A very busy week of celebration.

This has been a busy week with lots of things going on in school and in the city.

In school we had several presentations connected with the history of Paraguay.

On Monday the seventh grade gave a presentation of old machines such as cash registers and old telephones. Each pupil explained what they were displaying and gave a bit of the history. For me "the Golden oldie" there was a bit of nostalgia as I recognized a few things from my youth.

The fourth grade gave a presentation this week too with a wonderful display of dance.

At the beginning of the week it was announced that there would be a national holiday on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to celebrate the Official Bicentenary of Independence from Spain. It was also announced that schools would close on Thursday but that all students were to meet in a recreation park to have a day of fun, educational activities to celebrate the Bicentenary. Our parents were concerned that there would not be enough security for our high profile kids. Consequently we decided not to take the Thursday off but to take the Friday instead, giving us a long weekend and enabling us to attend the first day of the Bicentenary celebrations in the city.

We rounded off the week with a beautiful bicentenary service in the Cathedral. It was packed to standing room only. It had been prepared very thoughtfully and it was a serious occasion. The theme was about God being the carer of the nation. The reading were given in Enxtet, Spanish and English. Bishop Andres from Concepcion gave the address and he began in Guarani. He aimed at the older children and parents and gave an opportunity for people to commit themselves to the lord if they had not already done so.

The school choir and a choir sang some beautiful songs. Then the third graders sang "Paraguay for Christ, Paraguay for God" in Spanish.

Afterwards we all moved out into the grounds to witness children, staff and parents placing their hopes and dreams for Paraguay into a time capsule. This has been interred in a special plinth, upon which an ex-pupil has placed a sculpture of doves of peace. Bishop Andres, Bishop Peter and the head of the school,unveiled a plaque explaining what the plinth is.

Finally, before we broke up for the long weekend, the children all enjoyed panchos (hot-dogs) in their classrooms.