On this eve of adding another member to our family I though this would be a good time to let Ofelia have her last moment of solitude in the spotlight. After today she will be faced with the reality that, despite her life-long experiences to the contrary, she is not the center of the universe. It has also been a while since we put up some photos so here they are. Most are from the winter here in Cleveland and we want to get these up quickly as we’re past the point of being ready for springtime here in Cleveland! Out with the snow and in with the green!
The video is of the grand snow cave that I ostensibly built for Ofelia. In truth, it was the tunnel I’ve always dreamed of making! Building something like this is always 90% of the fun– this cave was no exception. If you can believe it, I had plans for even more extensions and additions to the cave. Maybe next year…
Until then be well. We’ll be posting soon with news and photos about the newest Mortingame!
I’ve been back in the states for nearly 2 months now. All this time I’ve had this video and these pictures ready and waiting to be posted. Why the wait? Sure, I’ve been busy, like every other American who puts too many plans into any given day. But that’s not why it’s taken me two months.
When I left Paraguay, I left 2 very important parts of my life there, Katherine and Ofelia. Being back here without them has been very difficult, and very lonely at times. I realized that by not posting these pictures and this video about our trip to the Jesuit Ruins, I was avoiding a piece of having left Paraguay, and my family there.
Things are going very well for me in my graduate program, but I deeply miss many things about Paraguay and my time there. I still drink terere every day (my colleagues have gotten accustomed to me and my termo) and I’m even studying Español every day– and still I miss Paraguay.
I’ll soon be going to Paraguay to bring my beautiful wife and daughter back to Cleveland. So now I can share this video and these pictures with all of you. We can all stop waiting for Jesus!
We shot these great photos and this video back in late June when Kate and my mom and Kamilah were visiting. We took a weekend road trip with Gladys, Roberta and Francisco to Encarnación. The video is from the Jesuit Ruins at the town of Jesus– about 12km off of the paved road, and about 45 minutes drive from Encarnación. Translation: the middle of nowhere, but unbelievably beautiful and impressive. Some of the photos are from another Jesuit ruin site also in the Encarnación area.
No, we’re not pregnant again! Concepción (HERE to find it on a map) is a town in the north of Paraguay where we recently spent the weekend.
Our trip actually began about a week before we left. My profe, Carlos, had invited Katherine and I to accompany him and his novia (girlfriend) on their weekend trip to Concepción. We were up for a change of scenery and so agreed. The first step was for Carlos and I to get our bus tickets. For that we had to drive into Asuncion to the bus terminal. No problem. Our bus was to leave the terminal at 11:15 pm on Friday night, and it would arrive around 5 am in Concepción. We hopped Ofelia would like this plan and sleep through the trip.
On Friday night we woke Ofelia around 8:30 pm (she goes to sleep around 6!) then we walked 20min into Luque to catch the micro that would take us to the terminal in Asuncion. We had to be waiting for that bus early because there is no schedule and later at night it may only come every hour– but you don’t really know because there is no available schedule. We got lucky and only waited for about 20 minutes before our micro came. Then it was a loud 40 minute ride to the terminal. Once at the terminal we quickly found our friends and commenced to waiting. After about an hour our bus arrived at the terminal and soon we were able to board.
The long-distance buses are like tour buses you might see in the states. The passenger compartment windows are curtained and there is a wall between driver and passengers. The result is that you see very little as you ride, except for what you can see from your own window or that of a neighbor passenger. Our night ride quickly left the bustle of Asuncion and began the long journey through thinly-populated Chaco land. We occasionally woke when the bus would veer and bound over the road. It was apparent that parts of this road were “unimproved” but it didn’t seem to slow our driver, neither did the passing of cattle trucks on this narrow two-lane path.
At about 4 am we arrived in Concepción. Carlos agreed to help us find our hotel, Hotel Francés, at this early hour. We set off walking across the large and empty double avenue which had zero traffic and a median populated with some statues and some old machinery (this kind of street decoration is not as common here as it is in the states). As we passed a truck (on display in the median) from the ’30’s or ’40’s, I glanced in and saw that someone was using the front seat as a bed. Twenty minutes of walking through the empty streets, only meeting a few youngsters heading home after a full night of partying, we arrived at our hotel, bid Carlos good night, good morning, and headed for sleep.
We enjoyed a relaxing weekend of just walking around this clean and safe, and quiet city. There are no micros in Concepción so the air is much cleaner and quieter. Also they keep streets very clean and seem to have unusually well maintained streets and buildings– quite a contrast to most other towns we’ve seen here. Another difference is that motos far outnumber cars, it must be like 20 to 1, no joke. And I only counted about 5 helmets all weekend! Concepción has a beautiful river, Rio Paraguay, running past and affords great views and breezes near it’s banks.
On Sunday we headed out to the double avenue to catch our return bus. At the bus stop we shared a shaded bench with a scruffy fellow who seemed to be drinking his terere (tea like beverage) with Caña (alcohol made from sugar cane) instead of water! As we waited for the bus I looked around and saw the antique truck in the median. Then our friend, having exhausted his caña, stretched out on the bench for an early siesta. It was then that I realized I had seen him before– curled up in the truck two nights ago! Small world there in Concepción.
Prior to this trip I had reflected that things here in Paraguay don’t seem to be as crazy or adventurous as they once did. And I didn’t really feel like our journey to Concepción was all that adventurous— but I think that we would have had a different experience of things several months back when all of this was so new. It is comforting for us both to see and feel our continuing adaptation to Paraguayan culture. We have learned, and continue to learn, a great deal about accepting and dealing with whatever comes at us and not wasting time and energy on complaining or wanting things to be different. We value these lessons.
Here are some pics from our trip. Mouse over the image and click on images to make them bigger, and use arrow keys to navigate between them. You can also right-click and select full-screen to see a larger version of it all. Enjoy!
Wow, once again there has been a lapse in our posting. But, we have been busy. Here’s the run-down of what we’ve been up to: Starting in mid-June we had guests for a few weeks, friend Kate and Weylin’s mother and niece Kamilah. We packed in lots of sightseeing and experiences having here in Paraguay!
Kate came with us to a Paraguay vs. Brazil fútbol game (sold-out stadium and Paraguay won!) Paraguay Wins!
Kate and Weylin got an exclusive tour of the airport tower! You wouldn’t believe it! Silvio Pettirossi Airport in Asuncion.
We rode on the world’s oldest operational wood-fired steam engine! The train took us from Asuncion to Aregua and we were entertained by actors playing out a historical comedy– all in Spanish and Guarani, and a live chicken was one of the props!
Tourist shopping in Asuncion– great stuff at the train station!
We attended a Quince (15th birthday party) for a friend of Katherine. Great privledge to take part in such a special and significant family event– they put grand effort into these parties.
Bus ride to Tarumandy
Cooking traditional Paraguayan and Guarani food with teachers and parents at the Tarumandy school.
Local shopping at jewelry stores in Luque- know for silver jewelry and Filigree.
Fantastic trip to Encarnacion: there we saw Jesuit Ruins ,
Toured the Selecta (click HERE to see Selecta website) Yerba Mate factory,
And, we found the best Chipas ever at El Gordo.
Once again it was fantastic to be able to, first hand, share our Paraguayan and Luquenian lives with friends and family. Ofelia loved having all of the visitors and ate up all that attention. She’s constantly on the move these days and keeps us busy and entertained.
Katherine has been busy with her research, both doing field work and processing data here at home. I (Weylin) have been making increased efforts to interact with people in Español as much as possible. I buy herbs at the mercado and meet weekly with a new friend– I practice Español and he practices English. Its nice to finally feel like I can get some basic communication done– though the finer details of conversation still escape me (it is a process after all).
We’re headed off for a weekend trip to Concepción. When we get back we’ll get up some more pics from the ruins and our journies.
It’s been a year! I’ve spent the last few weeks remembering a year ago when we didn’t know Ofelia yet, when I was lumbering around Philadelphia and cleaning every nook and cranny of our apartment in the name of nesting, when living in Paraguay as a family of three was a distant possibility (and a sometimes cause of middle-of-the-night worry). We have come so far… literally and figuratively. And last Sunday when I brought out Ofelia’s ugly, but very tasty, birthday cake with whipped-cream frosting and a scrounged-up candle (usually used for power outages), my heart filled with pride. I am so proud of making it through the first year of parenthood, of what our little threesome has become in this time, of what we have become for each other in living thousands of miles from everything familiar, of the father that Weylin is, of all that Ofelia has learned to do, adapted to, forgiven us for (at least we don’t see obvious signs of a grudge…), of the little person she has become so far. I guess this is what parents do, they get proud. Indeed, I am–proud of Ofelia and, damn, I’m proud of her parents, too. Here are some pictures of her birthday and a few days before and after. And a couple thrown in from the day after she was born last year… just to measure our progress.
Thought we should send along an update via photos. Ofelia has been doing very well lately. She seems to be very close to taking her first steps. She pulls herself to standing all the time; on chairs, legs, cabinets, toys, and even without props. She’s increasingly steady on her feet- though still very shaky. Just this week she seems to have made a progressive step in that when walking with our assistance she picks up her feet well and seems to be getting the motion down. We’ll send along pics as soon as the moment arrives!
Katherine and I have been progressing along as well. We’re into a pretty good groove here- though not without the difficulties and challenges of living in a foreign culture. Katherine’s research is going well and she’s gotten many opportunities to have some productive interviews. Her progress with learning Guarani is coming along well– just not as quickly as she would like. I continue to take my daily Spanish lessons and use most of my free time (i.e. when Ofelia is sleeping) to study and practice. It is a lot of work and my progress feels so slow. I plan to keep at it full steam until the end.
Last week we celebrated Paraguayan independence day and Paraguayan mother’s day with Gladys and her extended family. It was a wonderful day and a great barbecue.
That’s all the news for now. We hope this finds you all well.
Thanks for joining us in our Process. We're back from the beyond and settling into Cleveland, 2 PhD efforts, a new house, and 1.5 children-- no boredom here! Our foreign adventure has passed but "domestic" adventures are emerging. Stay tuned for anecdotes and updates.
Trust the Process.
