top left is a photo of public housing that was installed in the barrio.  If you look closely you can see where people have built additions onto the houses with whatever materials could be found in the barrio.  Top right you see one of the three chapels that the Sisters have in the barrio.  They were all covered with graffiti but the people in the barrio seemed intent on trying to keep them nice looking.  They were repainting one of them when we visited today.


One barrio, named "Nueva York" was particularly interesting.  It is the definition of an abandoned place.  It reminds me a little of what we constantly hear of Detroit.  At the moment, people live in the stone homes but enter through windows and broken doors.  Tin roofing provides cover for holes in walls and roofs for housing additions.  The architecturally beautiful, ornate stone buildings are covered in graffiti.  People have ripped out the marble floors to sell.  The entrance of the neighborhood has a high standing arch with the inscription "Mansion de Obreros" (Mansion of Workers) with the date 1920.  You can imagine well-to-do people walking the streets and enjoying the shopping and restaurants but, as of now, it is no more.  A factory in the town closed and the city literally died.  The housing now is only for very poor squatters and the streets are covered with drug dealers.  Walking around the barrio called "New York" was probably once comparable to walking around the brownstones in the City but, now, the place is nothing more than an skeleton.

We concluded the day with a visit to the Hospital Italiano which the Sister's founded 127 years ago.  They are still totally involved in the operation and actually live on the 4th floor of the Hospital.  It was amazing to see the kind of operation they run.  It is a privately operated hospital which employees over 200 doctors and 250 nurses!!!  How many Canossians run the hospital???  There are 5 nurses that run the show (with the help of the other hospital administration).  They had pictures up in the hospital showing the founders of the hospital 127 years ago.... pretty neat to know how deeply integrated they are into the communities that they serve.  Another example of this integration --the school we visited today has been in operation for 70 years and many of the students are third generation attendees.

We could not have selected a better group of Sisters to work with than the Canossians.

Clothes - Round #2

We are out of Paraguay (currently visiting with Sisters in Argentina) but I wanted to provide a quick summary on how we used the clothes provided by Nancy's visit (in June).  In Round #2 of clothing collection, we received:

• 49 pairs of underwear and socks
• 49 pairs of boys pants
• 144 boys shirts
• 94 pairs of girls pants
• 102 shirts and dresses for girls
• hair supplies and shoestrings (you would be amazed at our need for shoestrings)
• 10 pairs of shoes

This brought our clothing totals to (insert drum roll here)...

• 109 articles of clothing for babies (under 3)
• 150 pairs of boy's pants
• 340 boy's shirts
• 287 girls dresses/pants/shirts
• 28 pairs of pajamas
• 13 coats and jackets
• 35 pairs of shoes
• bottles, socks and underwear, hair supplies and shoestrings
• Over 350 LBS of Clothes in TOTAL!!!

Special thanks to our friends who donated in round #2:

• McRae, Jonah, & Elliott Pennington
• Bryce Shields & his Grandmother
• The Morrison Family
• Davanna Grubb
• Brenda Tackett
• Sue Riffe
• Betty & Cindy Riffe
• Billie Kirk
• Miranda, Claire, & Ray McLanahan
• The Madisyn Callihan Family 
• The Matt Davis Family 
• Mrs. Stephenson's 2012-2013 Kindergarten Class

And, again, a special thanks to Nancy and my sisters who have helped with collecting ropas.  

Kids were SO proud of their new clothes.  I even had a kid show me his t-shirt that we gave him on the last day of school... a whole 1 month after receiving it!!!  We were not able to distribute ALL the clothes we received which is amazing because the kids are going to continue receiving clothes for the remainder of the year.  Thanks again for supporting our mission.

Gracias por todos!!

Wow,

Bill and I are astounded at the generosity of our friends, family, and church families.  Thanks to you all, we raised almost $5,000 and 500 pounds of clothes for projects here in Paraguay!!  That far and away exceeded our expectations.  When this all began, we told the sisters, "We might be able to raise $300, or it could be $3,000, but we won't know until we ask."  We are blown away by your response.


We have stopped accepting donations to our personal accounts.  You, of course, are still welcome to continue to supporting the Canossian Ministries through the Sisters in Albuquerque.  If you do, we suggest that you consider sponsoring future VOICA volunteers.  VOICA America sends volunteers to Paraguay, Mexico, and Brazil.

We are proud to announce that ALL of our proposed projects will get funded:

Housing

• A house for Edu's family (pictured with us on the right)

Health Center

• X-Ray Equipment for the dentistry practice
• Dentistry equipment

Education / Jardin

• Books
• Playground equipment (if we can find any to purchase)
• Toys

The "Chicas" - High school girls living and working at the Canossian House

• Computers
• Clothes Dryer
• Projector

JOMICA - Youth Group

• Sound Equipment -- They were really excited about this, btw.  I'm pretty sure they have no other source of funding, and they worked hard last year to raise enough money to build a new house for another family in the neighborhood.
• Sponsorship of two youth groupers for the trip to Brazil for World Youth Day (with the Pope).

Thanks again!  We have the best friends and family anyone could ask for!

Saturday Six

6.  There's a circus in town.  To promote it, they put their giant elephant and dog (maybe?) in a couple of lawn chairs on the top of the van.  Later, they sent out these terrifying clowns.  Due to my pathetic photography skills, you can't tell exactly how terrifying they really are, but I'm pretty sure they made a threatening gesture to the teenage boys selling chipas at the bus stop.  

 

As a side note, Sister Elizabeth won't let us go see the circus, due to the "ugly" treatment of animals.  

5. Dinner our first night in the rain forest.  I asked for chicken and vegetables.  Then I watched the chef go out to the garden and pick the veggies.  B had the fish.  

4. I got 47 bug bites as souvenirs from our trip to the rainforest.  These aren't from Mosquitos, either.  They are little black monsters that make your legs and feet burn like fire.  Also, there's no way to make your legs look pretty in a photo showcasing your collection of swollen pox.  I'll spare you my attempts.

3.  Got home at dinnertime last night with three loads of dirty laundry to do before we leave tomorrow for Brazil.  You guessed it, it rained all day in a country with no clothes dryers.  We turned sala azul into a big makeshift drying machine with two fans going at full speed and an antique space heater.  If this doesn't work in the next 12 hours, then I'm going on a ten day trip with three pairs of undies.  

2.  The other night I was sneaking around after dark looking for batteries in the pantry.  When I opened the kitchen door I was greeted with a nasty scream from the equally nasty cat glowing in the darkness, alit only by the moonlight from the window.  Scared the living daylights out of me.  

I don't exaggerate when I say that this is a creature that only some nuns could love.  It's black with a white face and its nose and cheeks are swollen all the time.  Plus, it has big bald patches under its ears from the fleas (or fights with other creatures--this is up for debate).  Sadly, cat was unavailable for photo, on account of its being missing from the house for the last several days.  I swear I didn't do it!

1.  We're off to Rio de Janeiro in the morning for World Youth Day.  We'll say hi to the Pope for you!!

And Kim and Kanye if we run into them!  It might be awkward though, because I'm def taking my Barbie pink maxi dress and acid yellow pumps.

The Rainforest - Reserva Mocona, Misiones Province, Argentina

Tuesday:  

1.  Early Am Taxi.  We left the house at 4:45am because we had to be in Argentina (1 hour time difference) by 6am Paraguay time/7 am Argentina. Long line on bridge stopped our taxi. We got out and walked through customs. Then we found the first can driver we could.  This is when I made mistake #1 of the trip... Never tell a cabby in South America when your bus leaves. He was determined to get us there in the 10 minutes and its not close with many stop signs in the way. We ignored them all at a very high rate of speed.  The bus left at 7:30 not 7:00. We had time for coffee and pastries.  Arrived at the park at 3:30pm. Lots of bus riding!!!!

2.  Amazing falls.  We arrived and immediately went to tour the Saltas de Mocona. They are unique because they are not tall.  Instead they are really really long  (3 km). Google them and be amazed.  The best view is from google earth. 

3.  Dinner.  Amazing!!!!  We are staying in a reserve/hostel in the middle of the Yaboti Biologica Reserva. The accommodations are humble but really nice.  We only have a few hours of power a day (thru a generator) and otherwise this place is off the grid. We didn't expect gourmet quality food but we got it.  I had fresh fish from the Uruguay river with organic greens from a garden here for a whopping 10 dollars.

4. It's really cold here.  We weren't planning on it but it was a cold night. Warmed up quick inthe morning though. 

Wednesday (Today):

1.  Early hike deep in the rainforest.   Amazing!!!  Or guide, Enrique, spoke very good English and was in no rush at all.  We hike about 5 km/3.1 miles but it took about 4.5 hours.  Enrique cleared jungle with a machete as we went. More to come on this hike when I have pictures too. Enrique really knew the jungle and all the species of birds and animals.  We learned why vines climb trees different directions in each hemisphere and many other awesome climate/environment/nature facts. We saw all kinds of birds and had an, all round, amazing time. 

2.  Lunch.  Amazing!!!  Followed by siestas. Chelsey took a nap inside while I snoozed in a hammock with hummingbirds and others swarming about. 

3.  More hiking around the property.  I spotted 3 big green parakeets (I think) in addition to all kinds of hummingbirds.  I need to refer to the bird book regarding the parakeets. Thanks to Chelsey's dad for the awesome Nikon binoculars. 

4.  Playing cards and preparing to eat right now. 

Tomorrow:

More hiking, ziplining and repelling in the forest, bird watching and relaxing.  Ciao!!!!

Building a house for friends

I had been looking forward to building Edu’s house for weeks.  “I really hope it does not rain tomorrow,” I said to the Sisters at dinner.  The day arrived and it was cloudy but we did not have rain.  We built for a couple hours and then the rain started.  “Ah, shucks… cannot build more today”, I thought to myself.  What a shame, I thought, I would be without entertainment for the next few hours… then I looked at the face of Fatima, the mother, and I looked at the boys standing under a leaky lean-too, getting soaked by the rain and it hit me.  What was happening to them was real life… it was not a game.  They were standing under a leaky shelter because they did not have a house.  I repeat, this family of 6 did not have a house and the thought in my head was "aw shucks, its raining..."  I felt guilty and selfish and it stuck with me all week.

I can provide a little background on the family and the project.  The house belongs to Fatima, a 28 year old, hardworking mother of 5 who lives in the barrio debajo del puente.  Her youngest son, Edu, is one of our favorite students in Jardin and has made many appearances on the Blog in past entries.  The house for the family of 6 is not much bigger than a standard American bathroom… we’re talking 12 feet by 8 feet.  It has not had a roof for the past 2 months because of a large storm that blew it apart.  

When the house is in full, working condition there is no bathroom.  The inside contains a table and a few shelves on the wall (see right).  Water comes to the house through a garden hose.  Stolen electricity enters the house through long extension cords draped through trees in the neighborhood.  There are two graves immediately outside the home that, we assume, belong to babies who didn’t make it.  This house is one of thousands in exactly the same condition but it is different because we have formed relationships with these people.  They are our friends.  

 

First, it is really important to establish that the following is all possible because of donations we have received from friends and family.  Now, to the story... The project officially started with a "thud" when the hardware store’s truck got stuck in the mud while delivering bricks, sand and tin roofing.  I should mention that this barrio is not accessible by paved road.  When it rains, it is fairly inaccessible.  After being towed out of the mud by a much larger tractor, we got the supplies down to the barrio and delivered.  

Last Saturday we arrived to start work at 8:00 in the morning.  Home construction is different here than what we have back home.  Thank goodness for Rueben, who is the father of one of our friends here in Encarnacion, and works in house construction.  It is a long story but he used to live in the barrio and has strong connections to many of the families there.  He donated his time and made the whole project possible.  Anyhow, to the construction, our first task was in demolition - removing and cleaning old, used bricks from the damaged walls.  We took hammers and knocked old concrete off the bricks and sorted them into stacks – “real broke” and “kinda broke.”  I could tell, up front, this was going to be a unique experience.  Pieces of brick that were torn to nothing (and I thought were garbage) were making it to the pile to be used for the house (look at bricks on ground, at right).  After sorting and cleaning some bricks, we started building.  Reuben positioned long sticks in the corners of the house and connected the guides with fishing line, one brick height above the existing wall (you can see the guides in the picture on the right).  This fishing line served as a guide so as to keep the walls kind-of straight and relatively level.  We poured sand and concrete out on the floor of the house and added water to the middle of the compote.  Who needs a bucket when you have a floor?  It took a couple tries but I got pretty good at mixing concrete on the floor.  The walls went up slowly but eventually we got rained out.  As I previsouly mentioned, I was a little upset because my entertainment was over for the day.  Then the rain really started and the Sister came to pick me up to take me to the house.  “Put a coat on,” she said, “you don’t want to get sick.”  And so we left Edu, and his family, outside and in the rain.  All I could think about was how another week was passing without a house or a roof for that family.  In the meantime they are staying with another family in, I can imagine, another very small house not suited to accommodate the normal residents, much less 6 guests.  This is their life.

We were going to work again Saturday but then it rained.  Yesterday (Sunday) we returned and picked up where we left off.  After raising the walls it came time to find wood to serve as supports for the roof.  We dismantled the wall of an old, neighboring structure and used lumber, which was partially rotted on the outside but, with a little cutting, turned out to be pretty good.  We removed all the old and rusted nails but we did not throw them away.  Quite to the contrary, I spent the better part of an hour hunting the neighborhood for other old nails in the hard-packed dirt (they were all over the place AND kids are always barefoot).  I took the old, bent and rusted nails and straightened them out.  We used everyone when putting the supports up for the roof.  That is where the day ended – with walls up and supports prepared to hold a roof that will, weather permitting, be installed next Sunday.

There are a few bricks left over and they are planning on building a bathroom behind the house.  This will be a huge improvement because right now they use a hole covered with cardboard right next to the house.  We were in many a perilous position when building the house.  You are cautious when falling off makeshift ladders means not only falling but taking a bath in a home-made latrine.

In addition to building the house, this experience provided the unique opportunity of sharing a couple days with a family in the barrio.  Today a kid showed up with a live chicken.  Fatima, bought the chicken and anchored it to a table sitting outside her house.  She told me it would not be ready for Edu’s birthday (in August) but that it would be ready in September.  I asked her how much it cost… 10 mil guarani ($2.50 USD).  I also asked her how much a chicken in the supermarket cost… 20 mil guarani ($5.00 USD).  I cannot imagine a situation where $2.50 is worth raising a chicken attached to a string for two months.  

Inevitably, because it is Paraguay, home construction (or anything for that matter) involves sharing yerba mate.  It is a rich cultural tradition and we did our fair share of mate sharing (left).  

So, a few of my conclusions/things I learned/ or was reminded of through this experience and my relationships with families under the bridge: 

1.  If possible get out and volunteer with those who really need it.  Building long-term relationships with people who are suffering provides them with support but it also provides you a point of contrast that makes counting your blessings or thanking God for your life situation much more meaningful.

2.  Recognize that, when you are doing well in life, you cannot claim 100% responsibility for that position.  You owe a lot of that to luck, family and place.  There are other people who landed in other situations, through no control of their own, with the same inherent skills and smarts you got with a much different life result.  I cannot tell you how many times I have said, "If this person were just in a different situation, they would be able to..."

3.  Putting forth an honest effort, even when you aren't very good at something, makes an impression.  I had no idea what I was doing building that house but I moved bricks, stirred concrete and tried to help.  I have no idea how to speak Guarani and Spanish is not all that easy but people like it when you try.

This and That

1.  I have a new nephew!!!  Reed Beckham Stephenson was born last Saturday in truly dramatic fashion.  I am very sad to have missed his arrival, but look forward to officially meeting him in August.  Reed, if you're reading this, please pencil in me and Little Bit for some serious couch-sitting when we get back.

2.  Volunteers / Hair Stylists.  We were talking to Edu's mom the other day and mentioned that he needed a haircut.  She said, "You want to do it?"  Umm, yes.  Is there any question?  So this is the result.  He's one cute kid under that mop.

3.  Thanks to donations from Crane Creek Baptist Church and our other friends, we purchased supplies to put a roof on Edu's house.  Getting the supplies into the barrio was not without some drama.  We started building this morning (Bill is going to elaborate on that tomorrow).

4.  My career as a Pre-school Teacher's Assistant is officially over.  Jardin was dismissed for Winter Break on Friday, and by the time it re-convenes, we will be sailing off (read:  sitting on a bus) to Brazil for World Youth Day.  Should I pretend to be sad?  I really will miss the kids, but as the Sisters say, "Unlike your mother, teaching is not your vocation."  (Now if only they had some wisdom as to what my vocation actually is.)

5.  Sister Noemi is back after visiting her family in Spain.  To celebrate, we pulled out a few hearts to decorate the dining room.  I quit asking questions after the five identical Jesus pictures appeared.

6.  Little Bit made her appearance at Mama Helen's Fourth of July breakfast in a couture party dress.  Designer:  Emily Brammell Callis.

Happy 4th of July

We celebrated the 4th with a rain day (no Jardin) and fried green tomatoes.  Sad to miss out on the family fried green tomatoes but they were pretty tasty here, too.  It was a new food for the Sisters and I am happy to report they liked them.  Happy Independence Day to all and we will see you soon... only 1 month left in Paraguay. 

Kentucky Connections

After searching for four months, I have so far found two Commonwealth connections in Paraguay.

Kentucky brand cigarettes are everywhere here.  And by everywhere, I mean littered on the ground, everywhere.  Someone should figure out who makes these and ask them to sponsor trash cans in the city.  BTW, a pack of 10 costs $.25.

This poster of John Wall is on the outside of the local sporting goods store.  They don't know that JW wears Adidas now.