I've posted a link to our December newsletter on the lower left of this page.
We've been in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, since the 27th of November, visiting with Lizet's family. The boys have been having a wonderful time with their tías (aunts) and their abuelito and abuelita. We came for Twana's graduation from high school, which was on the 4th, but decided to stay a couple of weeks. It's been a very pleasant, relaxing time.
I wasn't going to bring my laptop, but at the last minute I decided I would. On the whole, it's been a good thing. I've still gotten plenty of rest, had nice times with the family, and enjoyed playing with the boys. But I've also managed to get caught up on lots of things and been able to stay in touch so that I don't anticipate having to dig through a mountain of emails when I get home to Paraguay on Tuesday!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Good to be Home
What a good feeling to be back home in Paraguay after fourteen months in the US, mostly traveling around. We flew back into Asunción on August 4th and got back to Escobar as soon as possible to find our house and our dog Oso wonderfully cared for by Antonio and Lida Guerrero.
Before we went back to Escobar I went to our cell phone provider to get a phone that I could use, as I was using our Motorola V3 before, to connect to the internet. The salesman talked me into buying a BlackBerry, saying not only could I get email and browse the web using the phone but I could also use the phone as a Bluetooth modem to connect my laptop to the internet as I had done with my other phone.
Well, salesmen are salesmen everywhere, I guess, and this guy somewhat exaggerated the capabilities of the BlackBerry which, though a good phone and very useful for brief emails and a little internet browsing, is not good at all as a Bluetooth modem. The upside of that is I've been wasting no time at all online. The downside is that some things I really need to do online--paying bills, for example, or updating my blog--I just can't do.
Part of the problem is a very variable cell phone signal at our house. This aspect of the problem I'm hoping to remedy with a dual band cell phone repeater. But there also seems to be a problem with the phone itself as a modem--even when I have a good signal it only connects a fraction of the times I try.
That's the frustrating side of life. The exciting part of our life is helping missionaries with language learning, and I just finished this week a four-week refresher course with SIM missionaries Jeff and Amy McKissick, who have also just returned from the US. They are super committed to ongoing Guarani language learning and it's always a delight to work with them. Check out Amy's post on their language-learning experience.
Right now we have a couple of days in Asunción. We're celebrating Timmy's fourth birthday today, and tomorrow we'll go back to Escobar and take with us Lizet's mom who is here for a visit from Bolivia. We're staying at the mission guest house, where we have a wireless internet connection, so I'm trying to remember and catch up with all the things I need to do online.
I keep reminding myself that to get to live in such a wonderful place as Escobar, and be involved in the exciting ministry we get to have a part in, we have to make some sacrifices, and if one of them is a reliable internet connection, well, then, so be it! It's well worth it.
Before we went back to Escobar I went to our cell phone provider to get a phone that I could use, as I was using our Motorola V3 before, to connect to the internet. The salesman talked me into buying a BlackBerry, saying not only could I get email and browse the web using the phone but I could also use the phone as a Bluetooth modem to connect my laptop to the internet as I had done with my other phone.
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| Lucas and Timmy are happy to be home |
Part of the problem is a very variable cell phone signal at our house. This aspect of the problem I'm hoping to remedy with a dual band cell phone repeater. But there also seems to be a problem with the phone itself as a modem--even when I have a good signal it only connects a fraction of the times I try.
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| Our neighbor "Abuela" (Grandma) Asunción's house |
Right now we have a couple of days in Asunción. We're celebrating Timmy's fourth birthday today, and tomorrow we'll go back to Escobar and take with us Lizet's mom who is here for a visit from Bolivia. We're staying at the mission guest house, where we have a wireless internet connection, so I'm trying to remember and catch up with all the things I need to do online.
I keep reminding myself that to get to live in such a wonderful place as Escobar, and be involved in the exciting ministry we get to have a part in, we have to make some sacrifices, and if one of them is a reliable internet connection, well, then, so be it! It's well worth it.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
July Newsletter
I've posted our latest newsletter on the lower left of this page.
We've finished up our time in the US and will be returning to Paraguay on August 4th. We're looking forward to getting back home!
We've finished up our time in the US and will be returning to Paraguay on August 4th. We're looking forward to getting back home!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Caleb and Ben Cameron at the World Cup
The Paraguayan soccer team is getting ready for its first game of this World Cup on Monday against Italy. They are staying in the beautiful city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.
It happens that our friends, colleagues, and former students, SIM missionaries Greg and Vonni Cameron, have just returned to South Africa for furlough and are living in the city of Pietermaritzburg. They went to see the Paraguay team practice at the Harry Gwala stadium. The Camerons were sighted by reporters sitting in the stands with their Paraguayan jerseys on, drinking tereré and speaking in Guarani. They were asked down to the field and interviewed.
Since Greg and Vonnie speak Guarani but very little Spanish, they responded to Spanish questions in Guarani! They told the reporters they had studied the heart language of Paraguay in order to read the Bible in Guarani to people who speak Guarani but don't read it, and to serve the community. The interview was on national television in Paraguay and the photo of the boys turned up in the June 7th edition of the daily ABC Color.
It happens that our friends, colleagues, and former students, SIM missionaries Greg and Vonni Cameron, have just returned to South Africa for furlough and are living in the city of Pietermaritzburg. They went to see the Paraguay team practice at the Harry Gwala stadium. The Camerons were sighted by reporters sitting in the stands with their Paraguayan jerseys on, drinking tereré and speaking in Guarani. They were asked down to the field and interviewed.Since Greg and Vonnie speak Guarani but very little Spanish, they responded to Spanish questions in Guarani! They told the reporters they had studied the heart language of Paraguay in order to read the Bible in Guarani to people who speak Guarani but don't read it, and to serve the community. The interview was on national television in Paraguay and the photo of the boys turned up in the June 7th edition of the daily ABC Color.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Operation Py'aguapy on BBC
BBC has posted a news item about the search for members of the Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo, or Paraguayan People's Army, who are on the run in the north of the country, possibly in the Paraguayan Chaco. About 25 people are being pursued by the Paraguayan Military and Police in a massive operation being called Operación Py'aguapy, or Operation Tranquility in Guarani.
The BBC article cites the comparison Paraguayans are making between the EPP and Jasy Jatere (or as BBC calls him, Yasy-Yatere,) a spirit being familiar to all Paraguayans. This creature is a one of a number of spirits that are well known in Paraguayan culture and are usually referred to as "mythological" but which, to speak with rural Paraguayans, are not mythological in the sense of being fictional. Many people believe very firmly not only in the existence of these creatures but also in their regular interaction in their own lives.
Another example is Pombero, to whom some people leave offerings of cane alcohol, tobacco, or yerba mate in their tatakua, or brick oven. These offerings are said to appease Pombero, also known as karai pyhare, or "gentleman of the night," who might otherwise attack family members or wreak havoc with their livestock.
The BBC article cites the comparison Paraguayans are making between the EPP and Jasy Jatere (or as BBC calls him, Yasy-Yatere,) a spirit being familiar to all Paraguayans. This creature is a one of a number of spirits that are well known in Paraguayan culture and are usually referred to as "mythological" but which, to speak with rural Paraguayans, are not mythological in the sense of being fictional. Many people believe very firmly not only in the existence of these creatures but also in their regular interaction in their own lives.
Another example is Pombero, to whom some people leave offerings of cane alcohol, tobacco, or yerba mate in their tatakua, or brick oven. These offerings are said to appease Pombero, also known as karai pyhare, or "gentleman of the night," who might otherwise attack family members or wreak havoc with their livestock.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Google's Doodle Honors catorce de mayo (May 14).
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