October 21

Ohla, 

Today is Monday,( Lunes), and we are on our own... no more team.  We did a LOT of walking  today. Left the hotel round 10:30 and returned around 4.   We walked to LosRegoleto, a very old cemetery.  It was quite interesting and covered at least several square blocks.  It was not well maintained, which was sad, but because some had broken windows etc,  we were able to see inside some of the crypts and the coffins were stacked on the sides, on shelves and covered with a lace cover (I don't know what it's called) and then in the middle there would be an alter with candles.  Some were very old and sad and others were newer, bigger and some looked like small churches.  There was some kind of bugs in there that kept feasting on me so I finally had to leave .  

On the way back we stopped for lunch at a very cute little restaurant call LaVienesa.  I have eaten a lot of pasta since I have been here mainly because its easy to order.  It's always fun trying to order :)  I'm getting better.  The cafe con lache is very tasty.  

Tonight we walked down to a shopping center that is only about 1 1/2 miles from us and I bought some souvenirs to bring home.  They have a very nice little artisan shop there.  

It's getting late so I will sign off for now and chat with you all again tomorrow.  

Adios!  

October 20

Buenos dia y Familia and Amigos,

Today is Saturday (Domingo).  We finished out building work yesterday, Friday (Viernes), and said our good-byes to the host family and the workers who we worked under during the week.  I only have a few minutes right now because we are waiting for our ride to take us on a tour of Asuncion and then we are going out again this afternoon to do some shopping and then habitat is taking us all out to dinner.  I will have more to say about this later.

Here I am back a whole day later!  It's now Sunday ( Domingo), October 20.  Wow! time flies when you're having fun.  It has been very difficult to get on the internet this weekend here at the Hotel.  I think it's because this is the hotel where the soccer teams stay, if they are playing here in town. Several teams passed through here and 99% of the young men were on their internet devices.

Let's go back to Friday (Viernes) since I never got to finish that day.  Friday (Viernes) was a fun day at the site. We worked hard in the morning...sealed and stacked tile for the roof, finished lining the cesspool and septic tank with bricks, finished adding and leveling dirt in the floors of the rooms, and we cleaned the brick walls as the masons put them up.  Too bad we couldn't see the house finished but they assured us they will send pictures when it is complete.  I will send that on when I get it. The move in date for the Family is the first part of Dec.(Diciembre)  However, it may happen in Nov. (Noviembre).  The Director of Habitat and the Volunteer Coordinator came out to the site and had lunch with us. They presented each of us with a beautiful piece of lace art, for which Paraguay is known, and a certificate of appreciation.  We had the opportunity to tell what the build meant to us and to formally thank the family and the woman, Lucy (our cook), who welcomed us into their family and fixed such wonderful lunches every day.  On Friday, (Viernes) they cooked our meat in their outside brick domed oven.  Very cool!! They cooked chicken (pollo),cow (vaca) and chorizo. There were a few tears and lots of laughs as we all said "Adios"'  We made a stop on the way back to the Hotel in Luque (the little town where the build site was) to check out leather goods and silver.  At Friday (Viernes) night dinner we all sat around for a long time reflecting on the week.  I feel very fortunate to have been a part of such a great group of volunteers.  I think I have said it before but I will say it again that they were all hard workers and no complainers! Everybody worked hard and slept well!

Now...let's chat about Sat. (Sabado). :)

The weather has definitely warmed up as the week has progressed.  It was somewhere in the mid 90's on Sat. (Sabado).  After breakfast Habitat arranged for a tour guide (Guia de turismo de Paraguay) Fausto Dionisi, to take us downtown Asuncion for a 2 hour walking tour.  It was very interesting and he was so knowledgeable, having been a guide for 42 years.  We were fortunate to see the changing of the guards at the Panthion  It was quite a process with a marching band of solders.  He told us a great deal about the history of Paraguay which I won't go into now.  One interesting fact that I learned, which surprised me, is that Paraguay sits on top of the largest natural water aqifers in the world.  Paraguay is the second poorest country in South America, Bolivia is first, and Paraguay worries that the rest of the world will try to steel their water.  In the afternoon we were joined by the daughter of one of our team members.  She is Paraguayan,  lives here and works for the Peace Corps. She took us to a market and everyone bought some things to take home.  We came back to the hotel, freshened up for dinner and then Habitat took us to a very nice! restaurant as a "Thank You".  It was wonderful   :)

Enough about Saturday (Sabado)...will chat with you tomorrow...:)   Adios!

October 17

Hi Everybody,

Sorry I missed our chat last night.  We had a busy day and it just got too late.  However, here we are together again tonight :)

Today was a very hot day.  Used a lot of sunscreen and drank a lot of water.  We always know when
to take a break because we were told "when the masons break everybody stop work and take a break".   The locals know best.

Yesterday and today have been very productive on the build site.  You can actually see the house taking shape.  Yesterday I did a lot of digging in what we have affectionately named the "hole".  It was quite a dig...approximately 9 feet deep...YES! I said nine feet deep.  This is just one of the projects being done on the site but it is the center of our attention.  The collector or trap, the second hole, is only about 4 feet deep by five feet.   At the same time the brick perimeter is now three brick high and the dirt has been tamped down in the various rooms over which concrete will be poured later and then tile installed over that.  All of this sounds simple but doing it all by hand without any electric devices, except the ole electric cement mixer, takes a lot of time.  Every day we move more brick, hand carry mortar, fill dirt buckets spread dirt, and many other jobs.

Today we started lining the holes with bricks.  It's time consuming but not nearly as consuming as the digging.  We should finish this tomorrow.

Another fun experience that happened on the site was the local TV station came and interviewed three of us and took video of the team doing our various jobs.  They said they would send us the video.  None of us had any idea they were coming so we were not prepared and consequently  we all felt we didn't give Habitat for Humanity the recognition it deserved.  Oh well, we had fun doing it.

If I knew how to put pictures on this blog I would...but you will just need to wait until I get back.

Time for bed..sleep well and we will chat again tomorrow.

Good Night!
Linda :)

October 15

Buenos Noches!

Here we are again to have a chat :)

Today was a really fun day for me.  All we did all day was dig a sewer and collecting tank.  What makes it fun is that this is such a great group of people to work with!  We laughed a lot and got very dirty doing our work.  We also carried water buckets and buckets of cement to the house so that cement could be made and poured into the rocks we had put in the foundation trenches.  It probably sound like just a lot of work but at the end of the day it feels so good to have worked so hard and accomplished so much.  As I said before, the Habitat goal is safe, decent, simple housing for all people.
Miriam, the host family mother for whom we are building the house,  has been preparing us fantastic lunches every day.  It's always much more than I can eat and they server you your plate but it is delicious.  Today was chicken, a thigh quarter and potato salad.  If the family can cook, Habitat pays them to cook our meals and also gives them enough to cook for their own family too.

We break for snacks twice a day.  They give us things like various cookies, peanut, crackers etc.  I really like peanuts so that's what I have been having.  Well.........................................today one of my co-workers was standing next to me eating peanuts too.  He turned to me and said  "have you gotten any worms in your peanut?"  I thought he was kidding but he wasn't!!!!  He took some peanuts from his hand and noticed he had a live worm in his hand too.  We actually think that it probably fell from the tree we were standing under but just in case I am NOT eating any more peanuts.

There are several types of animals around in the yards like pigs, chickens, cows, horses and lots of dogs and cats. Today, while we were eating lunch we had some excitement.   We had noticed a new cat milling around from one of the neighbors.  All of a sudden! they got into a fight under the table where we were all sitting.   I was so surprised I nearly fell over and my co-worker did the same.  I didn't get any scratches but my co-worker did, on her ankle.  It seems like a small thing to us and it would be at home but here it is a big thing. These animals are not vaccinated and they live in an environment that would make our animals sick.  Also, as you probably all know,  when cats are threatened or frightened their scratch can carry "Cat Fever".  So...I stayed with the group and my Co-Leader and our driver had to leave and take Liz to town to the Hospital.  They cleaned the small scratches and put her on antibiotics and covered it.  Interestingly, they asked her if she had a rabies shot??? She is fine but when you are in these third world countries you need to be very careful and also it is a rule of Habitat that if the skin is broken you must seek medical attention, to some degree,  for that person.

Tomorrow's work schedule says we will finish the septic tank and the cesspool.  We will have a brigade and carry bricks, water, sand, iron bars and cement.  We will prepare and carry mortar.
Lastly, we will be leveling with common brick.  WOW!  I think I better get ready to call it a night.

I hope all is well with each of you and we will chat again tomorrow night.


Adios
Linda :)

  

October 14

Ohla. !

We left our hotel about 7:15 for the site.  When we arrived we met the family for the first time.  As I said before, it is a Mom, Dad, and three children.  Also on site is a Habitat affiliate, Laura, an architect, and a mason.  A couple of neighbors also came to volunteer.  

Today was the first day of work and did we work!  The jobs today were dig trenches for the foundation, haul big rocks...big rocks!, and carry and stack bricks next to the foundation.  We were suppose to carry gravel to the foundation, but the delivery didn't come.  Oh Darn!:)  We start work around 8, break at 9:30 and lunch at 12 noon clean up the site at 3:30 and head back to the hotel around 4:00.  The lunch today was very good...a Spanich rice...I love rice so it was right up my ally!  We did have one problem today and that was pretty heavy rain in the afternoon.  It interferes with work because they don't want red bricks to be layed wet.  In the end it all worked out.  Our team is a lot of fun and they are all very hard workers.

Everyone was very dirty, a little wet and tired on the way back to the hotel.  However, everyone also was feeling really good about what we accomplished today.  The workers were also very happy with our work. They said that the work we did today would take them a week to get done.  The saying "many hands make light work" and "It takes a village" are both very true :)

It's about 11:15 so I will close and prepare for tomorrow.   Hope everyone is doing well and I will get back to you all tomorrow...:) 


Linda :)

October 13

Greetings from Paraguay,

Today is Sunday and now all of our team has arrived.   It is 4:00 pm and we just finished orientation with our two Habitat affiliate representatives, Laura and Maleena.  This home, as I thought, will be brick and mortar, and we will start from scratch by digging the foundation.  Fun, fun!  Some of the criteria families must meet to be eligible for a home are minimal income, inability to meet the cost a regular mortgage and the high cost of construction materials, and they must attend meetings to show genuine interest and conscious effort.  All families are expected to pay money for their home and they must work along side the volunteers.  Habitat looks at this as "a hand up not a hand out".

So far, the most unfortunate thing to happen is my Co-Leader, Susan, has not received her suitcase.  It was not here when we arrived and, although they said they would deliver it yesterday, to date we have not seen it.  The Habitat people are trying to locate it.  It is very possible that it is sitting at the airport, locked in some room, but they seem to be having a problem getting information from the airport.   Again, my guardian angle is looking out for me :)   

We will have all of our breakfasts and dinners here at the hotel.  The meals have been very good, always something for everyone.  We encourage everyone to be thoughtful regarding what they eat.  No lettuce or leafy vegetables, only fruits and vegetables you can wash and peal and no tap water, only bottled water! Also not a good idea to eat from street vendors.  All of these things might be fine but we don't want someone to pay all this money to come on a build and be sick. 

Well gotta run...talk to you all later  :)  

October 12-Another Day :)

Welcome back to my blog.  Today is Saturday.  We had a good night last night and a good day today.  We took a walk downtown and looked around.  It is raining but still comfortable and your chance of getting soaked with muddy water from cars and buses passing by is greater than your chance of getting wet from the rain.  The roads are in very rough shape so lots of holes and uneven pavement.

This trip has really made clear to me my need to learn Spanish.  At lunch today I even pointed to what I wanted and still got the wrong thing.  It was good :)...just not what I wanted.   Also, it bugs me that I don't know how to calculate their money so I just finished making out a chart by 5's up to $50 to give each team
member.  The exchange is 4455.00 Guarani to $1.

We have 10 members on our build team.  Susan, myself and 8 others.  They are all from different backgrounds and age groups.  Elizabeth is 30 and is an office admin. in research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cynthia is 50 and is a nurse, Joe is 50 and is in computer software and program sales all over the world, Gabriela is a 32 and travels all over the world as a Petroleum Engineer and is from Poland now living in NY, Eric and Brigette are a couple both 43 but have a long distance marriage.  Eric works for the Forest Service in Alaska and Brigette works for the city of Bern in Switzerland.  Vicki is 44 and is a paralegal and makes jewelry on the side and Donna is 71 and is retired from the National Center for Educational Statistics who now considers herself a colored pencil artist.   This makes up our team.  

 

October 11, 2013

Today has been a long day.  We had a 4 hr. layover in Sao Paulo and almost missed our flight to Asuncion.  There is not a lot of English used in the Airport and for some reason they not only changed the gate but also decided to leave 20 minutes early.  Susan, my co-leader, just happened to recheck the flight board and discovered the gate change.  We ran to the gate and we were the last to board.  Oh well, it gave us a little excitement in our day.
I will give you a little background about our specific build in Asuncion.  Meet the Nunez-Villanueva Family.  Mirian Graciela Villanueva Rojas is a housewife, Francisco Nunez Gonzalez is  a bus driver and they have 3 children Enrique Adalberto (10), Maria de los Angeles(8) and Mia Guadalupe (8 months).  The family own land in the city of Luque (15 km from Asuncion).  The project is a new house Level #2 (377 square feet which includes a bathroom with septic system, two rooms, a kitchen and a laundry area).
We will leave the hotel at 7 am, start work at 8 am and stop for the day and clean up the work area at 4 pm.

October 10, 2013

I'm on the plane and on my way.   This adventure is off to a great start!  The airport check in was the easiest I've ever had.  Short line, said I didn't need to take off my jacket, leave my computer in my bag and don't take off my shoes?????All I needed to do was take my phone out of my pocket.   I don't know what kind of a line they directed me to but I hope I get in it again.  Then when I got to the gate a couple  hours early there was a couple of Delta officials at the counter so I told them about my concern about only 50 min. between flights and they looked up my itinerary and assured me I should have not problem.  Then when the gate attendants came to the gate an hour later they called my name and all of my boarding passes were there for me.   Lastly,  I am the only person on board with an empty seat next to me.  So...if I were at home I would probably buy a lottery ticket.
I have already met some interesting people.  One was a nutritionist on her way to China to give a lecture and the other was the Vice President of Operations for Windstar Cruises.  They both happen to come sit at the table where I was eating my sandwich at the airport.   About an hour and a half to go on this flight and then a longer 10 hr. flight :(.

Paraguay...here I come.

Hi Family and Friends,

Just wanted to put up a post to start my adventure to Paraguay.  It's Wednesday night and tomorrow is the day!  As I am closing all the loose ends my anticipation is mounting.  Please keep an eye on my blog and I will try to keep you all updated.

Paraguay: October, 2013

Just a brief note: Habitat for Humanity Global Village is heading to Paraguay in October, 2013, and we can certainly use your help, hope, and best wishes for the endeavor. More on Paraguay, in general, and Habitat for Humanity's international efforts in the days to come. Nobody can save the world alone, but we can all do our small part. And there is so much to be done.

I thought of the scores of millions of human beings to whom the passage of an unconstipated elephant seems a godsend, a stroke of enormous good luck. The thought depressed me. Why are we here, men and women ... on this remarkable and perhaps unique planet? To what end? Is it to go about looking for dung—cow dung, horse dung, the enormous and princely excrement of elephants? Evidently it is—for a good many of us at any rate. It seemed an inadequate reason, I thought, for our being here—immortal souls, first cousins of the angels, own brothers of Buddha and Mozart and Sir Isaac Newton.

But a little while later I saw that I was wrong to let the consideration depress me. If it depressed me, that was only because I looked at the whole matter from the wrong end, so to speak. In painting my mental picture of the dung-searchers I had filled my foreground with the figures of Sir Isaac Newton and the rest of them. These, I perceived, should have been relegated to the remote background and the foreground should have been filled with cows and elephants. The picture so arranged, I should have been able to form a more philosophical and proportionable estimate of the dung-searchers. For I should have seen at a glance how vastly superior were their activities to those of the animal producers of dung in the foreground. The philosophical Martian would admire the dung-searchers for having discovered a use for dung; no other animal, he would point out, has had the wit to do more than manufacture it.

We are not Martians and our training makes us reluctant to think of ourselves as animals. Nobody inquires why cows and elephants inhabit the world. There is little reason why we should be here, eating, drinking, sleeping, and in the intervals reading metaphysics, saying prayers, or collecting dung. We are here, that is all; and like other animals we do what our native capacities and our environment permit of our doing. Our achievement, when we compare it with that of cows and elephants, is remarkable. They automatically make dung; we collect it and turn it into fuel. It is not something to be depressed about; it is something to be proud of. Still, in spite of the consolations of philosophy, I remained pensive.

—Aldous Huxley (Jaipur, India — 1925)