Meeting the Family : 6

2-21-94

I really liked it at the camp in Asuncion.  It was beautiful there, so green, and tons of trees, and the thatched roof cottages we stayed in where definitely quaint.  I got to be good friends with Melissa and I definitely really like her.  She always kept my spirits up.  She was so happy to be here, so excited to see and try everything new that it was impossible for me not to be just as excited.  Everything they said to us in Asuncion all the sessions we had were so much more informative than those in Miami.  I really like the people.  Raul was so nice to me.  I loved to hear him play guitar, and it was fun when he would play my camp songs and I would sing.  I'm going to miss the friends I made there.  I thought I would have to take a long bus ride on Saturday to Caaguazu, but my family came to pick me up instead in their new Land Cruiser!  I guess I want be learning to much about the life of the typical Paraguayan, I don't mind.  I really like my family.  They are really nice to me.  I especially like my mom and my big brother Edgar.  Both of them talk to me a lot, and both of them are very patient.  They speak very slowly, and when I don't understand, they repeat it using different words until I do.  Orlando, the youngest, is a lot of fun as well.  Nelson and Delia are quiet people, especially Nelson, they don;t talk much at all.  When my family first picked me up we drove to an Uncle's house in Asuncion, and we all sat around in a circle and talked.  Here in Paraguay you often sit around with relatives and talk.  We weren't there for long.  Next we went to another Uncle's house where we would be staying the night.  When we were situated there all of us kids and there daughter (MArla?) sat around and talked for a long time.  They asked me lots of questions and they told me about the school.  At around 8, we left to another Uncle's house for dinner.  We sat around in a circle and talked and drank and ate appetizers.  There was cut up sausage and bread and morsillo.  Morsillo was blood sausage and I didn't find that out until after I ate it.  Pretty gnarly stuff.  The big fat uncle was cooking all the meat on a big barbecue, I know I am going to come back completely fat.  All we ever eat here is meat.  Sausage, ribs, steak, meat, meat, meat.  Tons of fat on it.  Everyone here is pretty chunky.  Things aren't looking good from that perspective, but from another, all of these uncles, all of these relatives are really nice, everyone is very kind to me.  It is fun going to visit all of the family (Nilce has 11 brothers).  The next day we drove to Ypacari for the big Sunday family gathering.  5 or 6 Uncles and all of their families.  Billions of children and this place was on an uncle's farm.  And it was beautiful.  The farm was for a root, so above ground it just looked like big meadows with scattered pine trees.  Very green, very beautiful.  From there, we drove to Caaguazu.  Edgar drove me around the city with Orlando and Delia in the back.  He showed me the two schools, The National (public) and the Concepcion Inmaculada (Catholic).  He showed me the sports clubs and his father's store.  We talked a lot, I asked tons of questions.  It was a lot of fun.  It was funny though because Edgar has a girlfriend who is 14, and she is very angry at him because she doesn't like the idea of me living with him.  When we drove around the city, we stopped at her house, and Edgar went in to talk to her for a few minutes while we waited in the car.  He told me later that when he went in, he asked her to come out a meet me, but she said no.  I'm causing jealousy, how exciting.  It's fun to be such a center of attention!