Visiting Karen in Paraguay

At last the road dried up so Karen could take us to her little town of Monte Rosario. We drove an hour from Villarrica on asphalt and another hour on dirt/mud before making the 4 km hike. On our walk we passed an entire family who was cutting sugar cane. Only the ones who were too little to work sat waiting in the shade on a blanket. It was a toasty walk for us, and I couldn't imagine being out there cutting cane!




Karen showed us several demonstration fields that she's planted on her own. Tom was impressed to see her thriving corn field. After the corn reaches a certain height or stage she will add in the green manures to fortify the soil and help the corn grow.





The host mom greeted us with hugs and kisses. A little sweat and mud didn't bother her! They invited us over for terere which is drunk communal style...you can see Dan partaking in the picture. He drank and ate all that was offered to him. Karen's family invited us to eat lunch with them which was rice, broth, and a chicken leg...and boiled sweet potato on the side! It was all tasty, especially after that hot walk.



Karen has a veggie garden right outside her house. Since my visit in May she's done a lot to fortify the surrounding fence from those hungry chickens. Dan enjoyed all the animals at the homestead - chickens and chicks, pigs (one was already dubbed "the Christmas Pig"), cows, Lassie and Lassie (all dogs are called Lassie), cats, and Karen's horse which Dan mounted...but the horse didn't go. That might have been a good thing.


One interesting creature in Villarrica is the cayabara, the largest rodent in the world. These buck toothed, short-legged 100+ pound babes are native to South America's floodplains and humid forests, you know, just like the city park in Villarrica! Karen knew this would be of great interest to Dan and so, after three trips to the park we finally encountered one!



Dan said he wants to go back and spend a week with Karen and help her in her fields, enjoy the animals, and hang out with her family. She has such a hard-working, giving family who can make anyone feel a part of the family.






In house-keeping news, I delivered several airline tickets to Karen who, in turn, was to deliver them to her Peace Corps pals at the Thanksgiving feast. It was a great trip and we can't wait to see her at Christmas!


Here is a short video clip of Dan crossing the log into Karen's community. Click the play button twice to start.

There goes VW Bug # 46!!

Greetings from Villarrica, Paraguay! Dan has been punch-bugging us for the last 3 days (he´s up to 46). Who wudda thunk there would be Volkswagon "punch bugs" down here!!??

It is the rainy season here, no doubt about it. That hasn´t stopped us from having a great time. Karen narrowly made it out of her site during a huge rainstorm before the buses stopped running. Once again (like in May), we met at the bus terminal during a tiny shower!

Everything so far (food, South American wine, highways, you know...the basics etc.) has been great. The rain has kept us from visiting Karen´s community, but we´re going to make a concerted effort to get there tomorrow. In the meantime we've been visiting Villarrica, eating well, playing cards, and visiting with Karen!

Today we started down her road to just check out the conditions...it became obvious that we should turn back when, all of the sudden, a white VW bug went slipping by which sent us into gales of laughter only to be followed by Dan´s report that...there goes number 40!
Having lots of fun getting caught up with Karen. She is one tough but sweet cookie!

Arrived in Santiago de Chile

Had 2 great flights and now we are in Santiago for a few hours before going to Paraguay this afternoon. Dan enjoyed the big plane, movies, etc. It is beautiful here. The mountains are amazing. This airport is much nicer than Sao Paulo, Brazil. Very modern and appealing. Next stop, Asuncion, Paraguay!

Getting Ready for South America

We leave to visit Karen in Paraguay on Friday, November 16th! We'll spend half the trip with Karen and then we'll visit Chile for the other half. Dan will miss 3 days of school (which he doesn't mind) and 8 days of basketball (which he minds a lot). I think Shadow will probably take up residence with Duke and Homer during our absence.

Harvest 2007

The fall 2007 harvest is complete. You can see the progression of the farming season beginning with the picture to the left. The corn is about 4-5 inches tall.







This picture, taken August 1st, has 8' tall corn. Both July and August each had about 7" of rain.






Here is Tom in the combine harvesting the corn. Incidently, Jeanne, this portion of the field of corn belongs to Tom. Yours is further west.


And for you bloggers who can't get enough, I've posted a short video clip of what it looks like to be in the combine during corn harvest. Just click on the play button.

Harvest Central

There is so little storage available for corn that grain elevators are starting to pile it up outside. I'll post a picture of that next time.

Farmer attire has changed from the days of yore (or at least of Tom's dad). As you can see, Tom sports collared shirts, shorts, and Red Wing boots. A thoroughly modern farmer.

If you were in the cab with him you'd probably bask in the coolness of the airconditioning while listening to a Cubs or Bears game on the radio. Newly installed in the combine is a GPS unit to track every bushel of corn or soybeans.

Lastly is the annual Threshermen's Bluegrass Festival. Autumn ain't complete without a little shit-kickin' music to stir your soul.

Harvest Update 1

Took this picture with phone in my camera. If you click on the picture you can see Tom in the red International Harvester with Andrew following along in the tractor and 2 wagons. The dog and I arrived just in time to deliver a diet soda and some sunflower seeds before they moved to the field next door.

In the next week or so I'll take some pictures on a real camera and share them.