We also had Portuguese channels from Brazil, Telesur, from Venezuela, and a few Paraguayan channels as well. There were, by far, more Asian and Arabic channels than any other language groups.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Things I See...
While watching television in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, one might wonder what is the native language of the country.
We also had Portuguese channels from Brazil, Telesur, from Venezuela, and a few Paraguayan channels as well. There were, by far, more Asian and Arabic channels than any other language groups.
We also had Portuguese channels from Brazil, Telesur, from Venezuela, and a few Paraguayan channels as well. There were, by far, more Asian and Arabic channels than any other language groups.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Spying on my children
Also known as lurking around their Face book pages, hehehe....
I find it is easier to keep up with my grown children by checking out their posts on Face Book. Very interesting stuff that never seems to come up in emails or phone calls. So I have become a spy! I spy on their Face Book and in this way, I am in on all the nitty gritty. You have to keep from commenting too much, because, well, that's just not cool!
So today I thought I would share with you some of the interesting things I am finding on Jewel's Face Book. In case you do not know, Jewel is a freshman at a small Baptist college in Florida.
It seems she has become a Super Hero and learned how to fly!
Is this from the Biology class I am paying for?
Ok....Arts and Crafts? Hey, at least its not a tattoo!
I'm going with Folk Dances...
Economics????
When did she travel west???And , meet 'Screech' the school mascot!
Interesting .... Hopefully, this is not a fashion design class...
BUT,this series of photos left me most concerned!
Ok! I promise! No more spying!
Monday, November 16, 2009
It Seemed Like a Good Idea
A blogging, missionary friend of mine, Brendas Blog from Paraguay does a series on her blog with this title and I decided to join her with some of my past stories which will fall under the title well enough.
This is my friend ,Theda Dawson, in front of a Mission Aviation Fellowship plane
on the air strip in the village where she lived and worked at the time.
I recently was reminded by another missionary, Theda Dawson, of the time I had a root canal in her jungle home. That's right, a root canal in a mud and stick house with a palm roof in a Yanomamo village. You see, a dentist was visiting from Puerto Rico and he offered to do it for free. I needed it, he offered, so...
I sat myself down in the middle of a room full of half naked indians, chewing tobacco and spitting it on the floor as they chattered on. They spoke Guiaca, so I had no idea what they might be saying.
It went quite well, considering. I did not have too much pain and after the root canal we loaded up in a speed boat and headed down river to a Ye'kwana village where we would spend the night. I did fine until night when the Novocain wore off. I spent the night in my hammock tossing and turning which kept everyone else up. In a jungle home built of poles which are all tied together, when one persons swings his hammock, the poles shake and everyone swings with them, others are not always appreciative!
That was when I learned that one should not travel in an unpressurized plane immediately after major dental work. My tooth began to grow! and GROW! AND GROW! It was so big it was about to explode and take my head with it!
Eventually, I was able to make the pilot hear me and he tried to fly as low as possible. Unfortunately, the mountain ranges refused to lower themselves and we had to climb repeatedly to cross them. I began to consider the possibilities available for constructing a parachute and taking up sky diving.
About that time, I heard another pilot talking on the radio. He had a young indian girl on his plane headed to the same town. She was having complications with her labor and needed an emergency flight to the hospital. I could hear her screaming in the back ground. Poor thing! After hearing her, I refused to scream, but I did cry and kept right on banging that door. It probably still has a dent in it...
As we neared town, we descended to land and the pain also became less intense. Even so, I went straight to the pharmacy for some pain medication and I never flew again for at least 3 days after I had any dental work, even just a cleaning!
I hate dental work under normal circumstances, and I can not recall why I would have decided to go through a root canal in one sitting, no x-ray machines, in a jungle hut. Maybe one of the witch doctors cursed me to have a lapse of judgment.? Or maybe I was just a poor missionary who really needed free dental work?
Whatever the reason, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Ye'kwana Marriage and Motherhood
(This young mother is expecting her fourth child.She has two living children, having lost one to malaria.)
When a newly married couple has a child, tradition dictates that the child be given to the mother's parents. The child will know who is its mother but the grand parents have final say in all matters. When that grand child marries, the son-in-law will move in with the grand parents.
Giving up the child is not as terrible as it may at first sound when you realize the mother and her husband will usually live with her parents for several years and even then, they will build right next to her parents. The son -in -law is responsible for the upkeep of his wife's parents and it is his duty to stay nearby to do so. This may even play into the tradition of giving them the first born, as it will encourage the parents to stay near by. Also, the girls are quite young at marriage and often need the support of their mother. The girl is marriageable shortly after her first menses.
The parents do stay involved in the child's life but are not the highest authority. This does cause conflict at times when a Christian girl marries and her parents are not Christin. She will not want her child raised out of the faith. This encourages Christians to marry children of other Christian families so as to avoid this conflict, which does cause the Christian families to be stronger.
The encroachment of the outside culture is causing much of this to be abandoned and is a great source of concern for the tribe. Without the in-laws staying to care for the elder parents, and the young child to provide for them, what is to become of the elderly? These are issues one does not see without spending time in the culture.
And now, allow me a rant!
The Venezuelan government often tries to move Indian teachers, malaria workers and such, around at their own whim and are not aware of all the difficulties they are creating. The government has placed Cuban and criollo Venezuelans into the community, even military, which often impregnate the young tribal girls, and then leave them to fend for themselves, not knowing where they fit in the community, once the workers are relocated elsewhere.
This creates grave problems and no one is left to deal with it. This has even led to armed confrontations between military and tribal peoples. Very sad, and the instances are happening more and more frequently as the military is moving more and more into the tribal communities.
This type of behavior is what will ultimately destroy the tribal cultures and is the true case of ethnocide in Venezuela. It is being quietly covered up and unreported, but it is happening!
The missionaries who were accused of such things, but never proven to have committed them, are no longer on sight to report such atrocities and the government claims to have 'saved' the tribes from the evil influence of foreigners, all the while destroying the very people they claim to be helping, perhaps unknowingly, but with the same results, none the less.
Adorable children!Thursday, November 12, 2009
Power Outages
We lost our power two nights ago. We have been having electrical problems here in the house due to some faulty wiring and I at first assumed that was the cause for the power outage. I went outside and noticed that all our neighbors, and for as far as I could see, were also without lights. Then I worried that perhaps our problem had caused a local outage by blowing the transformer or something. No, it was not caused by little ol' me!
Later we learned that the entire country of Paraguay had lost power, as well as much of Brazil, and all of Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest cities on earth. Estimates are that 60 million people were without power. The cause of the outage was a fail safe of the Itiapu Dam, the world's largest power plant, equivalent to 10 nuclear power plants. Itiapu is here in Paraguay and provides most of Paraguay's and Brazil's electrical supply.
In Paraguay, our power was restored in under an hour but Rio was in the dark for 3 - 4 hours Good thing this did not happen during the upcoming Olympics, huh?.
All this brought to my mind the situation many Venezuelans are living with. Due to the Chavez Bolivarian regime's ineptness, the country is experiencing power and water problems. This has led the government to ration electricity and there are planned outages lasting 48 hours on a weekly basis. This also causes water outages as most water arrives via electric pumps. People are storing water in barrels in their Caracas homes and having to take the 'Bolivarian Bath'.
What is the Bolivarian Bath ??? The President himself informed the populace, on national television, of their patriotic duty to limit their showers to only 3 minutes. He explained that one minute was for soaping up, one for scrubbing and hair, and one for rinsing! OH! And it must be with cold water!
A few days later, the President also informed the comrades that the patriot must not use lights in the home at night while visiting the bathroom but should keep a flashlight handy for such times. And then, the warning was issued that window unit Air Conditioners were to become illegal to use! Not that they do much good without power anyway...
And there you have it folks! Beautiful socialism revolution! In only 12 years, an oil rich country has progressed to such heights of equality! Now, just as the President had promised, the indians living in the jungle are truly equal to their fellow citizens in the capital city! Both live without power and running water! Socialism has brought about equality, everyone has become equally poor.
Its a beautiful thing to behold... well, when the lights are on so that you can see it, that is!
Later we learned that the entire country of Paraguay had lost power, as well as much of Brazil, and all of Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest cities on earth. Estimates are that 60 million people were without power. The cause of the outage was a fail safe of the Itiapu Dam, the world's largest power plant, equivalent to 10 nuclear power plants. Itiapu is here in Paraguay and provides most of Paraguay's and Brazil's electrical supply.
In Paraguay, our power was restored in under an hour but Rio was in the dark for 3 - 4 hours Good thing this did not happen during the upcoming Olympics, huh?.
All this brought to my mind the situation many Venezuelans are living with. Due to the Chavez Bolivarian regime's ineptness, the country is experiencing power and water problems. This has led the government to ration electricity and there are planned outages lasting 48 hours on a weekly basis. This also causes water outages as most water arrives via electric pumps. People are storing water in barrels in their Caracas homes and having to take the 'Bolivarian Bath'.
What is the Bolivarian Bath ??? The President himself informed the populace, on national television, of their patriotic duty to limit their showers to only 3 minutes. He explained that one minute was for soaping up, one for scrubbing and hair, and one for rinsing! OH! And it must be with cold water!
A few days later, the President also informed the comrades that the patriot must not use lights in the home at night while visiting the bathroom but should keep a flashlight handy for such times. And then, the warning was issued that window unit Air Conditioners were to become illegal to use! Not that they do much good without power anyway...
And there you have it folks! Beautiful socialism revolution! In only 12 years, an oil rich country has progressed to such heights of equality! Now, just as the President had promised, the indians living in the jungle are truly equal to their fellow citizens in the capital city! Both live without power and running water! Socialism has brought about equality, everyone has become equally poor.
Its a beautiful thing to behold... well, when the lights are on so that you can see it, that is!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tribute to our Vets!
Happy Veterans Day!
My family has several veterans and active duty service men in all branches of the armed services and I would like to honor them on this day, and especially to remember those who have fallen for our freedom.
Here is a link to a Face Book photo album I am putting together of our family's veterans and active duty military. LINK!
God Bless Our Troops!
Check out Mustang's post as well for a lovely poem to honor our veterans.
The Things I See...
In Paraguay...
We have a line of paper products
with a very inflated opinion of itself!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Happy 234th Birthday , USMC!
Semper Fi, Marines!
My Marine.
Our Wedding
My Marine today!
Once a Marine, always a Marine!
(Here he is protecting a Pecan Pie from being eaten by all the girls.
A tough assignment, but a Marine can handle it!)
God Bless our Marines, wherever they may be!
Monday, November 09, 2009
Tarantulas
Knock, knock ???
Who's there ???
You never know who may show up on your door step!
One thing you see a lot of in the jungle are spiders. At first, they catch you off guard and give you a fright. But after awhile, you start to expect them and don't get too excited when you do see one.
There are several poisonous spiders and they are not all big. Some are quite small. Of course, many are Very large. The tarantula is by far the largest. But even tarantulas vary in size. The average tarantula has only about a 6 inches leg span. However, things in the jungle are rarely average!
We had several encounters with spiders. The scariest spider is not as large as the tarantula, but is very fast. This is the Monkey Spider. It has only about a 4 inches leg span but can jump several feet in one single HOP! It is also poisonous. Once my son was chased by one of these monkey spiders.
But the tarantula is huge! My husband knocked one out of our palm roof which was so heavy, I heard the THUNK as it hit the floor even though I was in another room!
Tarantulas however are stupid and slow, and it is a good thing they are!If you ever run across a tarantula, remember this...don't poke at it, it will rear up into a striking pose and reveal it's fangs! Don't hit it, it's exoskeleton is too hard! Don't dare touch it, its hair will cause severe itching! So what to do?
My husband learned this the hard way, but all you have to do to get rid of a tarantula is...BLOW on it! Really, bend down and puff at it. It will run away! Every time...well, most of the time anyway. My husband was camping out on a river trip once and a tarantula was nearby. He bent over to get a closer look, and a cruel jungle MK (missionary kid) blew on it. The thing nearly climbed Clint's leg! You got to watch out for those MK's! They are by far the most dangerous creature in the jungle!
My kids would often catch tarantulas to play with during school. Like I said, Mk's are ...different. The game went like this. Place the tarantula in the middle of the table where all 4 kids are studying. As the tarantulas crawls toward them, the child will PUFF on it and redirect it towards their sibling, who will in turn, PUFF it towards another. This can go on for hours. I know, my kids are strange,but...HEY! They had no X Box.(or even nintendo)
But one day, we saw the MOTHER OF ALL TARANTULAS!
My son had the daily chore of taking out our garbage. We had dug a big garbage pit about 50 meters or so away from the house and each day the trash was dumped there and burned.Josh left with the trash one morning and quickly came running back to the house. He ran into his room, grabbed his pellet gun and ran back out the door. I yelled after him, " What are you doing?" He answered over his shoulder, "I am going to shoot THAT spider!"
Now, we all heard this and decided to run after him. We wanted to see this spider he planned to shoot!He had complained for days that there was a big, BEEFY,spider living in the garbage pit. He was right!
We arrived at the pit right as he took aim. This tarantula was HUGE! It was the size of a dinner plate! This was no spider to swat at with a magazine! No, Josh was right. The only way to get rid of this baby, was to shoot it.
Which he did.
There are several poisonous spiders and they are not all big. Some are quite small. Of course, many are Very large. The tarantula is by far the largest. But even tarantulas vary in size. The average tarantula has only about a 6 inches leg span. However, things in the jungle are rarely average!
We had several encounters with spiders. The scariest spider is not as large as the tarantula, but is very fast. This is the Monkey Spider. It has only about a 4 inches leg span but can jump several feet in one single HOP! It is also poisonous. Once my son was chased by one of these monkey spiders.
But the tarantula is huge! My husband knocked one out of our palm roof which was so heavy, I heard the THUNK as it hit the floor even though I was in another room!
Tarantulas however are stupid and slow, and it is a good thing they are!If you ever run across a tarantula, remember this...don't poke at it, it will rear up into a striking pose and reveal it's fangs! Don't hit it, it's exoskeleton is too hard! Don't dare touch it, its hair will cause severe itching! So what to do?
My husband learned this the hard way, but all you have to do to get rid of a tarantula is...BLOW on it! Really, bend down and puff at it. It will run away! Every time...well, most of the time anyway. My husband was camping out on a river trip once and a tarantula was nearby. He bent over to get a closer look, and a cruel jungle MK (missionary kid) blew on it. The thing nearly climbed Clint's leg! You got to watch out for those MK's! They are by far the most dangerous creature in the jungle!
My kids would often catch tarantulas to play with during school. Like I said, Mk's are ...different. The game went like this. Place the tarantula in the middle of the table where all 4 kids are studying. As the tarantulas crawls toward them, the child will PUFF on it and redirect it towards their sibling, who will in turn, PUFF it towards another. This can go on for hours. I know, my kids are strange,but...HEY! They had no X Box.(or even nintendo)
But one day, we saw the MOTHER OF ALL TARANTULAS!
My son had the daily chore of taking out our garbage. We had dug a big garbage pit about 50 meters or so away from the house and each day the trash was dumped there and burned.Josh left with the trash one morning and quickly came running back to the house. He ran into his room, grabbed his pellet gun and ran back out the door. I yelled after him, " What are you doing?" He answered over his shoulder, "I am going to shoot THAT spider!"
Now, we all heard this and decided to run after him. We wanted to see this spider he planned to shoot!He had complained for days that there was a big, BEEFY,spider living in the garbage pit. He was right!
We arrived at the pit right as he took aim. This tarantula was HUGE! It was the size of a dinner plate! This was no spider to swat at with a magazine! No, Josh was right. The only way to get rid of this baby, was to shoot it.
Which he did.
We had many run ins with the tarantulas, sometimes my children would keep them for a few days to play around with.
Some of the tribes in Venezuela eat tarantulas. A missionary kid told me that the legs taste like shrimp!
Cocktail sauce anyone?
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Quiet!!!
By Jewel Vernoy
With all these modern conveniences, have we turned a deaf ear to the music that God made for us? Are we able to hear His still voice or are we deafened by the things we deem necessary.
When people return home after a long day they will make themselves comfortable on the sofa to enjoy one of their favorite TV shows. After all, what is 30 minutes or an hour? But more often then not, once one show ends, they find another by accident that they simply must watch. And as the fascinating scenes from the TV show flutter before their eyes and they hear the jokes from the characters they end up spending hour after hour in front of the TV. Perhaps Jesus is standing patiently in the corner waiting for you talk to Him?
When a person hears the click of the power button on their computer and watches the screen come to life, anticipating talking with their friends on MSN , AOL and
As people walk down the street and look up at the billboards and see the ads of all the new inventions that will help them in one way or another, and they run to the store to purchase them, can they hear the footsteps of Jesus following them or are they listening to their Ipod with the music blaring in their ears? And how is it they can hear their cell phone when some one calls but can not hear the voice of Jesus as He calls their name ever so sweetly and pleadingly?
Why is it so easy to listen to all the music and voices of the world and so difficult to hear the voice of Jesus as He speaks to us? Is it because of all these modern conveniences that we cannot spend a few moments to open our Bibles and read the word of God but we can spend so much time watching TV or playing video games, and then we wonder why our walk with God is not what it should be? Perhaps we should learn, as did Elijah, to listen to the still, small voice and not the earthquake or the thunder.
God paints the sunrise and sunset each day that is never the same twice, but we choose to look at a fuzzy TV screen. When God formed the mountains and valleys and decorated them with tress and flowers did He have a smile on his face even though He knew that one day we would ignore His masterpieces? When the wind blows through the trees and rustles the leaves, how is it that we choose to listen to man made music instead of the music God orchestrated?
When people watch families on TV laughing and having a good time, how is it they do not decide to spend time with their own families? There could never be a sweeter sound then a baby’s laugh! If only people will forget about the shallow entertainments the world has to offer and see the beauties that God has so wonderfully made for them in this world, and more importantly what He has given them in their families.
If people were to stop for a moment and listen, they could hear the music God has made and see the petals of the flowers He painted by hand. They could feel His love when they are hugged by a loved one. If only people would stop and listen to His voice.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Cobble Stone Streets
This is my street. In Paraguay many streets are made of cobble stone even here in Asuncion. At first it was odd for me but I think I am used to it now. It certainly keeps the speeding down as it really shakes the bones and rattles the teeth.
Some of the older streets are better made than the newer ones. I find them to be quaint and picturesque. Very colonial, I almost expect to have a Spanish Don pass by me on his fine horse.
Up close.
A wider view
My street
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
My Week
(My husband speaking to the Jr.students at the camp)
My husband has been gone this week and most of last week as well. Last week he was speaking at a Spring Retreat for the Jr. High students of Asuncion Christian Academy. This last week he has been in Tucuman,
Argentina speaking at a Bible Institute and church there. Its a hard trip for him involving two 24 hour bus trips.
At the same time, Jayde has been at the Spring Retreat, which has left me home alone. Very alone! I thought this would be a great chance to do some serious writing but without my family around, I seem to have no muse. I have not been able to work on the book much, just a little editing, and have even had trouble with writing posts for this blog.Thankfully, Jayde is home now and Clint arrives tomorrow. He is on the bus now.
Its not that things have not happened this week, its just that, I can't seem to sit down and write any of it. I had jotted down some notes with the intent to write them up, but that never happened. I did pull out my scrapbooks and managed to do a few pages before I lost even that spark of creativity.
Upon Jayde's return from the camp, I was left wondering how it was that I sent her to an English camp in Paraguay and she came home speaking Chinese and Korean words.
(Look closely and you may figure out why she picked up some Chinese and Korean)
Then there was the afternoon I spent making empanadas. Whole wheat, low fat , baked empanadas to stash in my freezer for evenings when I needed to eat something healthy and quick. I had baked all but one pan full, when I left the kitchen to escape the heat. Its definitely summer here! When I returned to remove the last pan, I discovered my dog had learned to open the kitchen door and had eaten all my empanadas off the counter where I had left them cooling. I was not happy!
I also discovered this week that I have become the little, old, lady that talks to her cat! Speaking of my cat, she had a kitten. She wanted to have it in my lap, but ended up in Jayde's room on her bean bag and there they are still!
I also received news of Jewel's Mid Term grades. She has done very well, and the fact that she is dyslexic and has to work extra hard at her studies, makes me very proud of her grades! Her lowest grade was 80% in English. She just sent me an email from her English professor telling her she had made a 100% on her essay!
It seems she also won a costume contest. She was a gypsy. She is the girl in the middle.
(Jewel and friends at school)
I also spent a few days waiting on a delivery truck. This involved several phone calls and delays.
"It will be delivered by noon."
" It will surely be there by 2."
"Ok, it will be there after 4."
" Perhaps by 6"
" It might be there in the morning."
but it finally made it!
Oh! And my electricity keeps going out, but only in half of the house. I have learned the fuses for each part of the house, usually Clint deals with all that stuff.
I have been reading a lot and am in intrigued with the Royal Family of Brazil, the Braganza's, and have followed their history down to the present day Pretender to the Throne of Brazil whose baptismal name is: Bertrand Maria José Pio Januário Miguel Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança; In English: Bertrand Mary Joseph Pius Januarius Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga of Orleans and Braganza.I think he deserves to be Emperor with a name like that!
And did I mention the garbage men refused to pick up my trash? I was late on my payment because I was not home the day they came by to collect. I met them on the side walk, standing next to my trash, and paid the fee but they refused to take my trash until the next scheduled pick up. So I had to cart it all back inside to keep the dogs out of it. That was fun...
SO... that was my week,
how was yours?
Monday, November 02, 2009
Women of the jungle
Just women, being women.
Raising children.
Laughing at a joke.
Riding the tractor to the airstrip.
Making baskets.
Bringing yucca from the garden.
Doing laundry.
Growing old.
Making cassava bread.
Missionary women too!
Bringing water from the river.
Bringing in the fire wood for cooking.
Visiting friends.
Visiting friends.
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