The Pants

     One of the things I love about living in Paraguay is having household help.  Please understand sometimes it is actually more work to have her around than it is to not have her here.  There have actually been days when she has not come to work for one reason or another and I do a little happy dance.  It is a day I can lay around the house watch anything I like on TV and eat junk food.  But all of that is for another blog.
     Most of the time it is very nice to know that first thing in the morning dishes will be done, beds will be made and floors will be mopped.  One thing however that I will not let her do (which drives her crazy might I add) is wash the clothes.  There are a plethora of reasons I do not let her wash clothing, when she washes I have to replace clothing more often, the uses laundry soap by the cup, she often washes dry clean only stuff with Levi's, she washes every single day so often it is only 3 things in the washing machine, etc.  But one of the biggest reasons is I do it is because, I don't mind doing it and it feels like it is something I still "do" for my family. 
     Since my husband left for Afghanistan we have moved houses.  So the house has a weird feeling in it, it is a place he has never lived, or even step foot in.  When I moved in, all of his cloths went into the corner of one of the closets and that door is never opened.  I sleep on the other side of the bed because it is closer to the kids.  I use up most of the space in the house.  But there is this one pair of pants.
     Every time I wash the laundry there is one pair of my husbands pants that are at the bottom of the pile.  At first I didn't wash them because they have to be washed separately and I just had too much laundry to do to wash a single item.  But now I do not wash them because it means he must be coming home.  My goodness he still has laundry undone here, of course he will be home.   
     I know that this line of thinking is silly and clearly his dirty pants have no actual bearing on him coming home, but it is still my thing I need to do for him.  It is my unfinished business and I need that.  So call me crazy, or call me lazy, but Honey, I still have your laundry in the hamper and I can't wait until I have another pair of pants in the hamper so I don't have to wash them separately.

Three and a half months down..... eight and a half to go. 

315 Easy Steps to Obtaining a Paraguyan Drivers License

So when we arrived two and a half years ago we were taken to get our drivers license.  My license expired in April so I decided it was about time to go get another.  At this point I would like to thank the AMAZING guy from the embassy that helps with this process, without him we would be lost.

So if you follow these directions and get the nice guy from the Embassy to walk you through it you should have your license in under 2 hours.  --- Sorry the photos are so bad.  The camera on my phone sucks!!!

Desk 1

Step 1:  Collect all documents (including a certified letter stating your blood type)
Step 2:  Start at desk to fill out paper work.
Step 3:  Go to another desk to get copies of passport, government ID etc.
Step 4:  Pay for copies
Step 5:  Go back to first desk with copies and get paperwork and copies approved.
Step 6:  Go to cashier to pay for "stamps."  The purpose of these stamps are unknown.
Step 7:  Go to the Documentacion y foto desk and give them new papers with stamps on it.
Step 8:  Answer questions about purpose of needing a drivers license.
Step 9:  Wait
Step 10: Be called into a small room with two men to give you a "driving test."
Step 11: Take test 1 vision test.  Name letters and colors.
Step 12:  Take "reaction" test.  This is a test to see how fast you can slam on the break should something (probably a small child) run in front of your car.
Step 13:  Take hearing test.  This one is awesome because you can see which side the sound is going to be on and they only test each ear once.
Step 14:  Receive the "you passed" smile and leave room.
Step 15:  Wait

Waiting, waiting and more waiting

Step 16:  Be called into another room for your picture.

Step 17:  Wonder if you should smile because no one else does but they all look so unhappy in their pictures.
Step 18:  Smile and graciously thank the guy that is hitting on you for taking your picture.

1984 computers

Step 19:  Wait
Step 20:  Wonder why they are still using computers from 1984.
Step 21:   Get more paper work from the counter.
Step 22:  Go back to cashier and pay even more money.
Step 23:  Return to the counter with the receipt.
Step 24:  Wait
Step 25:  Get Drivers License that can not be used as ID in Paraguay and thank the guy.

Eli's Debut

        On Wednesday we attended a performance of Pinocchio put on by Eli's Preschool, Minigente.  I could not believe how much work the wonderful teachers had put in to put it together.  The story was so cute and each kid was included, but best of all, have you ever seen a 4 year old play Geppetto?  It was stinking funny.  And the more the audience laughed the more he laughed. 
        The show was put on at the Embassy of Argentina.  They have the most beautiful theater that was a perfect set-up for the performance.  The turn out was amazing, it was standing room only (so glad we got there early), but of course it would be in a culture like Paraguay's, where families are so close and so supportive.
       I showed up in levis and quickly realized that I was WAY underdressed.  Many people were dressed in sequins and heals.  But others (the late ones) showed up dressed down so when I was leaving I didn't feel quite so out of place. 



Very Underdressed Eli Supporters

      As for Eli....well he was a riot.  He is very stubborn and because he is speech delayed it often times makes it hard to have a conversation with him.  So when it was almost his turn to go out on the stage he ran out about a third of the way and stopped just looking at the audience.  He smiled while his teachers were whispering, "Eli vení, nesicitamos esperar."  (Eli, come here, we need to wait.)
       He just looked at them and said, "No."  Then continued smiling at the audience.  He was the only one doing anything so all eyes were on him.  He loved it.  I think because he is fair skinned and blond people tend to think he is adorable.  So the audience laughed; and he soaked it up and smiled.  We all knew that if they tried to drag him backstage it would be all down hill from there with kicking and screaming, so they just let him stand there until the music started. 
       Once the music started and his classmates joined him on stage he realized that the music was very loud.  He covered his ears and soon began to cry.  So that was it for Eli.  He spent the rest of the show down in the dressing rooms playing and watching TV (probably where he wanted to be anyway.)  --  The video above shows his cute classmates, but we missed his "performance" in the beginning.
       We got to sit next to our good friends, who I will miss dearly when they leave next month.  Their daughters were wonderful on stage, and did exactly what they were supposed to.



Proud parents and sisters