Mark's Notebook

All Articles - August 2006

Disappearing square dance clubs

Emergency!

I've been updating the page of California square and round dance clubs. In late July I sent out requests for updates, and I worked feverishly on the database until August 6, when we left for Paraguay. I even worked on the site one lazy day while we were in Asuncion.

I was tidying up the last of it yesterday when I went over quota on the account and I lost the database file. (I had gone over quota because lots of cue sheets got posted on the site while I was away.)

Anyway, my most recent backup is dated August 5, and I haven't received any more recent backups from the server administrator. So now it looks like I have to input again all the changes since August 5. Right now, there is nothing there! This doesn't mean all the clubs in California have gone dark; really only about ten of them are out of business since last fall. But I do have a fair bit of work ahead of me to fix this mess.

Happy anniversary to us

Monday was our seventh wedding anniversary. Mary and I celebrated by going to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Our favorite rides are the Giant Dipper (roller coaster) and the Space Race (bumper cars mounted on large inner tubes so they really bounce). We also went on the Haunted House ride, and we played a round of miniature golf, which Mary said she really hates, but only when it becomes competitive. So we didn't even keep score, which is probably just as well because she would have beat my pants off.

Then we went to Logos, my favorite Santa Cruz used bookstore. We didn't find any books, but I did buy a relaxing CD of Laurence Juber playing Beatles tunes, and another CD by Martin Simpson, which I haven't listened to yet.

We ended our day at the Crow's Nest, our favorite restaurant in Santa Cruz. They always do a fantastic job of accomodating our food allergies. And they have creme brulee for dessert, which meant we had no room left to make our usual stop at Marianne's for ice cream on the way out of town.

Oh, well. I think Mary is going to sign us both up for Weight Watchers soon anyway ...

Missouri church ministers to skaters

Lawrence Journal World

By Lisa Horn - St. Joseph News-Press

Calvary Chapel is the only place in Maryville where skaters can ride their boards legally. It provides an option for young people who otherwise would face a summer of boredom in the small northwest Missouri town.

Of the 20 to 30 skaters who show up every night between 4 and 8 p.m., the majority of them don’t go to church.

Chance Allen, 11, started coming to the skate park when it opened about a year and a half ago. He and his family attended their first Bible study at the church, and have since found it a home. “We liked it a lot better than our own church,” he said, adding there’s no reason that skateboarders can’t be good Christians.

“When we first opened (the kids) wouldn’t even look at me,” the Rev. Dirks said. “But every once in a while, they’d land a good move, I’d catch them glancing at me, like ‘Did you see that? Did you catch that?’ And I’d look at them and smile and say, ‘Good.”’

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/aug/13/missouri_church_ministers_skaters/

Anaheim Harvest Crusade

Orange County Register

by Scott Martindale

Increasing turmoil in the Middle East is just one sign that the world could be coming to an end, evangelical Pastor Greg Laurie told a crowd of 35,000 packed into the stands of Angel Stadium on Sunday night.

Other signs include disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the Southeast Asian tsunami, earthquakes and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Those disasters and their frequency were the topic of the last day of Laurie's three-day Harvest Crusade sermon, sponsored by the nondenominational Harvest Christian Fellowship church.

Laurie, who delivered the keynote address all three days, stressed that God gave meaning and purpose to people's lives. On Friday, he discussed the biblical reasons for human existence in a sermon called "What's your question?" The following day, Laurie discussed the meaning of life, a talk aimed at young people, whom he called upon to turn to God for direction.

Each night of the event, Laurie estimated that he converted about 10 percent of his audience.

Laurie, 53, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider and an occasional surfer, is known for his straight-talk sermons that resonate with 21st-century audiences. He sprinkles his messages with pop-culture references, and his sermons can be downloaded onto MP3 players.

The Harvest Crusades began during the summer of 1990, when Laurie teamed up with Pastor Chuck Smith of Costa Mesa's Calvary Chapel for a series of sermons inside Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa.

Laurie, who was raised without religion, dabbled in drugs as a teenager. At age 17, he stumbled across a high school Bible study group, transforming his life. Two years later, he founded Harvest Christian Fellowship, a Riverside-based ministry that has become one of the 15 largest churches in the United States.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/homepage/article_1242615.php

Santiago Airport

Santiago, Chile has a really nice airport. We had layovers of eight hours both times we passed through this airport. On our way out to Chile, we stayed in the LAN Chile VIP lounge at Brenda's suggestion. At that time, we had been on a plane for 12 hours, and it was early in the morning so we were very tired. The VIP lounge cost us $18 each but we were able to stretch out on a couch and catch up on sleep. They also provided drinks of orange juice and soda (even alcohol, which we didn't touch), and some snacks that we could not eat because of our gluten sensitivity, but which others would enjoy.

Brenda suggested a restaurant, Gatsby, where we were able to find a salad with smoked salmon. Yum!

There are many jewelry stores in the airport, and in the one across from Gate 16 I saw some stuff I thought Mary might like, but she would not let me even check the prices.

On our return trip, Robert and two other pastors, Daniel and Jorge, were with us on their way to a CMA conference in Lima, Peru. So we did not go into the lounge; instead, I bought two decks of cards for $10 (ouch!) in the duty-free store, and we taught progressive rummy to Daniel and Jorge. We all had a great time laying out cards on the airport floor, and the time passed quickly.

We all ate again at Gatsby, which is coincidentally right under the LAN lounge so I was able to retrieve our email using their wireless.

After lunch, Robert took us on a walk around the international secure area of the airport, and we had missed a whole other section around a corner. They even had a Ruby Tuesday, a nice burger place where Mary and I had been able to eat several times while on our road trip earlier this year. I did find a cap I liked, but it was a youth model and would not fit on my fat head. Why is it that all my favorite caps are the ones for kids?

Mary let me check out the prices on the jewelry this time, and they were reasonable so I got her a necklace and earrings for our anniversary next week. The necklaces grabbed my attention because they have blue and green stones, Lapis Lazuli and Malachite, and Mary wears a lot of both green and blue. We got the ones in a silver setting because the gold costs thousands of $$$. Maybe she'll be wearing them the next time you see her ...

Walking

While we were in Paraguay, Robert and/or Brenda took us walking several times. They like to walk a three-mile track around a safe park near the airport in Asuncion.

Robert and Brenda claim that this is great for their health even if they aren't able to do it enough to actually lose weight. (They walked at least half the days we were there, but maybe having us around gave them motivation to walk more than they would have otherwise.)

Mary has decided that we should walk at home. We were going to get up early this morning and do it like Robert and Brenda do, at 6 am. That didn't happen, of course, but starting at 11 am we did go out for a couple of hours.

We walked from here to Starbucks, about 1-1/2 miles away, where we sat and drank coffee. Then we walked another half mile to the new Milpitas Town Center, which is under construction, where we tried to see all they new buildings. We did lollygag for a while in the new Staples store. All the new back-to-school stuff just amazes me. When I was a kid I never spent a dime on school supplies ... just raided the trash cans on the last day of school to claim enough to last me the following year.

Anyway, after walking home a different way, we figure we did somewhere between 3-1/2 and 5 miles. (I lean toward the lower end, Mary toward the higher.) Next time we might take a pedometer; I though Mary had one, but she tells me she dropped hers in the toilet a couple years ago and was too grossed out to fish it back out. Women! (sigh) So I guess we'll have to spring for another one.

We are home

We left Paraguay at 11 am on Monday, which was 8 am California time. We arrived in San Jose Airport at 2 pm on Tuesday afternoon. Altogether we spent 30 hours traveling, roughly 15 hours in the air and 15 hours waiting in the airports.

Customs and immigration were a breeze everywhere we went. We did not have to give up any liquids (all were stored in our checked luggage); none of our luggage was overweight, even though we did not have any reliable way to weigh it before we left Paraguay; the US customs forms were easy to understand and fill out.

David Brandt picked us up at the airport and brought us home. Thanks, David!

The little bit of food we had left in our house was spoiled, so we went out to Casa Azteca for dinner (and brought home leftovers).

Correction on flight times

For those who might be concerned, we actually leave LA on Southwest at 1 pm, and we arrive in San Jose at 2:15 pm. Kathleen and David Brandt are picking us up at the airport on Tuesday.

We have lots of gluten-free snacks from Paraguay to eat on the plane. We are interested to see what they will let us carry onto the plane: I have a laptop, iPod, and Palm pilot, and Mary has some wet tuna in a foil package. Hopefully they won't make us check all that stuff.

Last Days in Paraguay

Thursday

On Thursday I slept most of the day because I was tired. Mary went with Brenda to pick up pottery and Mary's ring that she had ordered made for her, and they were also shopping for a house the next missionaries will live in. I had the opportunity to chat with Matthew, our son who is serving with the Marines in Iraq. He is very busy right now, and he doesn't even always have time to chat, but does usually have time blocked out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday afternoons. In the evening Mary, Brenda and Robert went out for ice cream while I rested.

Friday

On Friday I helped Robert work on a Powerpoint presentation for his upcoming Sunday sermon. Mary and Brenda did some more house shopping, and I think they had their nails done too. Early in the evening, Robert and I went to the mall to run some errands and find a DVD-R on which I could copy one of his DVDs. Most of the stores here carry only DVD+R which is great for PCs, but the drive on my Mac Powerbook seems to like only the -R versions. We finally found a store that had one to sell.

Saturday

Early Saturday morning Mary, Robert and I did our three-mile walk in the park. Later Mary taught Brenda some rubber stamping techniques. In the late afternoon we had Bible study at a neighbor's house. We went to this same Bible study last Saturday afternoon, so we already knew everybody there. Mary and Brenda had a smaller group of kids and their rubber stamping project (greeting cards) went more smoothly than last week, when they had more than a dozen kids. Robert taught the adults a nice lesson about the words we speak and that kind of lesson always points out our failures, since as the book of James says, the tongue is the hardest part of our lives to "tame."

Sunday

Today we went to lunch at a nice restaurant with a Chinese buffet and a Mongolian Barbecue. Mary and I found quite a few things we could eat.

Before and after lunch Mary and I packed almost everything because we are leaving tomorrow to come home.

In the afternoon Mary was able to chat with Matthew again while I read.

While I was reading the family room, the bird Julio started talking to me. She (yes, Julio is a girl) kept saying "Hello," which is sort of strange because up until now I have only heard her say "Hola." (Mary says she has also said "Hi, Bob!") Anyway, I gave her a tortilla chip every time she spoke. We have been trying to get her to speak more. She spoke to me about eight times, which is more than I have heard her speak in the entire previous week. We think rewarding her with food when she speaks is working.

In the evening we went to the San Lorenzo church where Robert taught out of Zechariah 12-14 and Daniel 8 about the role of Israel in the prelude to Christ's second coming. I understood a lot of it because I had helped Robert with the Powerpoint presentation, but my involvement was mostly in gathering the graphics, so I hadn't really paid a lot of attention to the words. The sermons in Spanish are really hard for me to understand because they go so fast, but I can understand lots of words on the screen, especially the Bible passages which remind me of the same ones in English.

Tomorrow

I don't expect to have time to post for a couple of days. We are leaving tomorrow morning to head back to California. If all goes well, we are supposed to fly out of Asuncion around 11 am and arrive in Santiago three hours later, or 2 pm. Then we have a layover for a while, but eventually we take off again and we arrive in Lima, Peru around 11 pm. Robert and two other pastors are coming with us this far ... not because they want to be with us or are worried about us, but because they are going to a pastor's conference in Lima.

When we leave Lima we head straight to Los Angeles, and that leg is about eight hours long. We arrive at about 8 am California time. Then we have to go through customs with all the wonderful gifts we bought for everyone (and for ourselves), and the gifts Robert and Brenda sent back with us. Our Southwest flight leaves some time around 2:30 pm (it's now Tuesday) and we arrive back home around 3:30 pm.

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.

Judge Rules for Insurers in Katrina

New York Times

by Joseph B. Treaster

A federal judge in Mississippi sided with home insurance companies yesterday and ruled that they did not have to pay for the flooding that destroyed tens of thousands of homes in Hurricane Katrina.

Insurers have already paid $17.6 billion for damage to homes from Katrina that was attributed to wind only. But this was a victory for the companies, because they could have been forced to pay out untold billions more if they had been required to cover damage from flooding caused by the storm. Several hundred thousand homes were damaged or destroyed by Katrina.

The insurers had claimed their policies ruled out coverage for flooding. Lawyers representing homeowners argued that in selling home insurance with many references to windstorms and hurricanes, the insurance companies led customers to believe that any hurricane damage — from wind or water — would be covered.

The ruling therefore upholds a longstanding practice of insurers of not covering flood damage, which is typically insured through the federal government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/business/16insure.html

Powerpoint Guru?

Today we got up early again to walk at the park. All four of us went this time. I was definitely the slowest. Really should eat a little something before walking 5 km. So when we got back I took a little nap. Two early mornings in a row takes a lot out of me. Mary and Brenda went out to buy some paintings they'd seen yesterday.

Later I helped Robert work on a Powerpoint presentation of the gospel directed at kids. We used a lot of cartoon-style clip art to make something a little hokey but effective for youth. Brenda had to correct all our Spanish grammar and spelling afterward. Apparently Powerpoint has a Spanish mode that we'd neglected to use.

In the late afternoon we went to a Bible study at a local home. There were lots of children, and Brenda and Mary taught them to make bookmarks using rubber stamping techniques. The adults met in another room with Robert teaching, and I joined them. Robert asked both me and Mary to give our testimonies. Neither of us had ever done so before. That was an interesting experience for both of us. Mary told a little bit about Matthew in Iraq.

Anyway, Robert led the Bible study in Spanish and I understood a little of what was going on, maybe 20 percent. They did ask me to read a passage from Isaiah 55:9, which I recognized as soon as I started pronouncing it. The topic was "suffering" and I understood all of Robert's points, but few of his stories. He explained a little to me afterward what those stories were about. I met a lot of very nice people. I'm not sure how much Mary enjoyed being with the kids, but Brenda did say a few of them were uncooperative.

Right now Mary is watching episodes of "Dog Whisperer" on tape. It is a funny show. I wish my sister Susan could see the segment where they tamed a vicious chihuahua.

Even though we go to church tomorrow, we don't have to get up extremely early. Robert's church has their service on Sunday evenings, but we are going to another church in the morning because a new pastor is being ordained.

X-Men

I spent the last 20 minutes typing a long entry, then I lost it. Barf! OK, I'll give a quick summary of our day.

Brenda got me and Mary up early to do a 5-km (3 mile) walk in the park near the airport. We saw the sun rise as we walked.

Robert brought us downtown to see two museums and a coin store. One of the museums was closed for no apparent reason, but the other was interesting. Casa de la Independencia is the place where Paraguay plotted independence from Spain in 1811. It is similar to our Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Paraguay was the first nation in South America to declare independence. The rest followed closely after in 1811.

In the coin store, I put together a small set of current Paraguay coins by hand, since the government does not issue mint sets. It included one each 1 Guarani, 5 G, 10 G, 50 G, 100 G, and 500 G. Actually, I bought two different 100 G coins because the older ones have a different color and thickness and a reeded edge. I also got an older 4 centesimo coin from 1870 that I like a lot. It is about the size of the old US silver dollar and it has two wreathes plus a five-pointed star with rays.

In the afternoon Robert and I joined a friend, Jens, to see X-Men 3. It was good but not as good as X-Men 2. I never really knew anything about X-Men but it was interesting. The ladies had their nails done and did some shopping. They found some paintings to cover the house's bare walls.

In the evening we went to Garfo's for a quick dinner. They seem to specialize in garlic. We split several small items among us, and it was quite affordable.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go walking early again, so I'd better get to bed soon. (I'ts about 11:20 pm here now.) The most of our day is free until a Bible study in the late afternoon. And Robert volunteered us to help finish painting the Jonah whale story puppet stages in the evening. I might also help Robert with a Powerpoint presentation some time tomorrow.

We've made hotel reservations for our two-day trip to waterfalls in Brazil next week ...

Puppet show

Today Mary and I slept in while Robert and Brenda had early morning meetings with other pastors.

In the afternoon, we went to the church to prepare for a puppet show to take place in this Sunday's service. They are going to dramatize the story of Jonah and the big fish. First I helped Robert set up some scaffolding while Mary drew some city scenes. Then we all got together with several church members and children to paint the scenes. We also painted a mural of a large boat from which Jonah will get tossed.

We met lots of very nice people, who practiced their English on us, and we practiced our Spanish on them. We picked up Martin, who is working on a Powerpoint presentation for Pastor Bob. At age 16, he is the local Powerpoint and Excel guru. We twisted the arm of his sister Pamela to help us with the painting. She is in 8th grade and plays basketball. She reminded us a lot of Mary's niece Melanie. The other main person who worked on the puppet show was Anna, who is an actor in the show and also designed the scenes that Mary drew. We also saw some people we'd already met: Marcos, the youth pastor and worship leader, who lives at the church and was practicing music; Patricia and Rory dropped in for a few minutes; George, who I think is another pastor at the church; and probably a few others I am forgetting right now.

Tomorrow Robert is taking Mary and me to a museum in the morning. Then the "girls" are going to have their nails done while Robert, I, and another friend are going to see Xmen 3. I'm not sure if I mentioned before that Robert made me watch Xmen 2 on DVD last night just so I would understand the characters and the premise. I thought it was a pretty good movie. The movie in the theater tomorrow is supposed to be in English with Spanish subtitles. We'll see.

On Saturday we are supposed to go to a Bible study at someone's home; Mary might do some rubber stamping projects with the youth group there.

On Sunday we will be busy all day: church at another church in the morning (I think it's the ordination of a new CMA pastor at another CMA church), church at Robert and Brenda's church in the evening, and something else I can't remember in the afternoon.

Next week we are supposed to go to Brazil to see some huge waterfalls ...

La Virgen de Caacupe

Yesterday, we went to the Mirador de El Santuario de la Virgen de Caacupe. It is a church built around a statue of the virgin Mary. The church is huge, and it has a large courtyard. Robert called it the "St Peters of Paraguay." The catholics have long pilgrimages that end there. They can conduct huge services with many thousands of people, and they broadcast on TV.

Anyway, several hundred years ago an indian man was saved from cannibals and he promised to carve two statues to the virgin Mary. One of them ended up in this church. The church has a long stairway with beautiful murals that represent the story of how the padres came here, evangelised the indians, this one man got saved and carved a statue, he was lost in a flood but the statue was saved, and it eventually ended up here.

The church itself is not that nice looking, but there was a nice view from the top. And the inside of the church is nice. Like most catholic churches, it has stained glass murals showing various scenes from the life of Christ. And you can walk up pretty close to the statue, which is painted nicely.

This church is located about 23 km outside of Asuncion, and it took the good part of an hour to get here. We traveled on the main Paraugay cross-country highway, but it did go through several small towns.

On the way back we stopped at a hamburger and ice cream stand run by the wife of a pastor who wants to join the CMA. Robert had a business meeting with this man while Brenda, Mary and I had funky burgers and ice cream. We had the burger with ham, egg, and cheese. It was like eating breakfast and lunch together. For dessert we had a concoction with strawberry pulp at the bottom, and soft serve ice cream on top. The ice cream is hand made in the store. Yummy!

Robert and Brenda bought some small plants for the house at a Chinese nursery. Mary and I bought a hammock to replace the one our neighbor's cat tore up. And we bought some strawberries at a roadside stand ... ooh, it's time to go down and eat those for breakfast.

Later in the afternoon, we went to a jewelry store where Mary is going to have a ring made. She has an aquamarine stone and she wants a ring made for it.

Today we are supposed to help paint some props for a children's play happening this weekend.

First day in San Lorenzo

We spent our first full day in Asuncion today. We were going to take an early morning walk with Robert and Brenda but we had trouble getting up so early our first day.

Robert had to prepare for a funeral in the morning. The founder of his church in San Lorenzo passed away yesterday. They had to have the funeral right away because they don't embalm here.

Brenda, Mary and I went to a shopping mall that has a farmers market on Tuesdays. We found two booths that sell gluten free items. Yay! We bought some bread things and some empenadas (beef and eggs in a corn pastry). We also got lots of fresh fruit. And I bought a cap with the Paraguay flag. So I later gave my "Jesus said Go Fishing" cap to Robert. Robert joined us at the mall for lunch. The mall has a food court but the food is real food, not like the fast food at home.

In the afternoon we went to the funeral. Most of the family are not Christians. Robert gave a great gospel message. At the cemetery another CMA pastor also gave a spirited message. We met lots of people who put up with my rusty Spanish, and they in turn tried their shaky English on me ... I think they won. We met one girl who grew up here and lives here now, but she went to a community college in Redding for a year. She's now going to the seminary here.

The funeral was typical in flavor compared to others we've been to recently, but it had a few oddities like the casket being welded shut in the front of the church, in front of all the congregation.

After the funeral we went back to the house and they taught us Progressive Rummy, a fun card game we'd never played before. Then Robert had to leave for pastor duties, but the rest of us watched the Tom Hanks movie "Ladykillers" on DVD. It was very funny. It was about a batch of master criminals who were outwitted by an elderly southern baptist lady and her cat.

Tomorrow we are supposed to visit a beautiful and huge Catholic church. It's probably the closest thing to a real tourist attraction in Asuncion.

Oh, Asuncion is the capital of Paraguay and the city where our plane landed. The church is in San Lorenzo, a short way outside Asuncion. And the house is in Fernando de la Mora, which is between Asuncion and San Lorezno. Through the grace of God, Robert and Brenda found a beautiful huge house with several bedrooms that can be guest rooms. We are the only guests here right now. This is much better than the best room we stayed at while on our road trip around the US. Sitting on the porch playing cards, or watching a DVD upstairs, it's hard to imagine there's a third world country just outside your walls. But when you drive around the city, it's more evident. But we haven't seen anything really bad yet.

Santiago

We are in Santiago, Chile, on an 8-hour layover while we wait for our flight to Asuncion, Paraguay.

Yesterday we boarded a Southwest flight from San Jose to LAX just before 8:00 am. After an easy walk to the international terminal at LAX, and a wait of about three hours, we boarded a flight for Santiago with one stop in Lima, Peru. The flight from LAX to Lima took eight hours. After waiting in Lima for about 1-1/2 hours, it took three more hours to get to Santiago.

The time in Lima is two hours ahead of San Jose, and the time in Santiago is three hours ahead. I believe the time in Asuncion will be three hours ahead also. But I think there are more time zones than that, and it's only three hours difference because maybe there is no daylight savings time in South America.

What are we doing here? We will visit Mary's brother Robert and his wife Brenda, who are missionaries with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in a suburb just outside Asuncion.

We are very tired, so that's all for right now ... more later ...

Stanford Scholars use x-rays to read hidden text in Archimedes manuscript

San Jose Mercury News

After more than 1,000 years in obscurity, the last unreadable pages of the works of mathematician Archimedes are being deciphered, thanks to the X-ray vision at Stanford University's Linear Accelerator Center.

Letter by letter, ancient Greek that was hidden for centuries by neglect, damage and abuse is being revealed by a powerful X-ray light emitted by the synchrotron at SLAC, then transmitted to computer screens for analysis by an international team of scholars.

The discovery is giving researchers the most complete record since the Middle Ages of the works of the legendary mathematician, who famously exclaimed "Eureka!" upon discovering how to measure volume while sitting in his bathtub.

Only faint outlines of Archimedes' words and diagrams can be seen by the unaided eye. First copied in 975 A.D. by a Christian monk onto goatskin parchment, the work has barely survived fire, water, acid, mold, wax, glue and even forgery.

But the synchrotron's X-ray is able to detect the iron in the ancient ink, causing it to fluoresce. In work guided by Stanford physicist Uwe Bergmann, the X-ray creates patterns of electronic signals, which are converted by computer into shades of gray, readily recognizable as Greek characters.

Preliminary interpretation of the text offers several new insights into the mind of Archimedes, who lived in the 3rd century B.C.

For instance, it suggests that he understood and set rules for infinity, previously considered a problem too difficult for ancient Greek mathematicians. It also contains a treatise on combinatorics, a field of problem-solving now used in computer science.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/15188980.htm

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Last updated Monday 3 August 2009