08/17/08 — The Lamb of God

When we called Robyn last week, she related an ironically amusing experience:

She needed to go to visit Katie, the volunteer to the south of her but the front tire on her bike was low. She went to the neighbors to borrow a pump, but the woman said she didn’t have a pump, so Robyn rode to Katie’s on a slowly deflating tire.

On her return trip, she was riding with great difficulty on the rim when a van pulled up beside her and offered her a ride. Pleasantly surprised, she accepted, wrestled her bike into the van and settled in with the large family: husband, wife and several kids.

No sooner did they start down the road than the woman asked Robyn if she had found Jesus.

08/08/2008 — Life Takes a Turn

Paraguay Life

It has been a while since I have updated my blog.  Things have been quite busy, sometimes calm, and sometimes dramatic.  So what’s going on?  I’m going to parse this entry into subjects, feel free to read those which interest you.

Political Life – Campo Protest
Over the last month or so some farmers or “campesinos”, have been protesting.  In Paraguay the protests are referred to as “manifestations”, and even though we all have images in our heads of Latin Americans participating in violent protests, this was actually quite calm though some ugly things were said about foreigners.  All of the barrios within the district of Tava’i participated in the protest.  Leaders of the barrios and other interested people put logs and wood in the street to close it off to traffic into Tava’i just outside the town center. Every couple of hours the campesinos removed the wood to permit a few cars to pass.  After two weeks of getting almost no attention from the government (except for an augmented police presence) the campesinos packed up and went home.  Then, all of a sudden, everyone was talking about the president-elect, Fernando Lugo, coming here to Tava’i to meet with the protest leaders.

06/18/2008 – Brrr It’s Cold!

Hello.  It’s been a long time, admittedly.  The last update I wrote was in preparation for the elections.  The current status on that is that everything went really well, really peaceful.  For the first time in 60 years the president elect is not of the strong party, the Colorado Party.  The president elect is ex-bishop Fernando Lugo, a member of the Liberal Party.  Of course, the Vatican has denounced him and rescinded his title because priests are not supposed to be involved in politics.  Anyhow, the change was pretty calm indeed, the next day almost all stores and public offices were closed in “mourning” as the majority of the people in my site are at least outwardly Colorado Party supporters.  Lugo will be inaugurated sometime in August.  He was supposed to be visiting Tava’i this week but it looks like he didn’t go – at least while I was still there – since I’m in Asuncion now.  The one universal sentiment from almost everyone, even the most ardent Colorado Party supporters, is that change can’t really hurt anything.  Paraguay is in a dismal state in some regards so maybe he can really make a difference, especially with regards to corruption.  Actually one of the more intelligent political conversations I had (I really wasn’t supposed to “meddle” too much) was with an 11-year-old girl.  So all’s well that ends well….

04/14/2008

Robyn sent this link:

http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5067

to an article that describes in more detail the cause of the current political unrest in Paraguay.  You may have to cut-and-paste it into your browser.

Robyn’s Dad

04/11/2008 — Emergency Action Plan Phase II: Stand-Fast

Oh, yes, any of you reading this who has been in the Peace Corps anywhere in the world should know what this means, and no, it’s not a drill. For the first time in many, many years here in Paraguay, the Embassy in conjunction with Peace Corps will be instigating Phase II of the EAP. What does that mean?

03/20/2008 — Fatty’s Emasculation; What a Roller Coaster Ride and I’m Procrastinating as We Speak (or Read)

First, before I forget – Happy Birthday to the following: Grandma, Chris, Allison, Julie, Jessica, Camden, Andrea, Rob, Hannah, and anyone else who has a March Birthday.  There’s just so many of them this month…..

As the title foretells, life here in Paraguay is quite the roller coaster ride.  I honestly don’t think I can recall any particular good week, because the weeks are too long and inconsistent!

02/15/2008 — Pooper-Scooper!

That’s right, I’m a pooper-scooper. If I can do this, I can definitely be a doctor. Yes, Micho (Kuarahy – the new kitty) did in fact poop on my floor (again). But that’s not what I’m talking about.

01/26/2008 — So The Gringa Farm Continues To Grow……

That’s right, I have gone and done it. My “farm” has gotten bigger: I got a Michi. For those of you who do not know what a Michi is, it is a cat. No, Michi is not the Guarani or Spanish word for cat, which actually is either mbarakaja, or gato. But, EVERY Paraguayan in this country that has a cat calls it Michi, as its name.

1/15/2008 – Oregon Girl Sweats To Death In Extreme Paraguay Temperatures

Okay, so I exaggerated, maybe I haven’t sweat to death (yet) but it certainly feels that way….. now I can really appreciate being a good ol’ Oregon girl as I have decided I REALLY don’t like the heat.  It’s not bad with air conditioning, but when isn’t the heat bad with air-conditioning?  The reality being, when I head back to site today, I will be leaving the world of AC and will consequently roast my butt off.

11/6/2007 — More news from Farmer Robyn

At long last… another update. After more than a month of schlepping along in site, I find myself in Asuncion, “away from it all…” Not. It’s the city. Everything’s here.

Anyhow, to go along with new photos I posted on Facebook.com, I will give a brief synopsis of all the work and un-work I’ve been doing.

Here I am holding my pig, Margaret Thatcher. I was wincing mostly because she screams so incredibly loud. And, though she is small, do not be fooled, she is a heavy pig. It’s all about fattening her up American style. Hamburgers baby. Hamburgers.

[You can go to www.facebook.com, join (it's free) and select Robyn as a friend to see all her pictures!]

I don’t know if I had added a little of this information in my last update in San Juan or not but here goes.