Mark's Notebook

Brasil

Sorry for not posting the past few days. On Sunday we were busy with church most of the day, yesterday and today we took a trip to Brazil, and on Monday we were getting ready for the trip (I think).

Sunday morning we attended another CMA church, the one in downtown Asuncion, where a new pastor was being ordained. Then we went out to lunch at a very nice restaurant where you make your own salad, and they bring various meats to your table on a spit. We had a grand time.

In the late afternoon Brenda brought us to an internet cafe where we were able to chat with Matthew on Yahoo Messenger. Ordinarily we would have done this from the house, except that Robert and Brenda had to be at the church, so we had to be in that neighborhood. Mary had a nice chat with Matt for about 1-1/2 hours while I tried to find some gluten-free snacks in the supermarket downstairs.

In the early evening we went to church at Robert and Brenda's church in San Lorenzo. They did a puppet show for the children and the church was packed. They had not had so many people in the church in years. All the children in the audience, and about a dozen adults, responded to the altar call. Robert wrote the script for the puppet show and it was very funny. It was all in Spanish and we did not understand much of it, but the children laughed a lot. And a lot of things like Jonah being swallowed and/or regurgitated by the whale were done in visually funny ways.

Monday

On Monday we got up early to go walking. Then later in the morning, Mary and Brenda went shopping for pottery for the house, while Robert and I took the car to get little things fixed ... a tired with a slow leak, headlight out, windshield wipers.

Brenda made a wonderful meal of beans, sausage, and meat later in the day. We went to bed early because on Tuesday we have to get up very early.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we went to Brazil. It takes about five hours to get there from Asuncion. We got up at 4:30 am to be on the road by 5:00 am. We wanted to be to the border before 10:00 am because we wanted to tour the dam, which closes at 10:00 am for siesta. We had no problem getting on the road early.

The countryside between Asuncion and Ciudad del Este looks a lot like California, especially the part along Highway 101 near San Luis Obispo. It's green fields with rolling hills.

At the border, we had to cross from Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, into Foz, Brazil. Just before the border you can tour the dam, and we just barely caught the last bus through. This was the largest dam in the world until the new one was built in China. It serves 25% of the power needs of Brazil (which is the most populous country in South America) and 75% of the power needs of Paraguay.

At the border we had to cross over a bridge. Traffic moves very slowly because several streets converge, and immigration can handle only a few cars at a time. We waited in line for 1-1/2 hours. Meanwhile, vendors walked the streets trying to catch our attention to sell us something, anything. We did buy some Pringles chips, and it was fun watching Brenda barter for them. But it's a little unnerving to sit in stopped traffic for so long surrounded by such shady characters.

We got over the bridge in time for lunch and a stop down the street at a bargain shoe store. Mary bought a pair of shoes and I bought two pairs of nice comfortable dress shoes. They were not inexpensive, but they seem to be very fine quality, made in Brazil.

Then Robert and Brenda took us to the waterfalls and let us off while they went to do other things. They have been to the waterfalls many times before. We found a friendly guide who spoke English and he helped us figure out what to do. There is a drought this year and the water is very low. Ordinarily we would be able to ride a boat out to the falls, but right now the water is so low the boat cannot get in that close. So we just walked along the edge instead. At one point you can walk out along a boardwalk into the center of the falls and we did get a little mist on us even thought the water volume is lower than usual. The falls were impressive but we can imagine what they are like in another year or at another time of year. We did see lots of pictures and some video; Mary bought a few post cards.

On Monday evening, we went to a nice restaurant that has a dinner show. The show consists of native dancing from almost all the countries of South America and Mexico. It included everything from a Mexican kind of Polka to the Argentine Tango. The native costumes were wonderful.

Wednesday

First thing today we did Robert and Brenda's favorite; we went to the Bird Park. We went early in the morning because the birds are more active before they are fed. We've been to the National Aviary and other zoos that have birds, but this was something else. They have lots of colorful parrots, loros, and toucans. And in the early morning, they can make quite a racket! The loros didn't just talk to us, they laughed! And that made us laugh, which made them laugh more! Mary took lots of pictures and hopefully I can post some.

It rained last night and some this morning, so the trip home was wetter and slower. It took less than one half hour to cross back over the border. I prayed that the crossing would be short and smooth, because Mary and I had really spent too much time shopping at the bird park. We stopped at a Mennonite dairy for ice cream, and again later at a restaurant we'd been to before, the one that serves hamburgers with ham, egg, and cheese on top. Some of us had seconds on ice cream there also.

We're back at Robert and Brenda's home now and we will be here until we come home next Monday. I'm not too sure what's happening from here on out, but I think some of us will go walking early tomorrow morning, and I think Mary and Brenda still have some more girl stuff planned.

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Last updated Monday 3 August 2009