A whirlwind weekend of Fiesta

This has been an action-packed Bicentenary of Independence weekend with a continuous programme of events all over the city, ranging from marches, carnival parade, concerts, markets, light projections on buildings, military parades, theatre and spectacle, with a massive fifteen minute firework display last night at midnight. It has been quite amazing.

On Friday night Mags drove us into town in the new school bus..... big mistake! as we hit an enormous traffic jam. However, the Lord led us to a parking spot fairly quickly. It could have been much worse.

From there we walked all over the city looking at the illuminated buildings and what was going on. We were disappointed not to see the President's Palace illuminated and assumed that (in spite of the guards reassurring us that they would come on in a few minutes) there was a problem as there was lots of electricity being used behind the Palace where two enormous stages had been set up in the grounds for concerts.

The Pantheon of the Heroes (where the unknown soldier is buried along with other heroes) was a sight to behold. It has been renovated and repainted in it's original colours. It was illuminated in a loop of colours which made it appear first red, then white, then blue. There were dense crowds there all taking lots of photographs.

The atmosphere within the city was relaxed and very friendly. There had been strong warnings about security on the Thursday evening television news, telling people to be aware of thieves and even worse. In fact there were so many police and soldiers around that the usual sense of being careful almost felt unecessary. Mags carried her big camera around openly, slung around here neck and we did not feel threatened.

We wandered all over the city taking photographs.

Yesterday I walked into town and browsed for about two and a half hours (poor feet!!!). I photographed some of the buildings that we had taken the night before. Here are some of the photos for those of you who know Asuncion. After those I will put some up that have been in the local ABC newspaper.(I am sorry but after three hours I still cannot get the captions in the right places so I have given up.

El Panteon de los heroes

El Cabildo

Casa de la Independencia

Keeping dry on Avda. Mariscal Lopez.

Military Parade in the pouring rain. Nothing was suspended... there was no plan B.

Fireworks over the bay of Asuncion.

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.

Teachers' Day

The Brits were up early this morning to catch the Royal Wedding on TV before we headed off to work.

In fact we had a lovely day, being spoilt, because we celebrated Teachers' and Workers' Day.

We started the day by being entertained by the children. They recited poems about teachers in both Spanish and Guarani. The sixth grade then did an awards ceremony. Each teacher was awarded a certificate. Mine was for the teacher with special stickers.

After we had taught for an hour or so the parents had a "Merienda" for us. That is snacks and cakes. There was also a ceremony where we were all given presents by the children. I received an arm full much to my surprise. There was something for everybody, even our new teacher Beth and our short term volunteers, Jo and Zoe.

After the children left we all had a Bicentenary year staff photo taken (note the patriotic colours of the flag of Paraguay. By a stretch of the imagination we Brits felt that the red, white and blue would be the nearest that we got to celebrating the Royal wedding.)

Finally we were treated to a lovely staff lunch. It was a "family" occasion. We even had cabaret in both Spanish and Guarani. The teacher next to me translated the song that was in Guarani as it was being sung. That took some concentration on my part, but I applauded her for being so kind.

After the lunch we each received a new school shirt/blouse. They had guessed the sizes, with some amusing results, but at least we can change them to fit.

The Bishop and Pastor Ronnie made wonderful models. Is there a doctor in the house?

The Chaco wars

Yesterday the second grade gave us a wonderful presentation about the Chaco War. Their teacher Profe Diego, aided by art teachers and parents, had gone to a lot of trouble to set the scene with a background, boulders, trees and everything that could represent the Chaco.

We heard some of the history, the children danced and then they talked about artefacts and photos of grandparents that they had brought into school.

There was also a mock battle.

Finally Profe Diego reminded us all about the importance of forgiveness after any kind of battle and the Biblical message was brought to us.

Holidays are here

Before I start this post you will see that I have removed some of my posts. Some of my photos have been used on another site, without my permission, so I will not be posting much in future. I know that many of you who read my blog will be disappointed but I need to be security conscious.

Last week was a very busy week but Thursday found us celebrating the coming of the end-of-term with the annual Primary Department Easter Hat parade. This year the theme was linked to Paraguay, for obvious reasons. There was a vast variety of hats, almost all of which were Red, white and blue. The children had made the hats with the help of their parents. Each child had to explain what their hat represented. Some were very original and amusing with their explanations.

On Friday we finished the term with a wonderful service in church. The theme was that Christ is alive today.

The sixth form gave us a moving presentation of God creating his creation, with the climax being the creation of his son, Jesus. There was some quick painting involved and the result can be seen here.

Librarian extraordinaire

The Lord answered prayer for a new librarian, very quickly. Santi (an ex-student, who left school last year) arrived and life has been considerably easier for me as he has taken on some of the heavier work in the library, as well as regular librarian duties. He is a willing worker. The library now looks very spick and span.(He even has time to serenade me!)

An away day

It was Heroes Day public holiday today so Jo, Zoe and I decided to be heroic and we took a trip out to Aregua. The weather forecast was not wonderful but we were not to be daunted. We packed up our picnic and took off on the bus. It was so good to be out of the city and to get into the countryside.
We arrived in Aregua (a pottery town), headed through the jungle of pottery and made for the beautiful lake Ypacari. We all sat transfixed at the water's edge for some time, enjoying the sense of tranquility. The sky was quite dramatic, casting an eeriness across the water at times.
A while later we headed for the old, weather-beaten jetty where we sat to have our picnic lunch. As we gazed across the lake we could see a storm rolling towards us. We decided to stay put, in true, stubborn, British style and we put up our brollies.


Eventually, reluctantly, we made our way back to catch the bus back to Asuncion, stopping at a small hotel en route for a drink by their little swimming pool.


As we entered Asuncion a big storm struck, but we arrived home only a little damp after a lovely day out.