Because I Do Not Have the Words to Describe Them

Iguazu Falls from the Brazil side.

"Champing" in Escobar

Last weekend we went on a fun trip Noah calls “champing.” We went to a ranch out in the country, near a little town called Escobar. It wasn’t really camping, we got to stay in cabins, with showers, beds, and running water, so it was perfect for me. Kevin always teases me by saying that I think that we are camping if there isn’t room service. I’m not quite that bad, but close.

The boys had so much fun. We rode horses, sat by the fire, cooked hot dogs and marshmallows, and ran around and had a great time. Sunday was Mother’s Day, and the men cooked pancakes and sausage, and then cleaned up. What a great present, kids happy and occupied, and no dishes!

Here are some pictures of our trip:

Cowboys. They would still be on the horses, if that were possible.

Ride 'em, cowboy! Noah loved the horses.

The biggest camp(bon)fire. That's a six foot tall teenager behind the fire.

Sticky, yummy s'mores. Not quite like at home, but close enough.

No More Diapers!

Noah is finally potty training. We got our air shipment last week and we now have a little potty, and we are ready to live a life without diapers. Noah is doing a pretty good job. He goes to the bathroom about every fifteen minutes, even more when we are in a public place, and he has had only one accident. Okay, he's had two, but I'm calling the second one an on purpose. He wanted to change into a new pair of underwear every time he went to the bathroom and I told him no, we only change if they are wet or messy. The next thing I knew he had wet his pants, and yes, he changed to his Bob the Builder underwear. Which is what he wanted. He is kind of a brat, a smart (manipulative) brat.

We are going to an estancia this weekend. A woman who works at the embassy and her husband own a ranch (estancia) on about 75 acres of land out in the country. They have guest rooms, horses, and lots of room to play. I am sure it will be fun, there will be horseback riding, the kids can run around like maniacs, and we will see a new part of the country.

Procrastination and Pictures

We have now been living in a hotel for six weeks. It is getting really old. We received our air shipment last week, and we had to store it at a warehouse because we don't have anywhere to store everything here. Kevin and I went to the warehouse to get some things out of our boxes, and I noticed that I needed everything that I packed. I suppose that the point of having an air shipment is that we get the things we need faster, and now we have to decide what we need and what we don't. It really is okay to live with less of our stuff. It's hard because there is only one dresser drawer for each of us. And two tiny closets that we share. Kevin's work clothes take most of the space in one closet, and the other is full of the boys' toys, shoes, backpacks, the hammocks we bought last week, and a couple of suitcases.

For the last six weeks, I have been telling myself, "as soon as we get a house, I will..." I will start exercising, take harp lessons, find the kids a piano teacher, feel like we are home. Not having a house has been my excuse for not doing a lot of things. Well, last night I decided that I'm going to start doing some of those things while we are in the hotel. If we are going to be here another two months, then it is really time to start living how I want to live while I am in Paraguay. My first task is making, I mean, signing up the boys for afterschool sports. Sam and Chris are going to play basketball, and Marcus wants to play soccer. I think that they will be happier and make more friends if they get involved in activities. My second task is going down to the gym at the hotel and spending some time on the treadmill. My third task is getting some pictures up on this blog. I hope that some of this will help us feel like we are living here, and not on an extended vacation.

I have some cool pictures of our field trip to San Miguel.

Here is a worker at a big loom. It's kind of dark, but you can see the whole loom. He is using foot pedals to switch the warp threads up and down, and also to shoot the shuttle across. It's pretty amazing, this piece of fabric he is weaving is going to be sized for a queen bed. You can also see some wool hanging from the ceiling.

This is a smaller loom. This weaver is making narrow fabric for throw rugs, table runners, or placemats. He uses his feet to switch the threads, and sends the shuttle back and forth with his hands.

A spinning wheel, still in use.

These girls are wearing traditional Paraguayan clothes. They performed two dances for us at lunch.

This dancer has a bottle on her head. It's hard to see in this picture. She is wearing a beautiful skirt of handmade lace.

The final two pictures I took from our van, while it was driving. They are kind of blurry, but you can see what how the campo (countryside) looks.