Day 4

Today was a very eventful day.  We got to lay brick in the actual house, finish off laying brick in the septic tank and finish back filling the rooms with soil.

We took joy in the little things, like this baby chicken;

a sweet moment between grandfather and grand daughter;

and a conversation with Julia's cousin about the typical school day and plans for his future.

We were able to get a lot done on the house as well today, filling in the rooms with rubble so they would soon be able to pour the concrete slabs. We also completed 4 courses of brick on the house and finished filling the house with rubble.

We also were treated to a homemade dinner of green chili by Andy, who spent his morning slaving away over the coal burners.

After our day on site was done, the local affiliate took us on a tour of other Habitat houses they had built in the area.  

This house is their most basic layout; kitchen, 1 bedroom and a bathroom.  Here is the homeowner is telling us about the progress on their house.  They were still waiting on the city to come and allow them to get electric and water to the house, and then with their Christmas bonus they would be able to turn those utilities on and have their daughter and granddaughter move in.

Here is another of their type 1 houses.  This one is not covered in stucco like the other.  We were unable to enter the house, but we did get to take pictures and meet the owner and his son.

Here is the last house we were taken to.  This started out as one of their Type 1 basic designs and the owner expanded to include 2 more bedrooms.  

This house is owned by a locally renowned mariachi, who is quite famous in this part of Paraguay.  His brother lives on the plot behind him.

We had a long, hot and exhausting day, but ended with the opportunity to learn more about the locals and what the typical Paraguay house looks like.  I would like to thank the HPHPY affiliate for taking the time to educate us on what they do.

I close with a picture of the view from that last house.

Dinner at the Arpa Roga

Tonight, we went out to dinner at the local Harp school, Arpa Roga.  The owners are friends of two Coloradan missionaries, Dan and Christie.  They treated us to a dinner of Paraguayan steak and chorizo, appetizers and side dishes.

We were blessed to be treated to a performance during dinner from the owner's son and their top student.

After dinner, their daughter came out and performed for us a traditional Paraguayan dance, the bottle dance.  

After that dance was complete, she got Dan from our group to dance along with her, 

All during the night we were surrounded by amazing music, great food and a truly Paraguayan ambiance.

Day 3, the Rain Cometh

Today started out as a great day, a little cloudy and humid, but another gorgeous day in Paraguay.  We arrived on site to see that the masons had continued working after we had left, and finished more of the foundation.  Our tasks for the day included hauling bricks to the cistern and septic system so they could begin to complete them.  The masons laid the first course of brick in both and then showed us how they wanted it done, and we all took a turn laying some brick.

Hauling dirt for the back fill was still a priority.  We had countless wheelbarrows of dirt hauled these last 3 days.  Here is a picture from day 1 showing what we were working with:

And here are a couple from Day 3:

While we were working, the homeowner Julio came out to talk with us and help us work for the day.  Their daughter, Julia wanted to come and help out as well.

Julio and Rosanna took time to tell us of their plans for the house now and in the coming year.  They are expecting their second child next month, and hope to be moved in by then.  They are also looking to expand the house next year to add 2 bedrooms to it so it can accommodate their growing family.

By lunch time we had made great progress on the bricklaying in the cistern and the septic system.  We were all ready to get the bricklaying completed by the end of the day.  There was general excitement in the air.

The weather on the other hand, had other ideas.  While we were eating our amazing lunch of Paraguayan chicken fried steak and potatoes, the skies opened and we were treated to a deluge.  We were unable to complete the work day, so we went home and got some rest and prepared for the evenings festivities.

Here is a super cute picture to complete the first half of the day:

Sunday night dinner with the Habitat Paraguay team

On Sunday night after our arrival to Paraguay, we met up with the staff from the HPHPY (Habitat para la Humanidad Paraguay) at their office for a welcome dinner of traditional Paraguayan barbeque and dessert.

Here is the president of the board of the directors welcoming us, with Julie translating.

We were treated to the sweet sounds of traditional Paraguayan harp music (also a little Beatles and John Lennon thrown in there) while we ate.  

Fun Fact: The day before, our harp maestro performed in the attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest harp ensemble. It was confirmed by a Latin American Guinness judge to have broken the record with 420 harps.  

We had a great night getting to know about our Paraguayan partners families and sharing with them pictures of our families and stories of life in the USA.

It was a great night filled with incredible food, great conversations and a sense that this was indeed going to be an amazing experience.  Even though we were all quite physically exhausted from the travel, we left the dinner in great spirits and enthusiasm for the coming week.  

Day 2

Today we arrived on site a little bit sore from the previous day, but still enthusiastic to everything this new day would hold.  We needed to finish off the cistern, with some light digging required to ensure that the circumference was correct.

Once that was completed, we were directed by our mason Don Alegre to dig a second hole for another part of the septic system.  This one was not as deep as the last one, so we were able to knock it out at a decent pace.

and then things got a little silly

While we were busy filling the foundation with soil and digging out our second hole of the trip, our masons were busy building up the next level of the foundation with the large rocks that we brought to them and with the hand mixed concrete.

We left the site early to attend a presentation from the HPHPY staff.  It was a hot, humid and slower paced day today, but we ended on a great note and with a better understanding of our Paraguayan partners.

Also, this....