Villarrica, Paraguay, May 17, 2007

Hello from Paraguay!

After a 30 hour trip or so from the farm in Chatsworth, my bus pulled into the terminal in Villarrica where Karen was waiting for me in the rain! It was so good to see her! We stayed at a nice hotel with 2 single beds, air conditioning (but didn´t need it because it is cold and rainy), color tv, a true water closet with the pull string for the toilet, and a shower with hot water but no curtain. Perfecto!

She took me out to Bar Oasis Comida for dinner where we shared a giant beer, Brahma Chopp, and had mandioca which is a staple sort of root, tastes like potato. Also ate a quarter roasted chicken and lettace and tomato salad. I was very hungry after being sure to starve myself of food and drink prior to my 4 hour bus ride from Asuncion.

The bus was everything I hoped and dreamed of...crowded, lady selling chipa, personal space invasions at every turn (men´s bellies and crotches at my face level were noteworthy). Before I got on the bus I had written down all the names of the communities along the route to keep track of our progress. I ended up on a local instead of a direct bus which took 4 hrs instead of 3.

Today we had yerba mate in the form of cocida with milk. Went to the supermarket which was impressive. With the exception of the skinned / butchered cow's head in the meat display, you'd think it was a US supermarket! Locally produced veggies, fruit, meat, and bread. Many packaged products (cereal, cooking oil, etc.) comes from around South America and not Paraguay. There were wines on the shelves from Argentina and Chile, and LOTS on scotch on the shelves, too.

We walked around Villarrica and I got to see Villarrica CC23 which is the post office box where she gets her mail. I made some handcrafted needlepoint from local Villarrican artisans.

Karen seems more comfortable speaking Guarani than she does Spanish. She talks to people in the street or market and I´ll follow along just fine until suddenly she whips into Guarani! You would think Karen lived here all her life. She is very comfortable with things despite her calloused hands from hauling water from the well, and her unfortunate foot.

After a bit we will venture off to her community which, I am sure, will be very different. I´m taking pictures of everything along the way and can´t wait to experience the 1 hour (3 mile) hike. And yes, Karen has agreed to carry the heavy bag full of goodies that I brought.

We will be in her community until Sunday so this will be my last communique for a while. I can´t seem to make my phone work. Sorry about that!

Life is good here. The people are friendly, the country side is pretty, the food good, and the drinks (beer and yerba mate) are tasty. I can´t wait to see where she lives in Monte Rosario!

More later!

Paraguay - here I come on May 15th!

I've been preparing for my upcoming trip to visit stepdaughter, Karen, in Monte Rosario, Paraguay. Since September 2006 she has been a Peace Corps Volunteer doing sustainable agriculture in a community of 250 people.

There are 2 official languages in Paraguay: Spanish and Guarani. I found a Guarani language course on line which has helped me learn some basics: hello, my name is, good bye, thank you very much, etc. I am still trying to figure out how to say where is the bathroom...

Normally I don't like to check baggage, but Karen has specifically requested 3 bottles of contact solution which will means that my bag will have to be checked. That's ok, it just gives me an excuse to take her some wine! Her list of requests is quite fun: duct tape, many packages of dark chocolate, and a guitar capo!

March 13, 2007 - Skiing in Wisconsin

Greetings!

Dan's coach from his basketball team thought a ski trip to Wisconsin would be a great way to end the season. Nearly 40 of us went to Devil's Head (about 1 hour north of Madison). The conditions were spring-like and everyone had a ball.

My friend Ann is quite the photographer. You can see her fine skills in the accompanying photos of Tom Terrific.

Dan has state testing for the next 2 weeks. He is just about finished with the reading program having met 95% of his goal. This accomplishment secures him a spot at a Cubs game in May. Last year I "had" to chaparone the readers to see the Sox. I have a feeling Tom might be interested in this year's trip. Dan loves the books about Eragon.

Things are looking like spring around here. The snow is almost gone, the ice on the pond is melting, and the farmer is getting antsy.

Hay Delivery

Our winter is turning into one to remember!

The organic hay delivery was made by Carl H. to Ike's farm in west central, Indiana. The following observations were told to Tom who then told them to me. You recall that we've had significant snowfall in recent days. Driving the big semi full of the big hay bales got tricky at Issac's (or Ike for short) house. The roads and lane to his house are designed for horses and buggies, not semi tractor trucks. Further hampering his progress were the big piles of snow.

The hay is stored in the barn loft. A neighbor's skidsteer was used to transport the hay bales from the truck to the hay loft. Once in there, they simply break up the hay bales and send it down the chute to the hungry cows. Apparently the cows love the hay. There was one tractor (with steel wheels) on the farm, but it was used to pump manure from the lagoon.

The phone was in its own little building (3' X 3') located 100 yards away from everything. It had a little stool and a ledge for the phone and answering machine. Ike's wife was hanging up the clothes (in the cold, snowy weather) to dry. The clothes line was a cable with a pulley that attached to the peak of the barn and to the house. She'd hang a few clothes, pull the line and the clothes worked their way slowly to the peak of the barn.

Ike looks to be about 40 according to Carl, the driver. Incidentally, Ike called Tom this morning at 6:45 to schedule the delivery of the remaining hay.

Blizzard '07

Greetings from Blizzard Central. The storm is currently raging across the Midwest and will hit the Northeast later today. Snow predictions for Hancock, NY are as high as 24 inches! I think we might have 8 inches on the ground, but it's hard to tell when the snow blows horizontally.

It seems that everything is shut down. Dan didn't have school, all the nearby universitities (ISU, IWU, U of I), banks, clinics...are all closed. Tom thinks the storm is a joke compared to Illinois blizzards from the days of yore. So hard to impress!

Shadow is snoozing happily in the garage away from all the elements.

Dan has spent some of his day "reading an hour" (of Eragon) and "playing an hour" (of XBox 360).

The sparrows are annoyed because no one will go out and refill the bird feeder.

Honduras

December 31, 2006, 6:17 pm, Copan, Honduras

Spent the first part of the trip on Utila which is one of the Bay Islands along the Mezoamerican Barrier Reef. We accessed great snorkeling right from the beach for a mere ten bucks! Dan wasn't as impressed with Utila as he was with the island in Belize, I think because the streets were sand covered whereas Utila's streets were more traditional and filled with motor bikes. Dan also said that he missed his Central American travel partner, Karen. Oh yah, and he didn't appreciate that our hotel didn't have a TV (heh, heh), but that just meant more time in the hammock reading! Still, he made great friends with the local cat (Salva) and dog (Noodles). He also loved the 5 mile boat ride to a remote island over exceptionally choppy (and fun) waters. The food on the island was tasty and cheap. Lots of snapper, lobster, and chicken.

The day we left Utila for the mainland was interesting. You can see the airport in the first picture, it consisted of a wooden platform. No phone, no services, nothing... The picture looks dark because it WAS dark! The taxi driver dropped us off at the "airport" at 5:40 am. I said, where is the plane? He said, oh the plane had a problem last night so it stayed on the other side to be fixed and it will fly in soon. Then he got in his cab and started driving off...it was dark and there was nothing but a wooden platform to wait for the plane...and the mosquitos were active. I said, you mean you're going to leave us here in the dark with no plane and no one else? And he replied, yes, because I go pick up more passengers. Hum. 45 minutes later and he returned and the little plane flew in.

Once back at the airport in San Pedro Sula, we picked up our rental car and headed off on a 3 hr trip (180 km) to Copan and the Mayan ruins. We couldn't get over how dramatic and beautiful the mountains were. You can see the picture of the highway - a rather deserted 2 lane road. Deforestation continues to be a problem in Honduras. The ruins were fun to explore. We also visited a bird park, although my Spanish isn't so hot anymore after 23 years, and the Spanish words for bird and plane are similar. No wonder people looked at me funny when I asked for directions to the "Plane" park.

Dan and Tom loved the bird park...Dan because of the birds, Tom because the park was located inside a coffee plantation. Our hotel, Marina Copan, was wonderful...pool, excellent restaurant, beautiful hotel property full, and, the clincher for Dan, Cable TV. We taught Dan to play Euchre (Midwestern card game) on this trip. It came in handy because restaurant service is painfully slow.

We are now getting ready to bring in the new year here in Copan, Honduras. Tom is ready to relocate and start growing coffee beans. I can't remember such dramatic scenery in Central America, this place is beautiful. But it's a wild place. Dan doesn't think there are any laws here, or if there are, no one follows them.

Hangzhou, China

The conference and trip were great. Our textbook was translated into Chinese for use in Taiwan a few year ago, but it isn't available in mainland China. A Chinese woman told me that they really want our book in mainland because of all the interest in leisure, and especially tourism!

The conference was great for making connections and hearing how tourism and leisure are making great strides around the world with city bids for sport and cultural events, and looking at things like infrastructure for tourism, esp. in the developing world. Really neat.

The big gala and dinner occured the night before we left. Rather than sitting with our cozy American friends, Marta and I sat at a table with my textbook friend, a Chinese woman and all her Chinese friends. Talk about setting yourself up for an interesting evening! Each course of the meal was placed on the lazy susan in the middle of the table, and of course, they expected us to try everything first. They were especially thrilled that we could use chopsticks. Much of the food was quite tasty...other things I kind of pushed around on the plate and smiled a lot.

I asked them how they felt about the situation with North Korea, adding that the newspapers make it sound like China is going to pressure N Korea to get in line. Their response was a little different, pointing out that the situation between the two countries is quite complex and they weren't so sure China should impose so many sanctions. Hum. I smiled and changed the subject.

Throughout the week there was lots of talk about how the Beijing Olympics 2008 will open China's doors to the world. Flying into Beijing you could see the brand new airport being built. Sewer systems are being installed in the city, 150 pollution-spewing businesses have been told to leave the city center, among many other things under construction for the Olympics. One thing that will be hard to address is the air pollution. I couldn't get over it, and everyone told me this was nothing, wait until the winter and spring.

But China seems to have come a long way in a short period of time. I'm reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang. She covers the history of China by describing 3 generations of women in her family up until the 1970s. When you read that, and think about what exists now in China, it's an unbelieveable transformation. Getting to see it with my own eyes is something I'll never forget.

I'm sending 2 pictures. One is of me drinking green tea. In China, hot water is poured over fresh tea leaves into a clear glass. You then strain the leaves as you drink through your teeth, as if eating with chopsticks isn't challenging enough. The other picture is a boat on West Lake where we were staying. You can barely see the mountains in the background for the air pollution.