May 3, 2010

It was a lovely, and long, and rather hot ride to Tebicuary. Robert Rolón  had invite me to stay with his family there, and tour the sugar can mill he worked at. I was really impressed my the countryside–gone was the dismal, trash-strewn roadside, but clean, kept, and with large ranches proudly displaying their names and the products they produced. German influence  meets Latin America, and it kept me wondering why other areas I’d traveled through had such a hard time keeping themselves organized and clean, when Paraguay, the poorest country in South America, was so neat and orderly.

Because I love bathroom humor.  But really.  Just WHAT was I supposed to do with this hose?

Mennonites.

Note to self: NO MORE BEEF!!!

I got completely and utterly turned around in Villarica. I was supposed to meet up with the folks that I had dinner with in Concepcion, but that went out the window with my 5 laps of Villarica. I ended up asking a taxi driver how to get out of town, and he was nice enough to lead me (for free) to the highway. Sheesha. I was in a state by the time I left town.

I got to Roberto’s late, and he’d arranged for me to speak at the local high school. So he bundled his family into the car and I followed them on the bike to the school where I met with about 50+ kids in two separate groups. We talked about cancer prevention, supporting your loved ones through a diagnosis, a bit about my travels, and about wearing all your protective gear while riding a motorbike.  It’s a real problem in Paraguay ALL the kids seem to have a scooter, and so few wear any protective gear at all.

May 4, 2010

Roberto and his family are so lovely–I was so tired that night as we went to bed about midnight. The poor people kept the house and kids so quiet in the morning that I slept until 9:30!!! I was mortified, but I guess I was in sore need of a good bed and a restful place to sleep.

Here’s the little one with her Terere:

A tour of the sugar mill:

On-site church

Cane Trucks waiting to gain entry into the mill.

LUNCH!

I got a late start that day — I think I left around 2 or 3. Hindsight says I really should have stayed over another night, but I did not want to be a burden on the family. Plus, I counted the days and I still had much of Paraguay I wanted to see. Too bad, because things went from bad to worse the  next few days.