Week One: Already Civil Unrest

It is Tuesday, and one full week since we arrived in Paraguay. The boys have started school, we have met some very nice people, and we have explored our little part of the city. Not too bad for only seven days.

I'm still without a way to upload photos to the blog, because I am not smart enough to pack the cord that came with the camera. While we were packing I couldn't imagine why I would need it, because out printer has a built in compact flash reader. However, the printer is in the surface shipment. I wasn't thinking of the three months or more that our surface shipment will take to arrive. Silly me. In the meantime, I am looking for one, and I hope that soon I will be able to share photos of our new home.

Last week was eventful in more ways than one. We explored a little bit of our new city. We found that there are very few traffic signs. And many one way streets. And most of them lack traffic signage. I have seen only one stop sign, but everyone seems to know who has the stop and who has the right of way. I can't tell that there is a system, but I hope to crack the code before I start driving. We're lucky not to have our car here yet. We would definitely get in a wreck if we did.

Monday was the boys first day of school. The first difference that we felt is that everything in this country starts early. The school bus comes to get the boys at 7 AM. Seven o'clock. One more time, seven. Seven. We have to get up and get dressed and get down to breakfast by 6:30. In the morning. We are used to leaving our house by 8:20, nearly two hours later. School starts at 8 AM, and goes until 3:30 PM. After school the kids can play basketball, volleyball, soccer, chess, get homework help, or learn about the surrounding countries. It is a fun program, with many travel opportunities for the kids 5th grade and older.

Chris seems fine. In middle school all of the classes are taught in English, except for Spanish class. He also goes to a special social studies class where he learns a little about Paraguayan history and culture.

Sam goes to SSL, Spanish as a second language. He is in a grade without many foreign students. While they speak English during instruction time, the playground language is Spanish. He misses the OC, he wants to go to the OC, and he wants to be home. I hope, for his sake, that he can have an attitude adjustment, or this is going to be a very long year for him.

Marcus got put into immersion Spanish. In first grade the language of instruction is Spanish because most of the kids are local Paraguayans, with only one year of English. Marcus is feeling frustrated because he wants to follow instructions and do what he is supposed to, but he doesn't understand what those instrutions are. Other than that, he likes school.

Each of the boys is assigned an "ambassador" who will show them the ropes, how to get lunch, how to get on the bus, and to hang out with them at recess and breaks. We hear that many of the ambassadors become the new students best friends.

Noah and I have been walking to the grocery store every day. We buy new treats to try, and stock up on bottled water. The store has Pantene, Colgate, Johnson & Johnson's, Huggies, a lot of Nestle products, Dove soap, and Coca-cola products. But everything smells different, or is different that what we buy in the USA. The chocolate tastes weird, the diapers are different, the soap is smelly. They only thing that is the same is Coke. And Coke light (diet Coke). Noah and I also explored the mall, it's pretty, it's kind of expensive for Paraguay, but we did find a suit for 340,000 guaranis. At the exchange rate of 5000 guaranis to 1 dollar, that's a good price.

We also experienced our first bit of authentic South American civil unrest. I don't know what is going on here politically, but there were about two thousand protesters outside the embassy today. They weren't protesting at the embassy, but at a building nearby, and there were riot police, and rubber bullets, and people being pushed away with water cannons. It's kind of scary and kind of interesting.

Here is a picture of the police outside the embassy.



I'm sure many of you know that we lost my grandpa last week. We really miss being home, especially because we are so isolated here. The boys have been very sad. Sam already wanted to go home, and this just cemented his desire. We are learning that life goes on without us, it is hard to learn, and harder to accept. We miss our family very much.