Paraguay Party

So if you attend the American School of Asuncion you will be invited to 40 birthday parties a year.  Upon arriving here (after our 3rd party) I decided to create a rule about this.  You must PLAY with this friend at recess in order to attend the party.  This has cut our party's down to just a few each year.

So Emma was invited to a birthday party on Friday.  She is good friends with the little Paraguayan girl that was hosting the party so we added it to our calendar.  Lucky for me this friend only lives 6 or 7 blocks straight down the road.  I had a vague idea of where I was headed.  As we were driving down the street we could hear a ton of girls screaming in a back yard.  "That has to be it!"  So we pull over and start looking.  The numbers on the house didn't seem to match up but it was a corner house I I thought the numbers must match up with the other street (they do weird things here, who am I to second guess their logic.) 

So the guard waves us over to the door to the backyard.  While we are waiting Emma says to me very quietly, "I hope I'm not over dressed."  She was wearing her cute black skinny pants with the sequin belt and a beautiful shirt with some sparkles on it.  I tried to reassure her as we entered the back yard.  We can see the girls are jumping on the trampoline in the the far corner of the yard.  But it was dark and the yard was very large so we couldn't see them very well.  I walk her to about the middle of the yard and realized none of the little girls were yelling "Emma you came!" as I had expected (because we were about 40 minutes late.)  Then as we got closer I realized all the girls (now I can see they are about 16) are in their bra's and panties, while jumping on the tramp.

I looked at Emma, she looked at me, I quickly said, "This looks like a swim party.  I don't recall that being on the invitation."  So we headed back to the guard.  He looked at the invitation and then assured us that we were at the wrong birthday party. 

We were one block off but easily found the party on the next street, where there was a totally different atmosphere.  They had hired a DJ and brought in a huge plasma screen TV, with a disco ball, fog machine, 2 waiters serving drinks (that I truly hope did not have any alcohol in them), a dance floor, karaoke machine, bar style seating all over the patio and confetti.  Most of the kids were dressed up and if asked I might even say Emma was a bit under dressed, although it didn't matter because there were so many kids there she quickly got lost in the crowd. 

The invitation stated that the party ended at 10:30 but as I headed out the door the girl's mother told me not to come pick her up before 11 or 12 because she didn't quite know when the party would end.
 
I arrived shortly after 11, there were fewer kids there but the party was still going strong.  Emma however was ready to head home. 

I guess the moral of the story is, Paraguay birthday party's are like a box of chocolates.....

Is it Just Me, or Am I CRAZY?!?

So Emma's teacher sent an email last week asking for "bite sized" treats to sell at lunch to help support the school.  Now I think this kind of stuff is a waste of time, but Emma has gotten a ton of pressure from her friends about participating in this stuff so I obliged.  I bought cute little star cup cake tins and broke out a box of brownie mix and got to work.  She was asked to bring 12 but I sent her with 18.  They were sold for 1mil each.  ONE MIL!  This is the equivalent of 22 cents.  Totalling a whopping 3.88 (because she ate one) that was raised for the school that day.  Now I'm pretty sure that box of brownies cost me about $3, and once I put in the cost for powdered sugar, plates and baggies to sell I think they may have taken a loss.  I asked next time can't I just send $5 and not have to make anything?  Nope, if we do that I'm not considered a team player.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? 

Happy Birthday Emma!

So Emma's birthday started out different than most years.  Shawn and Isaac had a scout camp out at a neighbors house.  So they boys took off on Friday night and left the house to the girls. 

We watched Switched at Birth and ate ice cream before heading to bed.  (Where Emma slept in Daddy's spot.) 

On Saturday morning I went to pick the boys us and we started the morning off with Frenchies (of course). Then Emma had FAME practice for 4 whole hours. While she was gone we decorated the house, started on dinner and a cake and the boys planned a scavenger hunt for her to find her presents.  

The present hunt begins.

Clue #1

The clues lead her all over the house, the linen closet, the kitchen cupboards, the quincho, here she was directed to watch 20 seconds of The Emperor's New Groove.    

 Isaac was especially proud of this clue.  It was his idea to put it floating in the bowl in the pool.  I think he was secretly hoping she would jump in to get it.

 Finally we were lead to the TV room where.... Sweetie Pie and Papa joined us via Skype.  Emma found her presents behind (and under) the couch and sat down to open them.

 This year I was really shooting for the Mother of the Year award.  I mean my mother has had it for so long I felt like it was time she shared it with me.  So in my attempt to win the award (and to make up for our lack of paragliding last year) we bought Emma a Galaxy tablet.  Now in all fairness we were going to buy her a Kindle but decided that she is going to need something for school next year anyway and this just seemed to make a little more sense.  She is so excited!  She has already customized it, and is working on downloading a ton of apps.  We did have to warn her if we found any of the parental controls uninstalled she would lose any and all access to the tablet.  But for now my little girl is growing up. 

 I love this picture, because this is how Eli is with all technology.  "I wanna touch, I wanna touch." Who knows we might be buying one of these for him in the next few years. 

 Last but not least, Emma had 2 requests for her birthday cake.  She wanted to decorate it and she wanted it to be a money cake.  As much as I loved money cakes when I was a kid, and even for the first few years I had kids I really don't love them now.  It takes forever to wrap the money to the point that I know none of it will touch food that might be eaten.  Then when I go to throw the cake out (which I almost always do) I have to go back through and dig for the left over money and wash it off.  So this year I just wrapped 2 bills in plastic wrap and put it on the top of the cake.  When we cut the cake I gave each of the kids one of the bills and told them to enjoy the cake.  I think I took all the fun out of it.  I guess I'll go back to wrapping coins next year.

It is NOT Negro Viernes, but Black Friday

So someone somewhere in Paraguay got the idea that Black Friday was a killer idea and they should have one here.  I seriously doubt that they understood the reason we have Black Friday in the States or why it is even called Black Friday; but none the less $$$ were in their eyes and thus Black Friday in Paraguay was born.   

The idea was conceived a while ago and they tried it out in Ciudad del Este about 6 or 8 weeks ago.  It went so well how could they not do it here in Asuncion?  So for a few weeks every store was advertising Black Friday.  Please note here that because it is a totally American "day" it was called Black Friday in English, not Negro Viernes.  Anyway, the only thing I knew about this whole event is that I wanted nothing to do with it.  I didn't car how much money I could save being out in these crowds was just not worth it.

That evening the traffic was horrific.  We later learned that there was an influx of over 600,000 people into the city that day.  There are only 2 million that live here, and only 6 million in the entire country.  It was NUTS trying to get around. 

I'm sure stores did well enough we will have another Black Friday next year, if not before.

** The following picture was taken from a local news paper. I did NOT enter a mall that day.

Post Machu Picchu

On our first stop through Lima Shawn and I at a Dunkin' Donuts.  It was soooooo yummy.  Yes they have donuts in Paraguay; but they taste like crap and we don't eat them.  So before we boarded our plane for Asuncion we stopped and bought a dozen for the family.  They cost $14 but it was worth every penny to see these faces. 

Please note, before Eli took a bite he answered his like a telephone.

"Hello?"

Lima - Final day -- Warning not for little eyes.

We started our morning bright and early in Cusco catching the 7:30 flight to Lima.  We arrived in Lima at 9:30 and I had a list of things I wanted to do.  We headed out in search of a way to get to our first stop.  While talking to a taxi driver in the airport he offered to take us to see all the sights of downtown Lima.  I asked him how his English was because I did not want to spend the morning speaking Spanish.  He assured me it was coming along and that the tour would be 100% in English.  However the minute he knew that we spoke enough Spanish to get by he switched to Spanish.  I have to admit, I understood most of it.  I came back to Paraguay feeling super accomplished for how much Spanish I had spoken in Peru and totally bummed that while back in Paraguay I was going to still be totally lost because I can't understand the accent here. 

Anyway, back to the morning tour.  We started in the Plaza de Armas.  There were several big events anticipated that day, so all this stuff was set up for the big hoop-la later that night.

We quickly headed over to start to tours of the many Peruvian Catholic Churches in Lima.  If I remember correctly this is a picture of the residence of the presiding Bishop that lives in Lima.

Cleaning Christ. 
All that gold gets dusty you know.

Catacombs

 Next we headed to the Catacombs.  This is the only picture we got because you can't take picture down there.  It was very interesting.  Through the entire tour Shawn and I kept saying, "Isaac would love this!  He would get such a kick out of this."







I loved all of the pigeons outside of this church.  It was like being in a movie.

This was the residence of the President of Peru.  There are 3 different kinds of guards that guard the House of Pizarro you can see the first kind at the doors, there are also a set just inside the gate that are in military fatigues, and police just outside the gate. 

"The Last Supper" --- Note the Guinea Pig is the main course.  I can only wonder what is going through Jesus' mind in the picture. Suggestions are welcome below. 

This is by far the weirdest thing we saw while in Lima.  This is the actual head of Santa Rosa De Lima, the Virgin that they worship.  Where is the rest of her body you may ask?  So did Shawn, it is in her church a couple of kilometers away. 

Although the sky was over cast and it was misty, it was still wonderful to see the ocean.  We have really missed living so close to the water. 

 Shawn and I took these pictures at the arcade at Miraflores; when we got home we told the kids we were having to much fun to leave the arcade so we didn't see any sights we just played games for the whole week.

This gives new meaning to getting a PhD.

So while eating lunch I noticed this very cute older couple sitting with a Peruvian mother and daughter eating lunch.  It was very cute to watch because I could tell that the mother was a poorer native.  She was clearly eating a Pizza Hut personal pizza for the first time.  I over heard the little girl say to the couple, "I think she likes it."  I offered to take their picture and chatted for a minute, exchanging where we were from and what we were doing in Lima. 

Next Shawn and I were off to check out the shopping.  After about 30 minutes we decided we wanted to hit a museum. Shawn headed up stairs to Starbucks to get a wi-fi signal and I decided to head back and talk to this couple I could see were still sitting at their table. 

I spent the next 20 minutes of so listening to the most beautiful story.  This couple had come to Peru 9 years earlier to see Machu Picchu.  While in Cusco they had gone into a travel agency to book train tickets to go to Aguas Calientes.  The gentleman noticed a little 2 year old playing on the floor and was missing his grandchildren began to play with her.  The left with their train tickets for a few days later. 

Within the next few days the older gentleman became very ill from altitude sickness and was put it the hospital.  His wife went back to the travel agent to see if they could change their tickets.  Later that night the travel agent and her daughter came to visit the couple in the hospital.  They visited a few more times before he was released and on the last day the mother asked for a favor. The following day was Godparents day in Cusco.  Her daughter didn't have any godparents and would he mind standing in so that she would have godparents in the parade?  What an honor!  So from that time forward they have been this little girl's "honorary godparents."  They have kept in touch through email etc, but now they had come back to Peru to visit their honorary goddaughter and her mother. 

After hearing his story I asked him if he had any idea of a good place to spend the afternoon and he suggested the Larco Mueum; and so we did.  The Larco museum is a museum of Pre-Columbian art.  It has over 45,000 pieces. *Please note he did warn me of what was to come, but we went anyway. 

Headdress, necklace and earrings
The more important you were
the bigger ornaments.

These hole were drilled to add decorations.

Storage room

The museum has so much stuff they don't have room to display it all so you can view their storage area if you wish.  There are 2 giant rooms that look just like this. 

Shawn and funny statue guy doing the same pose.
My hubby is so funny.

So the following is what the nice gentleman warned me about.  To be fair to see this stuff you have to leave the actual museum and follow the signs that are clearly labeled "erotic pottery."  I really didn't know what to expect. 

About 2 minutes after Shawn and I walked into this room a tour group of about 20 older people walked in.  To me this stuff was funny to look at, especially the pottery of skeletons getting it on with other skeletons, or non skeletons, take your pick.  But there is this prime age where stuff like this is even funnier; like up late at night watching stupid comedy funnier.  If I were to guess I would say it is between 14-18 and 50+.  You should have heard these old people giggling and commenting.  "Gee, she doesn't seem to like that at all."  "Which one is the women and which is the man?"  "Well, we have never done that!--- Maybe we should."  "How did they think this stuff up back then?"   Of course we are hearing this between a chorus of, "Hahahahaah, come look at this."  "Wow, only in my dreams (giggle, giggle, giggle)." 

As I sat and listened, and waited my turn to get pictures the embarrassment of the comments, (okay I'm sure the content had something to do with it) pushed my sweet, innocent husband right out the door.  I'm sure sitting there listening to Senior Citizens plan their activities for the evening was just a little to much for him. 

I did have to giggle as I read the descriptions of each piece.  'Sculpture stirrup spout bottle depicting anal intercourse between a man and a woman in ventral position.'  I wondered at what kind of events do you display these bottles.  Is it an everyday over the breakfast table, "Honey could you pass me the anal intercourse bottle?"  Or did you save it for special occasions like the in-laws coming to visit.  "Could I pour you some tea for our pitcher's penis?" I would imagine it would keep the conversations at the dinner table interesting.  And judging from the size of that pitchers penis give young boys a complex at a very early age. 

 

Soon we headed off to the Parque de Reserva, or Parque de las Aguas.  I was so excited to do this and I have to say it did not disappoint.  The fountains were amazing and the show was awesome.  This was by far the highlight of your day in Lima

Many of the people there called this show, "Bailando agua."  Dancing water.

After the colored, dancing water they put a mist up and projected pictures into the water.  They showed traditional dances from Peru, flowers, and flying birds.  It was so amazing.  The kids would have loved it!

After the show we finished walking around the park.  This water fountain was a game.  The game was to try to get to the center and back without getting wet.  The dad and daughters you see standing there made it to the very last ring and then got soaked when they tried to cross.  It was pretty funny to watch.

The tunnel

Machu Picchu - Day five

Day five started out very interesting we left our hotel in Cusco to see some Pre-inca ruins.  What was interesting about these ruins is that they looked very similar to Inca ruins.  -- I would like to just take a minute here to tell you about our tour guide.  The tour was supposed to be in English and in Spanish.  And I will give it to her it was.  As we drove down the road instead of saying the same information in both languages she only gave have of the information in each language.  And about 20 minutes into the tour I leaned over to Shawn and said, "I wish she would just stay in Spanish, I can't understand and thing she says in English."  It got even funnier when Shawn would ask her questions about something and her answer would be totally unrelated to the question.  I would imagine it would be very much like taking a Spanish tour from me.  It made me a little sad for all the people that have to talk to me in Spanish. 




Anyway back to the tour, we learned (in Spanish) that although when the Conquistadors conquered the Inca's all they really wanted was gold and silver, and of course to spread the Catholic religion. But when the Inca's conquered these Pre-Inca's they Incorporated their ideas, and technology and made it their own.

Road

Guard Doors

Here you can see the roads built by the Pre-Incas.  Our tour guide also pointed out that the half walls were door ways.  They held huge wooden doors and when the Pre-incans saw the enemy coming they would shut the doors.  There were about 15-20 doors right in a row, about 20 feet between each door. 

Here you can see that they had a basic understanding of foundation.  This is one of the reasons that the ruins are still here.  This has been excavated so you can see how the built their houses.  They actually dug a hold ans created a foundations before building the houses on top of it. 








One of my favorite things about this tour was the little cities we stopped in.  Each city had a "thing" that they did.  The first city we stopped in was known for making bread.  I got out of the bus to buy some and one of the ladies on the bus (who grew up in Peru but had spent the last 30 years or so in the US) warned me not to buy the bread because they "make it with lard."  I smiled and thanked her, looked at Shawn and said, "It hasn't killed me yet, welcome to South America."  I bought 2 pieces of bread for about 35 cents and although it was good, I can't believe a whole city was built around bread making. 

City number 2 was known for their excellent roasted guinea pig.


 And this city, was know for having potable water.  It made me laugh a little, so I took a picture.









This was the last day of our tour.  The company we paid to plan it said they had taken care of everything.  I didn't want to come back to Paraguay with a ton of Soles (Peru money) so we got down to our last $15 or so and didn't exchange any more.  We had bought all our gifts and didn't think we would need another dime.  On this last tour, they didn't provide us tickets to get into one of the Churches.  The cost was $12/person, so we simply didn't have enough to get in.  So we stayed outside and walked around, took pictures and shopped.  Although we didn't by a thing. 

Shawn waited for 20 minutes for the buses to move to get this picture.

Lake near Cusco

Guard shack at the lake.

On the way back to Cusco we stopped at this little lake.  Our tour guide told us that this was pond supplied all of the water to Cusco.  I will blame it on her crappy English that she didn't convey that this pond may supply some water to all of Cusco, but Cusco has a natural spring that it draws water from as well. 

The small almost blue trees you can see in the foreground are eucalyptus.  They were everywhere.











PART 2

We had 2 tours on Day five, we wanted to stay busy.  We started this one out visiting churches in Cusco.  Of course we are not allowed to take photos in these church so my pictures are limited, but the churches were beautiful.  One thing I can tell you after touring about 15 churches in Peru, every single Last Supper Paining we saw in a church had a guinea pig as the main course.  I found that interesting, are there even guinea pigs in that part of the world?  I do wonder how many Peruvians believe that guinea pig was really Christ's last supper?  I also wonder how much of our history has been skewed to make it look more palatable to those in the culture it is being offered. 

Street Performers

Child and a lamb

One of the churches we visited had been Inca ruins but when the Conquistadors arrived they turned all the Inca temples in to Catholic churches.  This is the "Sun Temple" in one of the churches in Cusco.

Another very interesting fact about how the Inca's built their temples is that they too had a "keystone" similar to the top of arched doorways.  All Inca doorways are rectangular, but when the conquistadors arrived they tried and tried to break down some of their doors not realizing that it too had a keystone. The brick you are looking at here has 14 edges.  This makes in the keystone to the doorway.  Had this one brick been removed the entire door frame would have collapsed.  In Machu Picchu there was a brick with 28 sides.

Here is an example of what the conquistadors did to decorate the Incan temples once the Inca's were conquered. 

There were water systems everywhere, even in their temples!

Sacsayhuamán  (Sexy Woman)

 Sacsayhuamán is a complex on the outskirts of Cusco.  Built by the Incas, the cut boulders are massive and fit tightly together without the aid of mortar.  This is the case with most if not all Incan temples or sacred places.
Situated as it is, high above Cusco at an altitude of 12142 ft, it is thought to have been a fortress. The terrace walls back up this theory.

The most recognised part of the complex is the great plaza and the massive terrace walls alongside it. The huge stones, many of them well over 100 tons are some of the largest used in construction in pre Spanish times, fit together so precisely that not even a piece of paper can be slid between them. This precision, the variety of size and shape and the way that the walls slope inwards for stability in earthquakes is evidence of an advanced civilisation. As is normal of conquering cultures, many of the blocks were taken and used in their construction.


Views from the top of Sacsayhuamán.

Plaza de Armas

                     This might be my favorite picture of the

               whole trip. Who hikes this stuff in these shoes?

The only picture my hubby wanted was a picture with a Llama.
Here it is. Aren't they cute together?

This is Tombomachay, they believed the spring had magical powers.  Our guide (a much better one from earlier in the morning) explained that many believe that if you washed your face in the water you would be wrinkle free for you entire life.  But in reality you would just have bacteria all over your face because the kids up steam use it as a potty.  Anyone wanna wash their face?

This place is call the Stonehenge of Peru.  It marks the summer and winter equinox perfectly.  It also had a place inside for sacrifices. 

I just threw in this picture because it made us laugh.  It was the top of a guard rail at the this place where sacrifices were made.  The name escapes me right now.  Shawn and I thought it looked like Stich from "Lilo and Stich."  We wondered where Disney thought up such an "unique" character.