Saturday we took a field trip to a little town called San Miguel. It is a town that specializes in wool. They raise sheep, spin wool into yarn, and make blankets, rugs, ponchos, and other things out of the wool. It was very cool to get out of the city, and see some more Paraguay.
San Miguel is about 3 hours south of Asunción. We met at the embassy at 7 AM (early!) and rode in vans to the town. The campo, or countryside, reminded me of Wyoming, except with palm trees and red tile roofs. There were wide open spaces, rolling hills, and small towns along the drive. When I mentioned this to another person in our group, he agreed. He is from Casper, so he would know.
Our first stop was a cooperative where the finished items are collected and sold. We looked at blankets, saddle blankets, and knitted items. There are quite a few black sheep in the area, and many of the items were made with undyed black wool. It is very pretty, it is the color of Whitney's hair, with subtle variations of brown, red, and black. Some of the blankets were only $20, they were all handwoven and would fit on a twin size bed. The larger ones were only slightly more expensive. I was amazed that they were so inexpensive.
Our next stop was a shop called Muñeca. Here they make hammocks, rugs, bedspreads, ponchos, tablecloths, and many other things out of cotton and wool. We got to go in the back at look at the workshop. They were using looms that could have (and may have) been built in the 1800s. These looms were operated manually, no electricity, only foot pedals and man power. It was so interesting to see how to make a piece of fabric, and to realize the time it takes to produce one item to sell. Everything that is sold out in the front was made by the family in the back workshop. We bought a couple of cool hammocks, for when we get our house, and Marcus picked out a fun rug that he wants to put in his room.
Our last stop was an estancia, or ranch. We met the owner of the ranch, Dueño San Francisco, and his family. They have cattle, horses, a couple of crocodiles, an iguana, turtle, monkey, and a big bird called a ñandu (like an emu). We watched some beautiful girls dance, ate lunch, and tried some new desserts. One of the girls in our group got bitten by the monkey. It was sad, she was so upset that the monkey would bite her, and I'm sure it hurt. We got to go to the clinic in San Miguel, it was reassuring to see that it was clean, but not so reasurring that they didn't have band-aids. I hope we don't have to have many medical experiences while we are here. All in all, it was a great activity, and we were glad we went.
Chris has asked for a guitar for his birthday. There are some very good guitar makers in Asunción. There are also beautiful harps in many of the shops. I told Kevin that I am going to take up the harp, just so I can buy one. Whether I played or not, it would be a beautiful addition to our decor. We have the names of a couple of luthiers (my word of the week) and my task for the week is to find a good guitar for the birthday boy.
We miss you, but I think we are finally adjusting to life in Paraguay. We have a routine, we know where to grocery shop, and what restaurants we like. We can find church, and I am a pro at calling a taxi, but every once in a while I stop and think "wow, I'm in Paraguay!" It is still a bit unreal to me.
