Ellen in Paraguay

“I’m so glad I know English.” “Rey said I look Paraguayan. Do you think that’s supposed to be a compliment or an insult.” “Man, I am so disappointed that our cake didn’t turn out.” “When is it going to start getting really hot?” I didn’t know where to start, so for the last minute I just wrote down some of Peter and Larissa’s conversation. My brother and cousin got here last Wednesday, and it still seems unreal to me. I have enjoyed all the visitors we have had over this year, but it is a special joy to share this experience with two of the people that are closest to me. Since they are staying with me until we all go home together in December, they will have had almost two months to become familiar with the Paraguayan lifestyle; I am thinking it will be nice to have other people me who understand what life is like here and with whom I can reminisce. They are both very serious about trying to pick up some Spanish while they are here and are coming along wonderfully…under my tutelage of course. It can be seen from Larissa’s first comment that studying Spanish has helped her appreciate some of the difficulties that a person might have in learning English. She is also having a great time with the communal way of life, sharing térere with all kinds of people, and she even suggested at lunch today that we all just eat our dessert out of the same bowl. Larissa already has been given a nickname by Oscar “La Risa” which means “the laugh” and it suits her well. I have spent much time in giggles for the last few days.

Peter probably looks even more Paraguayan after Saturday when he got a nice tan from spending two hours stranded in the middle of the Río Paraguay. We rented two boats for an hour for only $2, but they were probably worth about that much. Gaby had to spend most of the time bailing water with an old juice/worm container, while the rest of us battled with the oars that must have weighed about 20 lbs each. I felt bad because Karen prepared a beautiful outdoor lunch to which we arrived very late, very tired, very dirty, and very hungry!

Larissa tried to make an apple cake today and it didn’t turn out because our oven doesn’t work and she had to cook it in a heavy metal pot. Other than that, Peter and Larissa think all the food here is excellent, and are excited about pretty much everything we do. I like having them here, as well as Jason, just to hear the exclamations “Oh what a cool-looking house!” “what a yummy cookie!” “what a beautiful plant!” (usually it’s Jason saying that) or Larissa “what a nice street! It doesn’t have any garbage in it!” Everything is new and exciting again.

# posted by Ellen @ 11:24 PM