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.

Another new arrival

I was back at the airport this morning to collect Zoe, our latest arrival. Zoe comes from Northern Ireland. She had quite a trip to get here because when she arrived in London she discovered that her flight had been delayed 24 hours.

She finally arrived here safely this morning but unfortunately her luggage is still in transit, or sitting on the tarmac in Sao Paolo.

I was mean and took a photo as soon as she arrived.

Zoe is on the left, Jo in the centre and Beth on the right.

Please pray for all three girls as they adjust to living together in a new culture, school, and life in Asuncion generally. Pray for the Lord to help them all with their Spanish.

Back to work

Today we went back to work. They eased us in gently with a spiritual retreat in a beautiful place. We were taken out into the countryside to Atyra. There we were driven off the beaten track to what looked like an Italian monastery. It is only a few years old. It was built by Italian and Paraguayan artisans and it is filled with beautiful paintings done by local, Paraguayan artists.

We were hosted extremely well and we spent three sessions during the day listening to a speaker and then examining ourselves and listening for what God had to say to each of us individually. It was so refreshing for me in particular, after being cooped up in Asuncion for the entire holiday. People can go to spend a day or so at the centre by arrangement, so I think that may be somewhere to go for a weekend when the weather is much cooler. The drawback is that they have no air-conditioning and the temperatures soared again yesterday.

None of these photographs can really give you any idea of the size of the place or the sense of tranquility that we experienced.

The church is at the heart of the centre.

We were based in a hall for lectures and met under the cloisters for a break.

We all enjoyed a good lunch in the dining room and we could see through to the immaculately kept kitchen. The chickens came from their own farm.

A guide pointed out the amazing Italian artisan brickwork. Many of the materials used to build the place were recycled from elsewhere.

There is a beautiful, very unusual sunken Catholic chapel.

All doors are hand carved and each is an individual design.

There are paintings all over the building depicting scenes from scripture and of local history and culture.