What's Happening Here in the Hot Spot

Just a few random things going on in our household this very warm week:

Construction:

We are working on two more rooms of our home, so there is dust everywhere! That is the price we pay for moving into an unfinished home. However, we've saved 9 months of rent already, which goes into our construction fund! We've been building since 2007, so we are learning patience and how to diy (do-it-yourself), but it is so great to be making progress, little by little!

This is our geothermal system that Norberto is installing.

The children's park:

Eight of us worked on the children's playground again this weekend. It is really coming along! The Explorers will help finish the project next month.

The early bird:

This red-crested finch wakes us up every morning around 5:30. Either He wants to come in or he just wants to greet us, but he doesn't miss a beat (not even on Saturdays). He's a rare rain forest bird and if you're jealous of our unique alarm clock, you can go here, and buy a pair of your own for $2,000!

Climbers Club:

I came home from the supermarket and found this site. The boys had set up a rappelling wall in Timmy's room. Can you tell who's gonna be the next adventurer in our house?

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Christmas in Paraguay!

If you're wondering what Paraguayans do at Christmastime, they have some great traditions , including the " noche buena " meal on Christmas Eve at midnight. They eat lots chipa guasu (a type of corn casserole, stay tuned for a recipe), asado or grilled meat (some eat it cold), salads, especially fruit salad, watermelon and drink mucho terere . Families travel from all over the country, many even return from working in other countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, to celebrate with loved ones. This is us at last year's Kurrle celebration in Asuncion. Festivities are anything but a silent night with fireworks, loud music and drinking cidra (hard cider). Most Paraguayans do not decorate Christmas trees (we decorate ours in shorts!) or emphasize Santa Claus. Instead, they put beautiful nativities " pesebres " in their yards and in store fronts. Kind of novel to focus on Christ at Christmas, isn't it! To beat the heat, many Paraguayans g...

Paraguayan Weddings

On Valentine’s Day, we had the joy of attending the wedding of Sandra and Anastacio, young leaders in the church. Sandra is my assistant with Children of Promise and Anastacio, apart from his carpentry job, has a popular youth-focused radio program every night at 8:00 on our station. We’ve been to quite a few weddings, and these are some of the uniquenesses of southern Paraguayan wedding celebrations from our North American culture: 1. Nothing is fancy. Emphasis is placed on the act of marriage and not on the decorations or food. 2. It is not an expectation that parents help pay for expenses. Most families just make it each month with regular expenses and cannot afford to pay for eleborate feasts. Most couples have to spend months saving for their own wedding. 3. Borrow as much as possible. Many times wedding dresses are borrowed 5-10 times, because few women can afford their own. Flowers, decorations, shoes and ties (Norb loans out his ties often...since he never wears them!...

How to make Rosella (Roselle) Juice and Tea

This is rosella (not to be confused with grosella, which is gooseberry). Rosella is from the hibiscus family. It's harvest time here, and we use the rosella to make juice and tea. It's properties are absolutely tremendous. It helps sooth colds, coughs, helps digestion, promotes healthy kidney function, is a treatment for cancer, and reduces a fever and that's just a few of its benefits! To make rosella juice, first de-pit the fruit and wash the skin thoroughly. Put the fruit into boiling water until the water is bright red (about 15 minutes). The color is so vibrant, Roselle is sold to make dyes. Strain the fruit (which can be used to make a delicious jam) and refrigerate the juice. Add a few squirts of Stevia for a healthy drink. The finished product looks exactly like red Kool-aid, but is entirely full of nutrients. We can't get enough of it. We dehydrated the petals for hot tea. All you need is two dried flowers to infus...

Passion for Paraguay

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