Paraguay

11-8-09
At the Argentinian airport, I had to go through customs and then find my connecting flight on Aerolinas Argentinas. After finding someone who could speak English, I was told that I had to walk to different terminal. I had to check in and find my gate. I only had a little more than an hour between flights. It was a little harrowing but luckily I only had my carry on bags to lug through the airport.

Arrived at 11AM after a short flight from Buenos Aires. It took a while to get through customs. They had one person working the tourist line and 2 people working the Paraguay citizen line which was much shorter. After all the citizens went through customs, we were able to use those custom agents.

Regi, Gabi & MaJo were waiting for me. We went to Tati’s house to drop off my luggage and say hi. Then we went to the Yacht Club for a buffet lunch and swim with the other volunteers from Operation Smile. The owner of the Yacht Club paid for all the dinners and allowed us to use the pool. I fell asleep by the pool. Didn’t realize I was so tired. I think I slept for about ½ hour.



Afterward, we went to Regi’s house to take the cookies to them. I was able to get on the internet there. That will turn out to be our daily routine.

We met Dale at his hotel so that I could pick up the stuff he brought along for me. Then to Tati’s house. We had marienda with Tati and Regi’s mom.

I got to bed around 11:00 PM

11-9-09

Up at 6:30AM. I had an apple and tea for breakfast. Wasn’t so sure if having an apple was a good idea since I didn’t know how they cleaned it. So far, so good.

At 8:00, Gabi arrived and Tati’s chauffeur took us to Operation Smile. I am helping with Medical Records. I got files ready for the surgeries for the coming days. It involved moving papers around in the file, putting stickers on the front of the file and writing out name tags. One of the volunteers gave me a tour of the Pre-Op and Post-Op areas. The volunteer told me not to show any emotion so that I wouldn’t scare any of the mothers. Marian also showed me the Recovery Area. You would not believe the conditions. When we were doing the records, the Recovery patients would be carried by the parent past us, upstairs to a bed.





The Hospital

Pre-op - the patients are the next to go to surgery


Volunteers play with the kids who are waiting for surgery

Recovery Room

Post-Op - patients are here overnight and sent home the next day. This little girl who also has no legs celebrated her 2nd birthday getting her surgery. The student volunteers decorated her room with balloons.

Toni is my “boss”. She seems very nice. She has been on 7 missions.

Regi picked me up around 12:30 and we went to her parents house for lunch. Gabi, MaJo, her mom and dad were there. We checked our email while we were there.

We went to Regi’s work in the afternoon. A client came in and we were able to watch Regi work with an 8 month old girl.


Regi at work

Then we went downtown to the Artisan center to buy some gifts to take home.

The artisan center

Afterward, we went to Tati’s house for marienda (a 4:00PM or so snack). As we were on our way to Tati’s house, Regi saw Victor parked on the side of the road. We stopped and said a quick hi to him.

And THEN at around 8:30PM, we went to dinner at Hiroshimo, a Japanese restaurant, with Tati, Regi and Regi’s boyfriend, Federico. It was pretty cheap…only $40.00 for all of us including beers for Tati & I and sodas for Regi & Fedi. We got home at 10:30PM and I got to sleep around 11:00PM


At the restaurant

11-10-09

Up at 6:30. Today I had an orange and some toast.

Operation Smile again. The chauffeur and I left at 8:00. It’s funny how I can communicate a little with people who know no English. He asked me if it was my first time in Paraguay and I actually understood his question. But the way people drive here, I don’t understand it at all…I think it’s takes lots of practice.

Today at Operation Smile, I took apart the charts of the people who did not have an operation. Each paper has a white sheet and a yellow sheet attached. We separate the two sheets and put the file back together. The white sheets go to the U.S. and the yellow sheets stay with Paraguay.

Tati spoils me….We had beef and chicken Milanese with mashed potatoes for lunch. It was delicious. Aunt Grace came for lunch.

Tati’s condo - living room & dining room

My room AKA Marian’s room

We went to Regi’s house to use the internet and I took the gifts we brought for them to the house.

Regi’s house

Francis told Regi how to get the volunteer fire company’s offices. We went there and bought a few things. I took some pictures of the fire trucks. They just received a donated fire truck from England. All of their fire trucks are donated from other countries. The old one there came from Korea. I talked to a captain of the fire company who spoke very good English.

The new fire truck The old fire truck

Afterward, we went shopping for two hours at a mall near Regi’s house. Mary came with us. MaJo’s teacher came to the house to prepare her for her final exams.

We had marienda at Tati’s house with Aunt Blanca and Aunt Rosa It’s usually tea and popcorn. I learned that Tati really like popcorn with a LOT of salt.

Regi and I got quick showers and left around 7:45PM to meet Dale and Marian and others from Operation Smile for dinner and Le Sommelier. Dale, Marian and I each got a different pasta dish and shared from our plates. It was very good. We also shared a bottle of wine - Terrazzo Torrontes. While we were in the restaurant, the lights went out. I later learned that they went out in ½ of Paraguay and parts of Brazil. There was a problem at a large hydro-electric dam shared by Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.

At the restaurant

After the restaurant, we went back to the hotel to get Dale’s dirty clothes and then to pick up Ale so he could have the car the next day.

Got back to Tati’s around 10:45 and to bed at 11:00

11-11-09

It was raining really hard this morning. The thunder woke me up around 5:00AM.

Ale was supposed to take to me to Operation Smile this morning because Tati had an appointment and needed the chauffeur. Ale called me around 7:45 and asked if I was still going since it was raining. I told him that I still thought I was going. Ale & Gabi picked me up about 15 minutes later. As we were driving to the hospital, the roads were flooded and the water was sprinkling out of the manholes in the street. The parking area at the hospital was flooded. So Ale parked as close to the curb as he could so we wouldn’t get our feet wet. The water at the curb was about an inch deep.

There were a lot of volunteers there today. Kids from schools come to help. I met Aunt Grace’s son, Matthew. He got really tall. The last time I saw him he was 6 years old.

I didn’t have too much to do today. Sat around a lot and wrote my postcards. Ale decided to stay and help. He said he could go to work in the afternoon.

We left around noon and went to Aunt Blanca’s house for lunch. Her house is next door to Tati’s condo. Her house is HUGE. It has all wood floors. She has a pool and a large yard.

There was a large selection of food - chipauzu, barbeque beef & sausage, chicken Milanese, orange chicken, soup, rise and 8 varieties of ice cream with cones for dessert. Aunt Rosa, Mary, Blanca, Tati, Ale, Gabi and the cousins, Nathalie, Poloma, Marisol, Carina were all there. We went out back afterward and looked at the bird and sat around and talked. Regi’s cousins all speak English. We used the internet here.


We went shopping at a different mall. I am looking for something specific that Valerie wants. Finally found it. We also looked for the wine that we had in the restaurant. Apparently, it’s hard to find.

Around 5:30PM, we went to Regi’s other grandma’s house. It’s her birthday. We spent a couple of hours there. She owns a three story house. The first floor has shops and she lives on the second and third floor. It seemed like forever to get to her house (probably about 25 minutes) I think she lives on the other side of Asuncion. She has a wraparound porch on the second floor and a large patio area on the third floor. There is a beautiful view from the third floor. She also has a nice large yard and a pool. If I was better at taking pictures, I might have gotten good shots.

At her grandma’s house were Alejandro’s brothers and sister, Juan, Victor and Lilly. Alejandro, Mary, Regi, Gabi, MaJo, Victor’s wife, daughter and grandson were also there. They had typical marienda food - several varieties of empanadas, a rolled beef (sort of like Milanese), cheese sandwiches, and some sweets. Near the end, there was birthday cake. They lit candles and sang happy birthday to her.

The family….Lilly is taking the picture

Singing Happy Birthday

After leaving here, we drove past the Palace and the Congress buildings. Behind these buildings is a shanty town. I’m sure that I heard gun shots. Regi said that it is a very dangerous place. I was glad to get out of there.

The Palace


The old Congress

We got back to Tati’s around 8:30. Tati wanted a snack. So we had crackers, cheese, pate, and beer.

By the time I got to bed, it was 11:00PM again. Where does the time go???

11-12-09

Up today at around 6:00AM. It was raining again this morning. I thought our afternoon plans would be cancelled.

I had my usual breakfast - orange, toast, and tea. The chauffeur took me to Operation Smile at 8:00. I think tomorrow I will leave later because they don’t have enough for me to do anymore.

Here’s where I do my thing.

Took files apart again. It’s the type of work that doesn’t require any thought. Regi picked me up at 12:30. She came in and had a little tour of the hospital. We took someone to a car rental place. He was going to drive some Americans from Operation Smile to see some sights in Paraguay (Amazingly, we saw them at one of the places we were)

Then we went to Regi’s house to eat chicken and spaghetti for lunch. Checked my email and waited for Mary and Gabi to be ready.

The street outside Regi’s house. Most of the side streets are like this. Makes for a very bumpy ride

Ale drove Mary, Regi, Gabi, MaJo and I to Caacupe about an hour‘s drive from Asuncion. We saw a beautiful large church. We were able to walk up a very narrow spiral staircase to the balcony around the inside of the basilica. We could look down at the church. Then we continued up another staircase to the outside of the church. We could look at all the views of the city. It was very beautiful. As we were walking up the steps, there was a fresco of the beginning of the Catholic religion in Paraguay beginning with the Jesuits. On December 8, people walk from Asuncion and all over Paraguay to this church to celebrate the Virgin Mary.

Inside the church. I took this picture while sitting in a pew.


A view of Caacupe

Outside of the church, there are sidewalk vendors. Ale bought me a wood rosary. Across the street from the church, there are several stores selling artisan articles. Regi bought Valerie and I some things for the house and I got something for Brayden.

Then we went to San Bernardino and looked at the area and Lake Ypacarai. They told me the lake is very dirty. You can't see to the bottom of the lake. We stopped and had ice cream at a place in San Bernardino and then went to a San Bernandino Nautico Club to walk along the lake.

View of the lake


At the club.

Then we came home. We are having pizza for dinner tonight. Regi’s boyfriend, Fede, came over for pizza.

11-13-09
Went to Operation Smile for the last time today. Didn’t go until 8:30. They still weren’t ready for me. Took some stuff for Dale to give out as gifts.

Regi’s mom and dad came to Operation Smile at around 11:00. I learned that this was the first mission they ever visited. We went to Tati’s house for lunch. Tati, Mary, Ale, Regi, Grace, Ricky, his wife, and Gabi were there for lunch. We had a chicken stew and rice. Ice cream for dessert. We didn’t start eating lunch until around 2 because Ricky was late.

At lunch going clockwise beginning with Ricky, his wife, Mary, Ale, Grace, me, Tati in first picture. Then counterclockwise in second picture, Ricky, Tati, me, Gabi

After lunch, Regi and I went to the flower shop to order flowers for Tati and Regi’s family for all that they did for me this week. After, she called her friend about getting the wine that we liked at Le Sommelier. Her friend said that they had one bottle at her import/export. Regi called her friend from near the flower shop. We had to drive at least 20 minutes to her friends work. After we got there, her friend told her that the wine was available at a shop she owned near where she originally called her friend.

The day before, Tati took our clothes to a shop to be washed. When we got them back, some were missing. Regi and I drove past the shop to find the missing clothes but the shop was closed.

That night we had the Operation Smile final party. There were speeches and a presentation of over 500 photos. The photo slide show was amazing. Got home after midnight.


The whole family

11-14-09
I finally got to sleep in….I didn’t get up until 8:30. Then Tati and I went to the clothes cleaning shop. They couldn’t find the pajama pants that I think were left there. After much discussion, the lady that owned the shop gave me Guarani money to equal $20.00. Tati said she would exchange the money for me for dollars at home. When we got back, Tati gave me a $50.00 bill.

Then around noon, we went to Regi’s house for a barbecue. Almost the whole Garay family and Buzo family were there. It was a huge party with lots of food. Chicken, Beef, Ribs, Sausage. And one of /dake;s favorites - blood sausage. One of Tati’s brothers came with a friend and their guitars. They sat around and sang songs all afternoon. It was very hot - over 100 degrees. We stayed there until around 6:00PM. Blanca gave me a pair of earrings and another gift. We were able to meet Alejandro’s daughter and granddaughter, Milva and Jenny. Milva is a very nice person and her daughter is very sweet.

Singing and having a good time


Jenny, Ale, Milva, Mary

We went back to Tati’s house. I tried washing clothes earlier in the morning but apparently I used the wrong dials because the washer still wasn’t done. The weekend maid was able to show me which dials to use and I got the wash done about 11:00PM. So much for getting to bed early.

Dale, Marian and I sat around and talked. We had dinner around 8:30PM of leftover Milanese and salad. The maid made fresh pineapple juice.

Tati went out for the night around 9:00PM. We learned the next day that she got home around 5:00AM. OMG!! She has more stamina than I do.

11-15-09
We got up today around 7:00AM. Marian’s mom & dad came get our luggage and take us to have coffee. The whole family met us at Havanna for breakfast and coffee/tea. Dale and I split a ham & cheese sandwich. Afterwards, we all went to the airport. It was a sad goodbye. Everyone was crying. Too bad we don’t all live closer.


Our last meal together