Why don't we have "Children's Day"?

Until now the answer to that question was always what my parent's told me, "Everyday is Children's Day." But now that we are embracing the Paraguayan culture we have learned that today August 16th is Children's Day in Paraguay.

Why you ask? The story is actually quite tragic. We are remembering the infamous Battle of Acosta Ñu. In 1869 the war had already taken its toll on Paraguay the dictator Francisco Lopez needed younger and younger recruits for the his army, this particular battalion was made up of 3,500 children ages six to fifteen. Although the war was essentially over the Brazilian government wanted Lopez captured and on August 16th, 20,000 thousand men from Brazil's army obliterated the small Paraguayan battalion made up of mostly children.

So today we honor their memory (and pray our children will never be forced to take up arms to defend our country at such a young age) by celebrating the innocence of being a kid.

So Happy Children's Day to you!

MADE IN THE USA! (Or as close as we can get.)

Shawn's birthday was not too long ago and it is tradition that he eat pie for his birthday (So he is not forced to share a cake with his daughter who has a birthday 2 days later.) We looked high and low for a pie this year and could not find one. So instead of a pie we bought a very different cake from a very pricey bakery around here. Shawn and I really liked the cake, it was very moist (almost like it had been dipped in milk) and a little bit tart as it was a lime cake. The kids however hated it and it took some begging and pleading just to get Isaac to take a bite, afterwards he assured me he was going to "throw up in [his] mouth."

So it is tradition in our house to have dessert on Sunday nights. Last night I whipped up a lemon cake (thanks to Betty Crocker) and orange frosting. As you might expect from my unadventurous 7 year old he did not want to eat it. To which Emma said, "Isaac it is homemade with powder right from the U.S."

Yes, that is how I homemake almost everything with powder right from the US.

Things I Do Now that I Didn't Do Three Months Ago

• make pizza sauce from scratch
• buy (and actually use) fresh herbs from the grocery store
• spend several hundred dollars a month on amazon.com
• patiently wait 2-3 weeks for my Amazon order to arrive
• have a stock pile of breakfast cereal just in case there in an emergency
• buy meat from the butcher (IN SPANISH)
• buy fruit by the kilo
• pay the bag boy to walk my groceries home for me
• Sit through 3 hours of church I don't understand
• beg my English speaking friends to go to lunch with me
• wear shoes all the time (in the states I would rather be shoeless)
• have clean sheets twice a week
• hand wash dishes (sometimes it is just easier)
• check facebook 15 times a day (okay sometimes I did that before moving here)
• talk to the baby first in English then in Spanish (because he won't point and laugh)
• invite the missionaries over once a week
• smile when I hear my kids speaking Spanish
• stand in the grocery store and convert currency in my head
• look out my window when I hear clapping (there might be someone at the door)
• usually have about 3 dozen eggs in my fridge (they come in packs of 30 or 60)
• buy eggs warm off the shelf
• buy milk in one liter bags that then are frozen and stored; we defrost 4 liters at a time 1 whole liter for Eli and 2 skims and a whole for everyone who is not Eli
• try to teach people how to say my kids' names (for some reason Eli is the hardest one)
• schedule all of my (and my kids) Dr. appointments around the few weeks I will be in the states
• use our awesome bbq at least once a weekend
• eat coconut cookies; because they are good!
• drink yogurt, because there is no other kind
• use a prepaid phone plan because it is cheaper
• force my kids to try junk food because we are in a new place and we try new things
• hide my underwear so the maid will not wash them when she is here
• buy coke in returnable bottles
• constantly check to make sure the baby is not playing with roach traps
• or roaches --- yes, gross, I know

I'm sure there will be many more. 

I guess things could be worse I could be living in Ouagadougou!  hehehehehe---Yes Sheryl, I do think I am funny!

~

I Love My Maid!

So I have recently discovered the beauty of taking my maid to the grocery store.  As you know my Spanish sucks, but I know enough to communicate with someone who is patient and willing to sometimes play a guessing game with me, as my maid is.  So while at the store yesterday we went to get veggies, bread and meat.  All of these places require you to communicate with the staff because it has to be weighed and tagged before check out.  At each place I talk as much as I can and then when I get lost I will tell her what I want/need and she will translate my crappy Spanish into good Spanish.

 I have gotten so comfortable with her that when I was a the back of the line and the check out girl was yelling to me to do something I turned to Rocio (my wonderful chica) and said, "Does she want us to move?"  And it took me a minute to realize it was not my crappy Spanish that was the reason for her confused look, it was because I was talking to her in English. 

I pray by the time I leave here, conversation IN SPANISH will come easily, but for now I'm so grateful I have Rocio. 

Gotta Love School in South America!

School is a different animal here.  Please see the following email from the school.  Note that in bullet point number 2 we are asked to make sure our kids get "a good night sleep," yet in bullet point number 1 we are invited to an event that will keep our kids up until 9:30 if you are quick to get home.

Tuesday, May 24          Elementary School Art Fair 7:30-8:30 p.m. in the MPR.  Please join us in celebrating the art work created by our students.

·        May 23-26               MAP Testing continues for grades 3-6.  Please make sure your child has a good breakfast, gets a good night?s rest and gets to school on time.

·        Friday, May 27       May Break?No School    

·        Monday, May 30   Fifth Grade Parent Meeting at 8:00 a.m. in the MPR regarding  Tierra Nuestra.

·        June 1-2                    Elementary School Musical, Mulan 7:00p.m. at the Alianza Francesa Theater on Mcal. Estigarribia 1039.  Tickets are on sale now at the PTA office for G.15, 000.

·        Friday, June 3         Field Day Students should wear comfortable clothes and tennis shoes.  Dismissal will be at 12:00 p.m.

How Do You Say Scorpion in Spanish???

So I am only blogging this because I was telling my sister what dorks my husband and I are she insisted I share it with you all.

The other day my hubby went out to shut off the pool filter and saw a scorpion.  He came in the house and promptly tried to tell our maid to make sure the kids wear shoes outside and to keep their eyes open for.....  how do you say this in spanish??? 

SIDENOTE:  We have tried really hard not to be those people that think if you say something sssslllllooooowwwwwllllllyyyyy in English with that look like you should know what I'm saying that the person will understand us.

So please imagine my husband walking around with his hands pretending to be pinchers, trying to do a funny scorpion walk.  And right behind him I am walking around with a finger pretending to be a stinger saying, "buzzt, buzzt."  And then it hits her she understands!!!!

Es un escorpión.  

Next time I'll try slow english first. 

Happy 200th Birthday Paraguay!

This last Saturday Paraguay celebrated its 200 birthday.  They had a big (this term is being used loosely) parade downtown where many countries came to celebrate the day with Paraguay.  After seeing all of these groups we wished we had just gone and watched because it looked so amazing (and I would really have rathered my kids not see some of the costumes so up close and personl.) 

But participate we did and although it was a long day it was one for the memory books. What was funny is once the parade actually started we walked for about a block and a half and then it was over. So although there were many participants and many countries were represented, the crowd all fit in that tiny block and a half.

 The kids with Uncle Sam.  (I think that is who it is.)  Isaac was super excited to participate. 











 

                 He did eventually cheer up.  Maybe that is because they gave him a balloon and cookies. 

                                                                An attempt at a group shot. 

                                                              The three 5th graders walking.

             Right before we started walking I was yelled at because I was not walking between the lines.  So this is me staying between the yellow lines. 

                           This is the kids' spanish teacher with someone from the Taiwan group. 

                                                          And here we are all done. 

So far one of my favorite things about being here has been seeing the patriotic spirit of the citizens as they have prepared for this day.  The city is covered in red, white and blue.  Stores have put up balloons and banners, and mannequins are dressed in red, white and blue.  I am so glad we didn't miss this.